May Focus: The Spirit of Missions in Pentecost.

3. How does the Missionary Spirit Operate?

a. The Call of the Spirt:

It is well known that the Antioch church was a missionary church. However, it was initiated by the Missionary Spirit speaking to the leaders of the Church:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 

Acts 13:3.

b. Were Paul and Barnabas not called?

It is obvious that both Paul and Barnabas were called by God and actively involved in the ministries of the Church for a considerable time.

• They both were disciples, preaching the Gospel of Christ.
• They both helped to establish the Church in Antioch.
• Barnabas, being ‘a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. ‘ Acts 11:24
• They were great Teachers: “for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. (11:26)
• They even were involved in social work, to  “send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea…by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.”  (11:29-30)
  
• Yet, the Holy Spirit identifies a “work which I have called them.” (Acts 13:3)

c. The Spirit Identified Call:

This call is distinctly identified with the Spirit as His personal activity.
While each Person of the Trinity has specific characteristics and roles, we can attribute this unique call to the Spirit’s work.  This call was to embark on a specific ‘Missionary Journey,’ detached from their regular activities previously involved in the Church.
While we don’t have any writings of Barnabas describing the nature of this Sprit’s call, Paul clearly lays out what this call involves in Romans 15:

Prayer:
Before going any further, pause and read this Scripture below and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you personally. After reading it once, read it again as a prayer, by putting your name where ‘I’ or ‘me’ is mentioned:

“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.
 So, from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known,
so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” ‘ 

Romans 15:18-21

4 Key Things about the Call of the Holy Spirit:

Reading the above Scripture, we identify the Spirit’s call in 4 different areas.
While there are other aspects of this call, we want you to focus and pray for the following:

1. Reaching Cross-Culturally: “leading the Gentiles to obey God…”
   Initially, the Church was mainly Jewish and confined to Jewish culture and traditions. Some Jewish Christians even wanted to convert Gentile Christians to Judaism!
   But the Holy Spirit called Paul & Barnabas to reach across other cultures, languages, etc.
   Does your Church cross any cultural boundaries to share the Gospel?
    
2. Reaching Cross-Nationally.  “From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum…”
   The Holy Spirit wanted them to go beyond geographic and national boundaries!
   Spirit’s empowerment in Acts 1:8 was from “Jerusalem to the furthest place on earth possible!”  The pioneers used to say “If you don’t cross a sea, you are not a missionary.”  Have you crossed your national boundary to another nationality to take the Gospel to them?
   
   
3. Reaching the Unreached: “To preach the gospel where Christ was not known…”
   Paul’s determination to “not build on someone else’s foundation” meant that he avoided areas already with basic ministry infrastructure, such as believers, churches, leaders, Bibles, and other foundational resources. Because, the ‘Unreached’ is defined as:  
   “people groups and places where Christ is largely unknown, and there is not a church with adequate resources to help make him known to the broader population without outside help.”
   
   
4. Reaching cross-linguistically. “Those who have not heard will understand.”
   Hearing the message in one’s ‘heart language’ or ‘mother tongue’ is vital for understanding the Gospel. Pentecost began with the ‘Speaking in Tongues’ affirming the Holy Spirit’s desire to reveal Himself to each person in their own tongue and language.
   Paul’s mission involved places in the Roman Empire where the official languages were Latin and Greek, and Paul also used Hebrew.
   However, Paul noted that in his personal encounter with Christ, that it was in his mother tongue that he “heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 26:14)
   The Holy Spirit wants to reveal Himself to over 2.5 Billion people in over 5000 People Groups who have not yet heard about Jesus in their own ‘mother tongue.’

Prayer:
Please focus on each of the above points and pray that the Church worldwide will invite the Missionary Spirit this Pentecost to ignite their passion for Missions!

In conclusion, the feast of Pentecost was the celebration of the Harvest Festival, during which there was an ingathering. The Holy Spirit identified Pentecost with the Harvest because it was sent to empower laborers to go to the Harvest fields across the nations of the World.

Will you join in praying with Jesus’ request:

‘Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”’

Matthew 9:37-38

Next Week: From Babel to Pentecost!

Sources: Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
Interlinear Bible/Strong’s Concordance.
Pics Credit:
gracefellowship.com
ministryark.com
wellspringwembly.org
jesusfirst.com
static.officeholidays.com
walkingwithjesus.org