The Greatest Wind That Ever Blew — Ian Paisley

The Greatest Wind and the Pentecost Account

I have entitled my sermon this morning, The Greatest Wind Which Ever Blew. Turn to Acts chapter 2 and let me draw your attention to the first four verses. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The other day I was greatly struck in my own personal Bible reading with the many occurrences of the word wind in the Bible.

Wind as a Biblical Picture of the Spirit

The famous Alexander Cruden, when he published his monumental Concordance of the Scripture, had added to it an explanation and definition of the principal words of the Bible. But when that famous book became worldwide, all the explanations were deleted from it because of their manifoldness.

And so you could possess a copy of the famous Concordance, but all the explanations of scriptural words are missing. On the question of the wind, Cruden had this to say, and let me read you these brief comments.

Wind. The Hebrew acknowledged four principal winds, as we do. Ezekiel chapter 13, verses 16 to 18. He measured the east wind. The east wind is called in Hebrew, taron. The north wind, saphon. The south wind, daron.

And the west wind from the Mediterranean Sea is ruach hajan. Solomon says in Proverbs 25, 23 that the north wind disperses the clouds and the rain. So the Bible tells me of these four powerful operations and motions of natural wind.

But of course, the wind is a type of the Spirit of God. And we read in John's Gospel 3 and verse 8, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whether it.

There is a secrecy about the natural wind, but there is a secret mystery about the blessed Spirit of God. We read of the motions of the Spirit set forth as wind in the song of Solomon and also in the book of the prophecy of Isaiah.

These are wonderful references and should be carefully studied by all who study the blessed scriptures of truth. For simplicity and clarity, those remarks from Alexander couldn't be improved upon. When I took time this week to mark every reference in the Bible to wind, I was quite amazed about its constant occurrences.

The list is too long for me to quote to you this morning. But I am making to you an offer. If you want to get all these references, if you write to me and send me, please note, a stamped address envelope with your name and address on it, I will send you that copy.

I have spent time to alliterate all the references under the letter S, so you can get that if you want to have it. I have stated this is a vast subject and it needs a contrite spirit when we approach unto it.

Ruach, Pneuma, and the Symbols of Pentecost

The first time the word occurs in the Hebrew of the Old Testament is Genesis 1 and verse 2. And that is the word ruach. Hebrew translated, spirit. It occurs 389 times in the Old Testament. And 237 times it is rendered spirit, breath, the wind.

The Spirit of God moved on the face of the deep. Compare that with Genesis 8 and verse 1 where ruach is translated by the word wind. The same holds good in the New Testament. The Greek pneuma is translated spirit, but also wind.

See John 3 and 18 which I have just quoted to you. So as in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament Greek. In my text Acts chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 is alerted to the instructive symbols of the operation of the Spirit of God.

The rushing mighty wind and then the appearances of what look like cloven tongues of fire. I want this morning to meditate with you on this important matter. If you take your Bible you will find in verse 2 we have the people.

Who were the people that were there? You find the period at what time of the Jewish calendar did they meet? And what about the place? It says in one place. So we read first of all when the day of Pentecost, that is the period, was come.

They were all with one accord in one place. They were all, that is the people, in one place. And we will see where that leads. Then we come forthly to the penetration. Suddenly a sound from heaven. And we come to see its potency as of a rushing mighty wind.

And then sickly we see it is plentiful. It filled all the house where they were sitting. And seventhly we see its portrayal. Cloven tongues of fire and it sat on each of them. And then eighthly we see its perfection.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Nine we see the proclamation and began to speak in other tongues. And ten we see the prowess as the Spirit gave them utterance. Let's go back to the period. Pentecost.

Pentecost Foreshadowed by Sinai

What is the day or what is the season of Pentecost? We have to turn to the Old Testament to find out. And if you turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 32 and 34, you will get the first Pentecost. And that first Pentecost was after they had come out of Egypt and after they had come to Sinai.

And at Sinai God gave His people His holy and blessed law. So turn over to chapter 32. And in chapter 32 and verse 26, you will find the story of the first Pentecost. After they came out of Egypt and after they had received through Moses the two tables of stone which afterwards he broke in his anger at their apostasy.

And it's very interesting to note carefully the statement that occurs there in verse 28. Look at verse 28 of Exodus chapter 32. It says,. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand.

Killing of three. But in the Pentecost that I am reading about in the New Testament, the first Pentecost after Christ, three thousand souls were smitten by the sword of the Spirit. And they lived. It is a typical number which starts with the first Pentecost in the Old Testament.

Please notice that before that happened the Ten Commandments were given. And please notice that these ten things that I have mentioned this morning had to take place before we could have this great Pentecost.

The Pentecostal People and the Filling of the Upper Room

But I have ten of them. The next one is of people. Who are these people? I heard of a congregation of Reformed Presbyterians who are being taught at the moment that no woman should take part in the prayer meeting.

Well, I want to tell you, strange to relate, the woman took part in the prayer meeting that preceded the day of Pentecost. And if you turn over to Acts chapter 1, you will discover there verse 14,. These all, that's all the apostles, with one accord in prayer and supplication with the woman.

The woman had prayer and supplication too. And it names Mary the mother of Jesus with his brother. So the people were about a hundred and twenty in awe. And they prayed. There was one missing chair. It was the chair that Judas, that was entered.

And you have the first vote in the church to fill the place of the missing apostle. They voted in a special way. When they had prayed, and they said, Thou Lord, which knoweth the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part in this ministry and apostleship.

And they gave forth their lots. They voted by lots. And the lot fell upon one particular man. And he was numbered, Matthias. He was numbered with the eleven apostles. So the chair was filled. So the one missing chair being filled, that's the number of people that were there at this first Pentecost.

But then, there is something more. There is the plius. What was the plius? The plius was, of course, the upper room. And the upper room had precious memories. It was here that their Lord laid aside his garments and washed his disciples' feet.

It was here they learned that the Spirit of God would come. That that prophecy was now going to be fulfilled. Here they also learned of the new commandment. And in keeping with that, these ten important steps to the baptism of power from on high.

It is interesting to note that the first Pentecost in Exodus was preceded with the giving of the Ten Commandments, as I have already said. And now, before the final and continual Pentecost, ten steps are carefully highlighted.

The Divine Unity of Scripture and God's Sudden Interventions

This Bible is one book. This Bible has a divine unity that defies all who attack it. It is the precious Word of the living God. Then we have the penetration. Suddenly, the prayer meeting was interrupted.

I wonder who was praying. Was it a loud voice apostle or a soft voice woman? I do not know. I will find out when I go to heaven. But there was a penetration. And suddenly there was a sound from heaven.

I want to tell you, God's calendar cannot be held up. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. Nothing can stop the clock. But God has set that clock to alarm. All the great revivals that have ever come to the church of Jesus Christ came suddenly.

There was not a fanfare of trumpets. Suddenly, God moved. Think of Jonathan Edwards. Standing up in an old meeting house, Jonathan Edwards read his sermons. He had very poor eyesight, so he never saw any of the people.

He held the manuscript up to his face. And all they saw was the manuscript. They never saw him. If you sent that man to fill a free Presbyterian vacancy, they would hunt him. They would say, we don't want to see your face.

We want a preacher that can stand up and speak his mind. But Jonathan Edwards read his sermons. And as he was reading, strong men were falling onto the floor under the power of God. Cries were rising from the galleries on the ground floor.

And the place was a veritable battleground. The beginning of the great revival that swept over all of the colonies at that time in America. The subject was sinners in the hands of an angry God. The people were suddenly ushered into a prejudgment sentencing.

And the whole congregation literally rocked under the hand of God, the Holy Ghost. Yes, and the time would feel me to talk about the Kirk of Shots outside Glasgow when a young licentiate Livingstone, who later became the Presbyterian minister in Kalinchee, kindly died.

He was preaching. And there was a mighty salvation. Five hundred souls were immediately converted to God. The rushing mighty men. And what of George Whitfield, that mighty agent of fire and of countless more.

For as they preached, there were sudden and divine interventions. Notice the emphasis on the sound. This matter was not done in a corner. It was not conceived. To the ears came the sound. The alarm of God and better still the grace of God.

So great was the sound that the awakening was a reality when it was heard. But what about, fifthly, the potency? It was as of a rushing mighty wind. Note that term, rushing. That speaks of the pace in which the Holy Spirit brought His work.

The Unpredictable Power of the Holy Spirit

The fact that the word for the Spirit is pneumonic is the same word for wind is very significant. The wind's location and circuit is unknowable. We are told in Scripture, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it goeth, or whither it cometh.

So is the location and pathway of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit moves sometimes to comfort. He moves sometimes to crush. But if He's comforting or crushing, it's in a rush. It was Mr. Spurgeon who said, Note the characteristic mighty.

And Mr. Spurgeon used this prayer on the 18th of September, 1881. And he said this, O Spirit of God, if thou wouldst now come as a rough north wind, the crescent of Mohammed would be prostrate in the dust.

The gods of the heathen would fall before their faces as Dagon fell before the ark. Thou hast but to proceed in thy sevenfold operations, and the harlot of Rome would lose her enchanting power. How canst dash in pieces the hoary systems which have resisted all human attack?

My dear, than the truth of time, thy finger, O sacred Spirit, could destroy what man reckons to be everlasting workmanship. Glory be to God! Wherever the Spirit comes, He moves Himself to be, He proves Himself to be divine by the omnipotence which He displays.

That's why they heard a sound like a rushing mighty wind. I would say humbly, Lord, blow again upon our world. We can see Mohammedanism all around us and its terrible pressure on those who want peace.

We can see the deceitfulness of Rome and the Pope recently de-churching every other church on earth and saying there are only religious colonies and have no part in the Church of Christ. But let's turn to Sicily.

The Spirit Fills the Whole House

It filled all the house where they were sitting. I like that. Everywhere there was no lacking and there'll never be any hunger where the Spirit of God is, for He sets the table with the finest of the wheat.

Nothing can be more potent than the wind, especially when it blows in its fullness. Man cannot stop the wind. It is an invincible conqueror. It reaches everywhere. None can hide from it. It smashes all concealments.

It fills all the house, all the house, all the house where it comes. There is no hiding from the Holy Ghost. There is no lacking of omnipotence in the Holy Ghost. It comes to fill all the house. Operation is always open.

I would say today in this pulpit as the old prophets said, O blessed Spirit, breathe on these dead bones and they shall live. God answered His prayer and the corpses became a living army for the Lord.

Fire, Opposition, and Revival

But as we go on down the text, we come then to the cloven tongues like as of fire. You'll notice that it wasn't a wind. It was as a wind. It's not fire, but it is as of fire. These two symbols together, wind and fire, produces a tempest that no man can handle.

Who can stand a tempest? No human being. Who can stand a fire? No human being. Join them together and what will you have? A fiery tempest. A flaming hurricane. A burning tornado. And a flaming, it was a fiery tempest.

It was a flaming hurricane. It was a burning tornado. It was a flaming cyclone. Nothing could be more mighty than that. We recently read the terrible stories from Greece of forests of fire. What a sight!

What a sound! The giants of the forest bowing, bending and breaking under the flame fires of the overthrow. I would say today, O blessed spirit, come. Come, come in this manner and topple the giants of opposition and set the prisoners free.

Let us see thousands and hundreds of thousands of people swept into the kingdom of God. The God that answers by fire. Let Him be the God. O God, make us all of one accord. All believing, all expecting, all praying.

The Fullness of the Spirit and Christian Service

This fire took place. You will notice the perfection. The house was not only filled, but they were all filled. What a word! Filled. Filled to fullness. This is the priority. The spirit must flood in and push every force of hell and the devil out of the room.

Sweep it away. This is the first forerunner of every blessing for every Christian to be filled with the spirit of God. Only the infilling of the spirit can prepare your body and fit it for service in the Lord's vineyard.

What did Paul say? I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world, but be true.

Our Christianity will cease from being empty when we are filled. Oh, for the overflow of us. I am sure you are glad I am coming to the ninth one now. I see some people had to leave for they thought that their offering would be a burnt offering instead of roast beef.

So they are hastening back to get the oven off in time. I am not talking about that sort of fire today. I am talking about spiritual fire. The proclamation. They began to speak in other tongues. Have you ever noticed this?

The Miracle of Tongues and the Miracle of Hearing

There are two miracles. Two miracles. There is a miracle of the tongue. God touched the tongues. But there is a miracle of the ear. Every man heard in his own language the wonderful works. A double miracle.

There is never any absurdity when the Spirit of God speaks. The crowd will hear and understand His message. As the preachers were speaking flame and the fire dropped into the hearts of their hearers, there started a burning that could not be defeated this end.

Come in our midst we pray and like a rushing mighty wind sweep over our souls finally and tently the prowess as the Spirit gave them utterance. You study when you go home the rest of the chapter and see the message that these men preached.

It was a message that exalted the risen Lord as the only Savior of sinners. That called in sinners to repent. Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Their message was simple. Neither is there salvation in any other.

There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must. You need to be saved dear sinner. You need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. These are the doctrines which we need to proclaim mightily.

The doctrine of redemption, regeneration and remission. Let us keep these ever to the front of our ministry and the Holy Spirit will revive them in our midst. Come Holy Ghost, for moved by Thee the prophets wrote and spoke.

Unlock the truth, Thyself the key. Unseal Thy sacred book. Expand Thy wings, celestial dove. Brood o 'er our nature's night when our disordered souls move and let there now be light. God through Himself we then shall know that Thou within us shine and sound with all Thy saints below the depths of love divine.

May it be so for Jesus' sake.