THE POWER OF PENTECOST

Open your Bibles to Acts 2:1

Acts 2:1 NASB 2020

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Introduction

The unity amongst Christians is a unity which is quite inevitable because of that which is true of each and every one. I sometimes think that that is the most important principle of all. With all this talk about unity, it seems to me, we are forgetting the most important thing, which is that unity is not something that man has to produce or to arrange: true unity between Christians is inevitable and unavoidable. It is not man’s creation; it is, as we have been shown so clearly, the creation of the Holy Spirit Himself. And my contention is that there is such a unity at this moment among true Christians. I do not care what labels they have on them, the unity is inevitable; they cannot avoid it, because of that which has become true of every single individual Christian.

God’s Way of Reconciliation, 354

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

CONTEXT OF THE TEXT

Jesus has ascended back to heaven after leaving his disciples with a promise and a command. He commanded them to be his witnesses and testify about what they knew about him; His promise was that He would personally provide them the needed capacity to accomplish what He had commanded.

Ten days after His ascension, the day of Pentecost arrived. In the Hebrew Bible, Pentecost is an annual harvest festival that occurs seven weeks after Passover. It became an important Christian holiday after God poured out the Holy Spirit upon the Jerusalem church on the first Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection. His promise of Power came to pass in an astonishing display. That is not particularly the concern of this communication as much the need for the same Power of Pentecost that is so desperately needed in the life of the Church of right now. As we read this text, we learn that the Power of Pentecost is Unity.

Roberts, Ronald D. 2016. “Pentecost.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

CENTRAL IDEA: We, like the first disciples, must make gathering together a major priority.

TO OVERCOME SIN

A. Although the theme is not explicit in the text, we realize that our environments, associations, and relationships play a tremendous part in what kind of people we are becoming. It is necessary then that we remove ourselves from these and unite with a family of faith. We gravitate to this new group because we have been taught from the scriptures that “bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor. 15:33).

1 Corinthians 15:33 NASB 2020

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

B.

The sin which is indulged to the greatest extent, and which separates us from God and produces so many contagious spiritual disorders, is selfishness. There can be no returning to the Lord except by self-denial.

Ellen Gould White

C. We must daily acknowledge that we have been removed out of darkness and into the marvelous light where we share the life of Christ with others whom we love and put before ourselves.

TO MAINTAIN CLOSENESS

A. Most of us talk about the desire to be close to the Lord. We pray for it, sing about it, and long for a closer walk with God. The question we need to ask ourselves is how do we expect to be close to God when we don’t value closeness with one another. These individuals had shared in not only in the life of Jesus but also in the lives of one another. I believe they knew that whatever the task was before them that needed one another.

The phrase “one another” is derived from the Greek word allelon which means “one another, each other; mutually, reciprocally.” It occurs 100 times in the New Testament. Approximately 59 of those occurrences are specific commands teaching us how (and how not) to relate to one another. Obedience to those commands is essential for healthy relationships and for the unity of the church.

B. Illustration

God made humans for a purpose: not simply for themselves, not simply so that they could be in relationship with him, but so that through them, as his image-bearers, he could bring his wise, glad, fruitful order to the world. And the closing scenes of scripture, in the book of Revelation, are not about human beings going off to heaven to be in a close and intimate relationship with God, but about heaven coming to earth.

N. T. Wright

C. The elder John makes us of aware of the need to maintain closeness with one another by stating: See 1 Jn 4:7-14

1 John 4:7–14 NASB 2020

7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

TO BE OF ONE MIND

A. UNITY State of being undivided; having oneness; a condition of harmony.

Old Testament Central to the faith of Israel is the confession of the unity of God: “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One” (Deut. 6:4 HCSB). Because God is one, one set of laws was to apply to both Israelites and foreigners (Num. 15:16). Human history is a story of sin’s disruption of God’s ordained unity. God’s ideal for marriage is for husband and wife to experience unity of life, “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Sin in the garden bred mistrust and accusation (3:12). Stubbornness of will (“hardness” of heart, Mark 10:5) continues to disrupt God’s desired unity in marriage. God’s ideal for the larger human family is again unity. The primeval unity of humanity (“same language” Gen. 11:1) was likewise disrupted as a result of sinful pride (11:4–8). The prophetic vision of God’s future anticipates the day when God will reunite the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, bringing back all the scattered exiles (Ezek. 37:15–23). Indeed, the prophetic hope includes the reuniting of all the peoples of the world under the sovereignty of the one Lord (Zech. 14:9).

New Testament Jesus prayed that His disciples would experience unity modeled on the unity that Jesus experienced with the Father (John 17:11, 21–23). Such unity verifies Jesus’ God-sent mission and the Father’s love for the world. Jesus’ prayer for unity was realized in the life of the earliest church. The first believers were together in one place; they shared their possessions and were of one heart and soul (Acts 2:1, 43; 4:32)

Church, Chris. 2003. “Unity.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, edited by Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, Steve Bond, E. Ray Clendenen, and Trent C. Butler, 1639. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

B. ILLUSTRATION

More Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion Unity: General Colin Powell on Unity

General Colin Powell writes:

On the speech circuit, I tell a story that goes to the heart of America’s longing. ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson was interviewing a young African-American soldier in a tank platoon on the eve of the battle in Desert Storm. Donaldson asked, “How do you think the battle will go? Are you afraid?”

“We’ll do okay. We’re well trained. And I’m not afraid,” the GI answered, gesturing toward his buddies around him. “I’m not afraid because I’m with my family.”

The other soldiers shouted, “Tell him again. He didn’t hear you.” The soldier repeated, “This is my family, and we’ll take care of each other.”

C. APPLICATION:

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary The Church: Keeping It Simple

The Greek word for “fellowship” is koinonia, which means “communion,” or “communication.” Koinonia is people sharing with one another the things of the kingdom and the things of God. Unfortunately, the richness of koinonia has been reduced to a lightweight frivolity in so many churches today, where a time of fellowship is usually synonymous with nothing more than a time of cookies and punch.

“I don’t need koinonia,” you say. “I’ve been a Christian for fourteen years. I’m as strong and tall as a redwood tree.” Really? Think about the redwood tree: Redwood trees appear invincible, but in reality, a relatively mild wind can topple one. You see, above the surface, redwoods seem strong, but their root systems are very, very shallow. That is why they always grow in groves. Their strength comes from interlocking their roots with other redwoods.

CONCLUSION:

A. The Myth of Self-sufficiency

Galatians ((1) Bearing One Another’s Burdens (6:1–3))

We all have burdens, and God does not intend for us to carry them by ourselves in isolation from our brothers and sisters.The ancient philosophy of Stoicism taught that the goal of the happy life was apatheia, a studied aloofness from pleasure and pain, and self-sufficiency, the ability to brave the harsh elements of life without dependence upon others. As the Roman philosopher Seneca put it, “The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.” But there is a vast difference between Stoic equanimity and Christian courage. The myth of self-sufficiency is not a mark of bravery but rather a sign of pride.

Paul’s maxim in v. 3 is aimed at this perverted understanding of the self. “If a man thinks he is ‘somebody,’ he is deceiving himself, for that very thought proves that he is nobody” (Phillips). Such an attitude of conceited self-importance leads to two fundamental failures in relationship: one, the refusal to bear the burdens of others, for that would be a task too menial and deprecating for a person who “thinks he is something”; the other, the refusal to allow anyone else to help shoulder one’s own burdens since that would be an admission of weakness and need. To live this way, however, is to practice the art of self-deception, for “no man is an island entire to itself.

George, Timothy. 1994. Galatians. Vol. 30. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

B. THE POWER OF UNITY

Unity with Christ establishes a bond of unity with one another. This unity is the most convincing proof to the world of the majesty and virtue of Christ and of His power to take away sin.

Ellen Gould White