The Arrival of the Spirit

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to church.

We are picking back up in our series on the Book of Acts this morning, The Church: Then and Now. We’ve reached the 2nd Chapter of Acts...

I know some of you have been waiting for this. You all are like, “Is he gonna talk about that?”

I’ll grant you that some of these verses will either have you scratching your head or questioning why we don’t do some of this today. However, I hope that by the end of our time here today you will have learned something and feel a little bit more comfortable with this passage.

Let’s read the first section of Acts 2 together as we prepare to study God’s word...

Acts 2:1–13 CSB

1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

[pray]

I. The Church Waited

We talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but it bears a bit of review. Luke picked up with his second account right where he left off with the Gospel of Luke, at the ascension. He records Jesus’ last words and advice to the disciples...

Acts 1:4–5 CSB

4 While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”

So they were sent back to wait in Jerusalem, where they were promised something big would happen. Jesus told them that they would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Originally it was John the Baptist that foretold the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, all four gospels tell us the same thing that Jesus reminded the disciples before he ascended to Heaven. Both Matthew and Luke record the fullest sense of John’s foretelling in almost exactly the same words. Here is Luke’s record...

Luke 3:15–16 CSB

15 Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 2 is the biblical account of that first baptism of the Spirit.

There are two different views on this in the Christian world today:

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a way of saying the the Spirit indwells a person at the point of conversion.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a later act in which Christ grants the Spirit to empower that person in a unique way for ministry.

I have told you many times over the last year that we believe that the Holy Spirit comes on a person at the point of salvation.

Before Acts 2 there was no baptism of the Holy Spirit—There was no indwelling, which is a fancy theological way of saying that the Spirit is permanently present with the believer. Prior to Acts 2 the Spirit was not permanently present with the believer.

We can see examples throughout the Old Testament that indicate the Spirit of God was with believers and had the possibility of coming and going in order to serve the purposes of God, but it was never described as a baptism or as being a permanent condition.

This New Testament baptism of the Spirit was designed to be a permanent union of the believer, binding them to Christ and to the body of believers.

Paul describes this relationship to the church at Corinth...

1 Corinthians 12:12–13 CSB

12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

You might have noticed that this passage is written so that it applies to ALL the believers in the body, not just a few special people who get to have a closer connection with Christ than others.

While some faith traditions believe that they can receive special spiritual gifts and empowerment from the Spirit at some point later, we believe that those gifts are granted to us at the point of conversion and may or may not be activated or used later in the believers life. I personally believe that some of these gifts grow within us as we grow more and more like Christ.

Paul wrote in clear language to the church at Ephesus...

Ephesians 4:4–5 CSB

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

I’ve been doing some writing this week for a Bible lesson on the Sanctity of Life and pondering the fact that we are created in God’s image. Each and every one of us in this world, whether we believe in Christ or not, have a bit of God’s image within our very being. But for those of us who have chosen Christ are also being conformed to the image of Christ as well...

Romans 8:29–30 CSB

29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

I won’t get into the concept of God’s foreknowledge and this idea of predestination today, because it’s a deep well that we don’t have time to cover today. But I want you to think about the fact that God chose you to be conformed or shaped to become more like Christ. I believe this is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is intended to initiate in you as a believer in Jesus Christ.

Are you being shaped to become more like Christ? How’s that going for you?

II. The Church Worshiped

Returning to our text, we know that the disciples returned to Jerusalem…

Acts 1:12–14 CSB

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

As they waited, the disciples prayed and worshiped together.

Acts 2:1 CSB

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

This verse begs the question...

What is Pentecost?

It comes as no surprise to some of you that Jesus and the disciples had gathered to celebrate Passover, which was a Jewish holiday celebrating the event where the angel of death spared the eldest male children of the Hebrews who painted the blood of a lamb over their doorpost prior to their departure from Egypt. We always want to connect Jesus’ resurrection to Passover, because he is our Passover lamb, who spilled his blood for us on the cross.

Pentecost - is a Jewish festival that is conducted seven weeks (49 days - Pent = 5) after the Passover to celebrate the end of the harvest.

It is not at all uncommon for significant events in the kingdom of God to occur in coordination with the Jewish festivals. Let’s consider the timeline here...

Timeline

The Last Supper - at the beginning of Passover

Jesus’ Trial and Crucifixion - Passover - it occurred to me this morning that the people of Israel dedicated their Passover to the murder of the first (and only) born son of God during the holy days that memorialized the murder of the firstborn Sons of their forefathers.

Jesus’ Resurrection - at the end of Passover

Mystagogy (Catholic tradition) 40 days between Jesus Resurrection & Ascension - various appearances to the apostles, disciples, and many of Jesus’ followers.

Jesus’ Ascension - this happened 40 days after the Resurrection

The Disciples Waiting - “wait in Jerusalem. In a few days...” lasted for 10 days

Pentecost - The initial arrival and baptism of the Holy Spirit happened 10 days after the Ascension.

Let’s read again what happened on Pentecost...

Acts 2:2–3 CSB

2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them.

Acts 2:4–13 CSB

4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

Now this sounds like absolute bedlam.

We can see here three signs that signalled the arrival of the Spirit:

the sound of a rushing wind

tongues of fire

believers praising God in various known languages

Verse 6 said it was confusing “because each one heard them speaking in his own language” (Acts 2:6).

The word for “Spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek is the same as the word for “wind.”

John 3:8 CSB

8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Some have seen the tongues of fire as a symbol for the powerful witness that the church would have to all the people of the earth.

And finally all the believers started speaking out and praising God in various known languages.

Can you imagine being far away from home in a foreign land and someone starts speaking your language? I can not only imagine it, I’ve experienced it! I lived in West Africa for a couple years, far away from my family and far away from the English language. I can tell you when you hear someone speaking your language in a foreign land, your heart leaps to hear it.

This is precisely what happened here in the 2nd Chapter of Acts. This was not some crazy experience where people were babbling in unknown languages, but believers were speaking in languages that were unknown to themselves, but known to others present in the room.

This event got people’s attention. It gathered a crowd of people from all over the known world. And these people weren’t just overhearing snippets of random conversation in a public place, but they were hearing believers declaring the mighty works of God. They were hearing the Good News of the Gospel.

While we like to concentrate on the fantastic and miraculous signs, God wants to spread the Good News of his might works throughout the world.

And this event did just that. People heard in their own language and they were amazed. Some of them laughed and mocked the believers, saying they were “drunk on new wine.” But others heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and believed. It was those people that helped the spread of the gospel all over the known world.

These passages document the baptism of the Holy Spirit—the initial indwelling of the Spirit granted to all the believers who were present.

Lexham Survey of Theology The Spirit’s Indwelling

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of the gifts of salvation by which God’s very presence, in the person of the Spirit, indwells the church corporately and Christians individually, drawing them into the life of the triune God.

There are some church traditions that believe this indwelling of the Spirit is a temporary condition. Some might say that you get the Spirit at some point later when you grow sufficiently in your faith to earn it. Some might say that you don’t get the Spirit until you begin to display some of these signs of wonder, such as speaking in tongues or healing the sick.

We believe that once you receive the Spirit, when you believe in Christ and confess him as your Savior, that this is permanent. Now certainly we could also say that you may or may not experience all of the so-called fullness of the Spirit or exhibit some or none of these spiritual gifts when the Spirit fills you. We can attest that unconfessed and unrepentant sin in your life will absolutely restrict the power of the Spirit in the life of the believer. If you find no trace of the Holy Spirit in your life or any evidence of the gifts of the Spirit, I recommend you take corrective measures to give some attention to your spiritual condition.

III. The Church Witnessed

I know some of you picked up your handout this morning and looked at the sermon notes and thought to yourself, “Pastors never going to get through all of that in one sermon!” And you’re right! I’m not. We’re going to come back and study Peter’s message to the gathering next week or even two weeks. There’s a lot to unpack in there, that I don’t want for you to miss.

I mentioned to you a moment ago that the confusion of languages in Acts 2 was not a confusion of messages. It was a confusion over HOW these believers in Christ were speaking in languages that they could not have known. They were not speaking in unknown languages, but known languages and there were people there who could understand them and interpret the meaning.

I don’t have the gift of tongues, but I do have the gift of languages. I studied French in High School and College. But I never got good at speaking French until I moved to West Africa and started speaking French every single day.

Mais je n’est pas parlais francais depuis longtemps. [I haven’t spoken French in a long time.] That means I am no longer adept in the language. I was pretty good in French until the day I stopped speaking it every day.

Do you know when I lost most of my French proficiency? When I started speaking Spanish. It took me a long time to get proficient in Spanish because I never spoke it every day until I moved to the Valley.

The funny thing is that with a solid foundation in French and an active proficiency in Spanish, I can almost understand a few other languages including Italian and a smattering of Romanian, even though I’ve never studied or spoken those languages on a regular basis.

However, I’m not likely to pick up much in overhearing a conversation in Mandarin or Russian or German.

And, I will admit that I have never spoken in tongues or been able to interpret anyone who speaks in tongues. But I know people who claim to be able to do so and I know a few people who can do so that I consider to be pretty solid Christian believers.

As we study the Book of Acts we are likely to run into some accounts of biblical events that may be challenging to our understanding and your long held beliefs. We’ll probably read some stories about people being healed, people speaking prophetically, some people dropping dead in their tracks because of their sin, and some people speaking in unknown languages (the so-called language of angels).

I want you to know that’s okay. I can’t say that I have all the answers to everything. I try to explain to you what the Bible says and give you a balanced view of our understanding of the account. I try to tell you what we believe and why and let you make up your own mind about it. If you disagree with me about something or some view I’ve presented, that’s okay too.

I know that some of you may be cessationists, that is to say that you believe the miracle signs ceased after the apostolic age. Some of you may be continuationists, that is to say that you believe the miracle signs continue to this day. I personally cannot say that I am either a cessationist or a continuationist, but I know that if God wants to use someone to exhibit his glory through a sign, then he is free to do so.

As I said, I know some pretty strong believers that practice these gifts even if I don’t understand them. I also know that I’ve seen some pretty strange things in my time of ministry, that defy human explanation. I also know that having been overseas that our Western view of things cannot explain away everything in the world.

I’ll just summarize those thoughts with this statement, “Let’s not put God in a box, but allow him to distribute his spiritual gifts where he needs them to fulfill his plans.”

1 Corinthians 12:11 CSB

11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

I do believe that we all have spiritual gifts and we each should be actively engaging in using our gifts to perform God’s work, to reach the lost world for Christ, and to serve our church body with every bit of power we can find within.

What is your spiritual gift? Do you know it? Do you use it?

Our passage for today explains that this burst of speaking known languages and interpreting those languages was used to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the known world.

My prayer for us today is that our gifts—your gifts—may be used for the same purpose.