The Day of Pentecost

The first Christian Pentecost finished what we see as the “Jesus event” by which God came to live with His people forever. In our minds and on our calendars we can separate Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. But we should also try to see them as one divine plan which transformed interaction between God and His people. Pentecost is the final episode in the Jesus event.

Without Pentecost, we would not have the Church today. The Day of Pentecost truly marks the birth of the Church.

Billy Graham, that great and uncompromising preacher, once in a Revival meeting held at Los Angeles, shared a passionate message on the Early Church, outlining what needs to be done for the Churches of modern era to become more effective.

While many were moved by it, some … Christians … criticized him of taking Christianity back by 100 years, to which he is said to have replied with wisdom borne out of a long, enduring relationship with Christ:

"I did indeed want to set religion back, not just by 100 years but 1,900 years, to the Book of Acts when first century followers of Christ were accused of turning the Roman Empire upside down." (Suresh)

(pause)

Today, as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday today, I want to take us back … now … nearly 2,000 years to what happened that on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus had risen from the dead. What was the church - the body of believers - like at that time? What did they experience? Let us read our scripture:

Acts 2:1–4 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

What was the Church like when it first began? We see five characteristics in Acts 1-2.

1. Prayer, Acts 1:14 .

Acts 1:14 ESV

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Sometimes churches may relegate prayer to a perfunctory action, something that bridges the gap between one part of the worship service to the other. Or prayer is seen as that obligatory act before we eat or go to sleep.

But prayer truly is the engine of the Church. A praying church is a powerful church!

What happened when the Church began to pray after they had returned to Jerusalem?

(pause)

In Acts 1:15-26 we read what truly seems to be a curious story. As the believers were gathered together praying and studying God's Word, Peter stood up and quoted various Old Testament scriptures that indicated they needed to choose someone to replace Judas Iscariot's place as an apostle.

In other words, the prayer meeting turned into a business meeting. One might think that it wasn't that important for Judas Iscariot's place to be filled, but as the church was gathered for prayer and study of God's Word, they realized it was necessary.

Furthermore, they realized the importance of this apostle - he needed to be one who had followed Jesus from the time that Jesus was baptized by John until Jesus ascended into Heaven. They put two names forward and then prayed for God's guidance. Matthias was chosen. Interestingly, the very next thing we read is of the Holy Spirit's outpouring upon the believers!

The believer’s devotion to prayer opened their eyes to a need in the Church and led them to take action.

Prayer is not just filler for the Church of God. Prayer helps us to relinquish our plans and priorities to the purpose and will of God. Prayer reorients our lives so that we can truly live as God would have us to do so.

In a seminary mission’s class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan.

He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood.

Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine.

The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work. (Source?)

(pause)

I wonder, are there any loose connections in our church, our lives, that is preventing the Holy Spirit from doing greater work in our midst?

(pause)

The praying church is an empowered church!

What was the church like when it first began on that Day of Pentecost?

2. Purpose, Acts 2:1.

Acts 2:1 ESV

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

The Church at its best, the Church that God blesses, is a united church. Unity does not mean uniformity. Rather, a better picture of unity is of different voices joining together in beautiful harmony.

The Church was united in seeking God's will and God's direction. They were marked by a loving fellowship together, and a commitment to work together.

We must recognize how vital unity of purpose in the church is.

Do you remember Jesus' High Priestly Prayer that he uttered after instituting the Lord's Supper, shortly before going to Gethsamane where he would be betrayed by Judas Iscariot?

(pause)

Jesus prayed in John 17, first for the Eleven, but then for all who would trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. In John 17:20-21 we read Jesus praying…

John 17:20–21 ESV

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The unity of the believers will convince the world that the Father truly sent Jesus to be our Savior!

In verse 22 Jesus said:

John 17:22 ESV

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

Here Jesus prays that we might experience such perfect unity as he and the Father do. Even though the Father and Son are different Persons in the Godhead, they are one, inseparable from one another.

John 17:23 ESV

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Again, notice that our unity in the Body of Christ is a testimony to the world of God's love for the lost!

Our enemy would love to stifle our passion, our unity, and our influence as Christ’s Church by making things that can divide us our priorities. We must resist his wiles and temptation. Petty differences, opinions and agendas must be forsaken so that our testimony of God’s grace to a lost and dying world may be unhindered!

Our unity as the people of God is a powerful testimony of God's grace!

Herman Edwards was a colorful and witty coach in the NFL some years ago. I like his thoughts on teamwork that he expressed at one point. He said, “The players that play on this football team will play for the name on the side of the helmet and not the name on the back of the jersey.” (Houston Chronicle, 1/6/2010)

What was the church like, when it first began?

3. Purity, Acts 2:3.

In Acts 2:3

Acts 2:3 ESV

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

Fire is a symbol of purity. Fire, while often seen as destructive, truly has a cleansing effect. Fire in a forest burns out the old, dead brush. The result is a younger, healthier vegetation.

Precious metals are refined by fire. As the metal is heated, the impurities come to the top, and they are scraped off. The result is a pure, precious metal.

This scripture reminds of Isaiah's vision of the Lord seated on the throne. Writing of that experience, we read Isaiah’s words:

Isaiah 6:5–7 ESV

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

On the Day of Pentecost, the 120 believers in the Upper Room were those who had trusted in Christ. Their sins were forgiven.

But their nature was still corrupted with the principle of sin - carnality - with which we are all born. The tongues of fire resting on these believers symbolizes the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in which our nature is purged of carnality.

God's desire is for every follower of Christ to have this same "Pentecost" experience in their heart and lives. You see, the problem of sin in your life is two-fold. Because you are a descendant of Adam, part of the fallen human race, you are born with a nature that is corrupted by an inclination to sin - carnality.

Carnality is that innate disposition to choose Self instead of God. We are not guilty of this inbred sin - this sinful inclination. But our nature is corrupted by this desire to sin.

And we all do, at some point in our life, commit sin. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." When we commit sin, we then become guilty of sinning against God. And, as Romans 6:23 says…

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, …

But thanks be to God for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ! Jesus died in our place to take away all our sin. The rest of Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we turn to Jesus and ask him to save us, we are asking him to forgive us of all those sins we have committed in the past. We are committing our life to live for him from that point on. Jesus forgives us our sins, but our nature is still corrupted by the sin principle.

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You see, God's desire and plan for us is not just to forgive us of sins we have committed, but also to cleanse our nature of carnality so that we might live before him, holy.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, which was written to believers, says…

1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1 Thessalonians 5:23 is a prayer and says:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely …

At one time, for all time, may God sanctify you completely!

This work of entire sanctification is what was symbolized by the tongues of fire resting upon the believers on the Day of Pentecost. God cleansed these believers' hearts of carnality by faith so that they might be holy through and through. And this same work God desires to do for each one of us today!

We use the term “holiness” to refer to this second work of grace God desires to give us. Hoiness is a beautiful term - it is part of our church name. However, it is often misunderstood today.

When some people hear the word “holiness”, they hear “charismatic” and envision people speaking in tongues and more. Others hear “holiness” and think of strict rules for living. Others hear the word “holiness” and imagine a perfection that truly is unattainable in this life.

This confusion about holiness has made us wonder at times if we should avoid the term, but I believe we should reclaim it and understand its true intent.

Holiness primarily is referring to our standing before God. As sinners, we were unholy, having committed unholy deeds but also possessing an unholy nature.

Jesus died on the Cross to take away our sin - both those sinful deeds which made us guilty in God’s sight but also our sinful nature which predisposed us to rebel against God and commit sin in the first place.

When we are saved, our guilt for sinful deeds is taken away. When we experience the work of holiness, our nature is cleansed of that desire to sin against God.

The work of holiness is not some mystical chanting of words we don’t understand and no one else around us understands either. We will talk about what it meant when the scripture says the believers spoke in other tongues (or languages) a little later in this message.

But also, please note that the work of holiness is not a conformity to some strict set of rules. Rather, the work of holiness cleanses us from the desire to sin, thus leaving our heart unified for one desire: to please Christ.

Therefore, we then live more carefully, desiring to please Christ in every way - how we think, how we speak, how we act, and even how we dress, the things we purchase, the entertainment we enjoy.

This carefulness to live holy will mean that we live distinctly from the world… and may even mean a distinction from some fellow Christians.

But… the point is not so much about how we live differently as it is why we live differently. Our desire is to please Christ. So, we do our best every day to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice, rather than all the other voices in the world shouting for our attention.

Note also that the work of holiness does not make us perfect in the sense of absolute perfection. Rather, we are still human. We may make mistakes. We may even sin. But our desire, our passion, is to live holy as Christ is holy.

So our orientation is ever toward Christ. If we fail, we seek God’s forgiveness. We seek his maturation and molding of our lives. For we recognize, as that one song says, “Holiness is what I need”. Therefore, “holiness is what I long for.”

(pause)

What was the church like when it first began on that Day of Pentecost?

4. Power, Acts 2:4.

Having been cleansed of carnality, Acts 2:4 says:

Acts 2:4 (ESV)

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…

The principle of sin was removed, so that the Holy Spirit could fully abide within them. Before this sanctifying work, these believers wanted to live for God, but carnality often sabotaged their best efforts.

Peter's wishy-washy experience as a follower of Christ is a great example of this. In one moment, he would agree to walk on water; in the next, he would sink because he looked at the waves.

He would proclaim Jesus to be the Son of God, then he would try to convince Jesus to disobey the Father's will.

Now, having their natures cleansed of carnality and being filled with the Spirit, these believers were empowered - empowered to live above willful sin and empowered to serve God in a mighty way.

In the last few verses of this chapter, Acts 2:42-47, we see a beautiful picture of unity and fellowship in the church. The believers were praying together, studying God's Word together, fellowshipping together, sharing with anyone who was in need, praising God and seeing more and more people trust in Christ as Lord and Savior each day.

Why? Having been cleansed of inbred sin, they could then experience the filling and empowerment of the Spirit, unhindered by selfish motives and hidden agendas. They were sold out for God, and their consecration to God was then used in a mighty way!

[A preacher once] was speaking to a medical college in India on Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

In front of the lectern was an oil lamp, with its cotton wick burning from the shallow dish of oil. As he preached, the lamp ran out of oil, the wick burned dry, and the smoke made him cough. He immediately used the opportunity.

“Some of us here are like this wick,” he said. “We’re trying to shine for the glory of God, but we stink. That’s what happens when we use ourselves as the fuel of our witness rather than the Holy Spirit. Wicks can last indefinitely, burning brightly and without irritating smoke, if the fuel, the Holy Spirit, is in constant supply.” (Larson)

What was the church like, when it first began?

5. Proclamation, Acts 2:4.

Acts 2:4 (ESV)

…and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:6-11 explain to us that the Jews gathered in Jerusalem for this feast called Pentecost were from seventeen different regions. Greek was the common language that most people could speak, but the people from these different areas also had their own native tongue - their first language.

Acts 2:6 says…

Acts 2:6 ESV

And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

When we think of Pentecost, we typically think of when the Holy Spirit was first poured out upon believers - Jewish believers - on this Day of Pentecost.

However, the book of Acts also tells us about a couple other “pentecosts” in which believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. One such example is when Peter and John laid their hands on the believing Samaritans. The scripture account is quite straightforward: Acts 8:17

Acts 8:17 ESV

Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Interestingly, for the Samaritans who presumably spoke the same language as the Jews who lived all around them, the filling of the Spirit doesn’t appear to have been attended by speaking in tongues.

Another “pentecost” was when the Holy Spirit first fell upon believing Gentiles, the household of Cornelius, the Roman centurion. Acts 10:45-46 say:

Acts 10:45–46 ESV

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,

As these Romans were filled with the Holy Spirit, we again see the speaking of tongues as the Jews were able to recognize that they were praising God for his wonderful gift.

The point is simply that the speaking of different languages that sometimes accompanies the filling of the Holy Spirit was given so that people could more easily communicate the Good News of Jesus with others.

Do you remember what Jesus told the believers in Acts 1:8 as he prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit?

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

… you will be my witnesses …

God sanctifies us and fills us with the Holy Spirit so that we can share the Good News of God’s grace with others!

(pause)

For the Christian, the follower of Jesus, being a witness is not an option. We are expected to witness of what Christ has done for us. Quite frankly, simply by how we live, we are witnesses of Jesus. The question is, what kind of witness are we?

Do we proclaim a consistent testimony, of sold-out holy living? Or do sometimes honor God and sometimes dishonor him by our speech, our actions, and our attitude?

Cleansed and filled with the Spirit, we are then empowered to share the Good News both by word, but also by a life that is fully consecrated to Christ!

Years ago, I spent some time trying to understand what I felt like God's mission for my life was. Finally, I adopted 2 Corinthians 5:20 as my life verse:

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

This is my personal mission statement - that I am an ambassador for Christ. But I believe this is also true for each one of us who love Jesus.

Please don't misunderstand what is being here. I am not saying that you are not a "real" Christian unless you are regularly giving evangelistic presentations to the lost. To be truly spiritual you do not have to hand out tracts to others.

(pause)

No, the point is that as a follower of Jesus, you ARE a testimony, a witness, of Jesus.

(pause)

That means how you live each moment of the day is a testimony to others of what it means to be a Christian. Are you living in such a way that God's name is glorified in you?

Not only are we responsible to live as a testimony for Jesus, but we are also responsible to proclaim the Good News about Jesus. We each may have different ways to share Jesus' love to others. Some may have more, and some may have less, opportunities to share Jesus' love. But the point again is to share God's love - the Good News - as God gives us opportunity.

…A man by the name of John Currier … in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.

Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.

Here is the point of this story:

… "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message -- the most important in your life -- and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?"

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message? (adapted, ODB)

(pause)

On that special Day of Pentecost many years ago, 50 days after Christ had risen from the dead, the Church was born in prayer, united in purpose, purified and empowered by the Spirit, to proclaim the Good News that Jesus loves you, and you and you.

Today, as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, carefully consider these following questions:

Is our church truly devoted to prayer? No, this is not a question of having prayer in our services or even a prayer meeting during the week. Rather, is our church truly devoted to prayer? Have we seriously considered what resources, what power, we may forfeit if we fail to be devoted to prayer? What should you change in your life so that you can be more devoted to prayer than you are now?

Is our church united for the purpose of glorifying Christ? Are we truly working together? Is there a happy unity, or is there suspicion and divide? Do we truly expect God's blessing if we continue in disunity? What action is the Holy Spirit calling you to make in order to seek greater unity in our church?

Have you experienced the second work of grace - entire sanctification - in your heart and life? Have you truly consecrated all to God, or are you holding a little back… just in case?

Can you see how this divided heart and soul will never experience fully what God has in mind for you? Will you pray, admitting the problem of carnality in your life and asking for the purging, cleansing work of the Holy Spirit?

Are you living in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit - or are you living by your own strength? Are you truly living a life of power - being victorious over willful sin and having the ability to serve God as he directs you?

Are you living each day, conscious of the fact that you are a witness of Christ - not only in words but in every deed you perform? Are you living in such a way that Christ is honored with your life?

When the Holy Spirit gives you opportunity to share the Good News, are you faithful to do your best to tell others of your love for Christ? If not, what changes is the Holy Spirit calling you to make right now?

Pentecost Sunday reminds us that the church on fire is a church of prayer, purpose, purity, power, and proclamation. Pentecost Sunday reminds us that God's intention is that we be a church on fire for God!

Do you want to be that church on fire?

I do, don't you?!

Could we then pray right now, asking the Holy Spirit to come upon us, to fall upon us in a fresh way, cleansing of sin, filling with his power, emboldening us to live and share the Good News with others?