Not Many Days From Now

Scripture Reading

Acts 2:1–13 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Thank you, Sheila. Good morning everyone.

Announcements

I have to make some announcements this morning.

Today is Family Sunday! On the months when we have 5 Sundays, we invite all of our kids 2nd grade and up to join us in the service. Kids, we’re glad you’re here. Parents the safety team asked me to make sure that you have your tags when you’re picking up your child so please make sure to have those ready and available. We love our kids and just want to keep them safe.

Also, Pastor Jacob has been meeting with a group of men on Wednesday mornings for a while now, and the group is being opened up to the men of the church. They will begin meeting in the gathering room on Wednesday mornings from 6-7 am beginning on October 9th.

There’s a ladies s’mores night at the Cornellison’s home which is a good way to get to know the ladies at Reliance on October 11th

Finally, we are having our Fall Festival on October 13th. Please send me an email if you would like to submit your chili for our chili competition that evening. It helps me know how to get a count of who is bringing what. There is also a signup in the foyer

Prayer

Lord,

You are true to Your Word and Your Promises. Everything you have said and done is greater than we expected. When you spoke creation into existence nothing refused to be. When you promised a messiah to come, you sent Your only Son Jesus Christ. When You promised that the Holy Spirit would come, He came with wind and fire. There is no one greater than You.

We so often want to plead ignorance when it comes to knowing you more deeply. Sometimes we see Your Word as a hurtle to know you more deeply, when the truth is that apart from knowing Your Word we blind ourselves to the truth. Unveil our eyes Lord.

We thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to empower us not solely to read Your Word, but to be changed by it and to Do Your Word.

We pray for Pastor Jacob and His family this morning as they rest, and we pray that we would be changed by Your Word this morning.

As we read Your Word. please allow me to let your Word shine past my voice. May we grow in a deeper love of Your plans, and appreciate how our ministries you’ve empowered us to do are truly nothing without Your Spirit directing us to communicate the truths of Jesus Christ.

We pray this in His name,

Amen.

Introduction

It has been ten long days since Jesus’s ascension to the Father. Ten days of waiting for the Spirit to come, which is hard because Jesus has now ascended to the throne. After our Lord’s resurrection, he appeared in and out of the scene multiple times during those 40 days. Luke tells us that He appeared to Mary Magdalene, and Thomas in chapter 20 of his gospel. In chapter 21 of Luke Jesus appears the seven disciples as they are fishing, and sets breakfast out for them. After breakfast he tells Peter to follow him, which is a stinging reminder to Peter of how he betrayed Jesus when he was led to His crucifixion.

Maybe you’re like me where when you are left to wait for something you’re excited about, you begin to doubt it will happen.

It would be hard for any other experience to compete with knowing Jesus personally, and to experience His presence after being raised from the dead only to settle back in and wait. The disciples didn’t really do that though. The recent words of the risen Lord rang true.

Acts 1:4–5 ESV

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

They were anticipating what Jesus said to come true. Just as God’s people have always anticipated His promises to come true.

The time has come. The Spirit of God is here. The world has never been the same.

Prepositional Statement

There is a lot of contextual and historical backfilling we need to do to get a real sense of what the disciples realized when the Holy Spirit came. We need to talk about Pentecost, the Law, the Holy Spirit, and tongues. Ultimately, we need to look at this passage as the sending of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church and the impetus for our participation in God’s mission to reconcile lost souls by the blood of Christ.

Let’s turn to our Scripture this morning. There’s a lot to cover even in the first verse.

Pentecost

Acts 2:1 ESV

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

Location

Just before our passage this morning, we learned that there are 120 disciples, along with the 12 apostles, probably meeting in a large home.

Acts 1:15 ESV

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,

V.1

Pentecost

Have you ever celebrated something you don’t fully understand? I’ve certainly been to birthday parties for people I’ve never met. The same for weddings. I never really celebrate the same as the people who actually know who is being celebrated because I lack any prior relationship with them or any context of their relationship as a couple. Sometimes we do this with holidays too. Take All Hallows Day.

All Hallows Day is a Christian Feast day also known as All Saints Day. It begins on October 31st with prayers and ends on November 1st.

It originally was a day where one would commemorate dead believers in the faith. Think of it like a Christian memorial day. But the meaning changed over time.

I know a missionary who works at a seminary in Poland who shared that it’s more of a public holiday where people bring flowers and candles and prayers and even indulgences from the church to the dead in cemeteries. Most people there, and in many other countries, treat it like a day where there is a thin veil between the living and the dead. As if the dead can experience the love that people once had for them.

For many of us in the West, we don’t think about the saints at all around this time. We know the holiday as Halloween. We are assaulted with new candy aisles at the grocery stores and children at our doors that night. Some of them are dressed as Disney princesses, others as zombies or monsters, and others as pop stars such as Justin Beiber or Taylor Swift. All of them are there to terrify you into giving them candy.

The point isn’t that halloween is bad. The point is that subtle meanings to our celebrations change over time. It’s good for us to know the context of what we do or don’t celebrate.

Unless you grew up in high-church, or a church that follows a liturgical calendar you’re probably less familiar with what Pentecost is for Christians.

Pentecost, for Christians, is celebrated as this day we’re reading about, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church! It’s seven weeks after Easter Sunday, which this last year was May 19th.

Maybe we should set out a birthday cake or something like “happy birthday church!” We could do that next year I guess.

But before pentecost is presented here in Scripture, it was originally known as something else called the feast of weeks or the feast of firstfruits. It’s a celebration we read about in Leviticus 23:15-16

Leviticus 23:15–16 ESV

15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.

This was a feast 50 days after passover, when the Lord rescued Israel from Egypt. Pentecost literally means “50 days.” The feast was a festival of the firstfruits from the grain harvest in Israel. It also came after a period of seven weeks of harvest.

By the time of the first century though, just like All Hallows Day became Halloween, the meaning changed. Now it was celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai like we read about in Exodus 19.

This is the time in Exodus when Israel gathered around the mountain of smoke and fire and thunder and lightening and loud trumpet like sounds. It’s where Moses receives the ten commandments from God.

The Spirit and the Law

It’s important for us to remember that on a day where the Jews are celebrating the giving on the law, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit.

The church becomes the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s coming inaugurates the new covenant law we learn about in Jeremiah 31.

Jeremiah 31:33–34 ESV

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Luke wrote this passage to contrast and compare the law of Moses and this new law given by the Spirit. The ministry of Jesus in fulfilling the law is now carried as the church’s mission, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to reconcile mankind to God.

V.2

There has never been a time in my life where a large wind, loud noise, or fire has indicated that something changed something in my life. Small or big.

With large winds, come the need to replace shingles on my roof, cut broken branches from a tree, or clean broken glass from flying trampolines hitting your bosses truck.

Loud noises have changed my life. Like when I hear my children crying for the first time after they’re born, car accidents, or construction projects.

Fire has changed my life, like when I singed my eyebrows working on a propane furnace, or how my burgers never tasted quite the same after the 3rd severe grease fire from my grill at home.

Wind, Loud sounds, and fire are all dramatic indicators that something is going on around us.

I believe that’s why God brings all three of these to the table when he manifests himself to His people. When the Holy Spirit first comes, you know it.

Luke tells us:

Acts 2:2 ESV

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Wind

I just image the Wizard of Oz. All of these men are at Dorothy’s house when the tornado hits. And they’re like, “there’s no place like home.”

The word for wind or breath in the Hebrew is Ruach, which kind of sounds like a wind if you say it like this. RHUUUAAAACHHHH. You’re welcome.

But it’s also the same word used for Spirit. It’s a similar concept in Greek. Pneuma, like a pneumatic nail gun or drill, means wind and Spirit.

God uses this imagery of His Spirit’s coming very intentionally because this is a very hoped for event from the Prophets in the Old Testament. This rushing wind probably reminded the apostles and disciples of of the prophet Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones.

Ezekiel 37:9–14 ESV

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

We probably wouldn’t readily go here. But the language is too similar to what they just experienced. The Jews believed that the wind of God’s Spirit would usher in a new Messianic age. The age is being confirmed right here for them.

Sound

The fact that this sound of rushing wind is loud also would have reminded the Israelites of the sound at Mount Sinai with the giving of the law. It is Pentecost after all, and the point of Pentecost for Jews at this time is to celebrate the giving of the law. Let’s look at what they’re thinking of as they would remember that event in Exodus.

Exodus 19:16–19 ESV

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

There are loud sounds, wind, and fire all at Mt. Sinai with the giving of the law. All of these are signs of God’s manifest presence. He is at work.

Application

It is really easy to read through our Bibles and think about the events and characters in them as being primitive. They didn’t know what we know now. They were less educated and don’t have the same scientific method we use today. It kind of places us above them with that kind of thinking, even if it’s not intentional.

The truth is that these men were saturated in God’s Word. They were taught it, steeped in the culture of it, and talked openly about it at home, with friends, and at work. They know what the signs mean.

Luke presents all of God’s dramatic presentation of the Holy Spirit because he knows that those who were there saw it as a giving of a new law: the law of Christ.

In their minds, they have been waiting for an event like this. Where God is made manifest through wind, sound, and now fire.

V. 3

Fire

Acts 2:3 ESV

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

Fire is another symbol of divine presence that God has used to let others know He is present.

Moses and the burning Bush

Through fire, God reveals Himself to Moses after he fled from Egypt, to redeem His people.

Exodus 3:2–5 ESV

2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

The Pillar of Fire in the Wilderness

Through fire, God leads His redeemed people through the wilderness as a pillar and cloud.

Exodus 13:21 ESV

21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

The consuming fire on Mt. Sinai

In fire, God appears on Mt. Sinai in the giving of the law.

Exodus 24:17 ESV

17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

The Tabernacle

In fire, God hovered over the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:38 ESV

38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

This last manifestation of God in fire is very important to Israel and where they worshipped. The tabernacle is where they worshiped God through practicing the law and the sacrificial system. In their minds, where the fire dwells is where we worship. And they worshiped at the tabernacle, and then Solomon’s temple.

Tongues of Fire and Baptism

But this is a dramatic shift in their thinking.

Acts 2:3 ESV

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

These tongues, because that’s what they would say that they looked like, were divided and rested on each of them. Not in one location, but many.

Where fire is associated with a place of worship, the tabernacle or temple, now it is associated with a new place of worship. Our bodies.

John the Baptist prophesied this.

Luke 3:16 ESV

16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 2:4 ESV

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Jesus speaking to the woman at the well prophesied this change in worship too. Where believers worship God has fundamentally changed. How believers worship has fundamentally changed.

Do you remember Jesus’s Words to the woman at the well when she wanted to argue about where her Samaritan ancestors worshipped?

John 4:23–24 ESV

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

This is how we worship as believers in Christ, indwelled by and baptized by the Holy Spirit. All who are true believers in Jesus Christ have been baptized by His Spirit. All who are true believers in Jesus Christ can now worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. As we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, we worship God with our bodies in spirit and truth.

V. 4

Acts 2:4 ESV

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Tongues

We need to talk about these tongues. The flames look like tongues, and the apostles and disciples here are speaking in tongues. Regardless on your one’s views of the gift of tongues today, the miracle happening here isn’t like Paul presents in 1 Corinthians about the utterances of tongues and the gift of interpreting tongues. This is a miracle where the disciples are speaking the language in a native language so the native can understand what is being said. There is no need for an interpreter here.

V. 5

Acts 2:5–8 ESV

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

Pentecost is a pilgrimage feast. People are returning home to Jerusalem from being spread out by the Romans. As such, these Jews or proselytes, those who converted to Judaism, speak many other native languages.

Galileans, specifically, had a harder time pronouncing some of the more guttural words of the Semitic languages like Hebrew or Aramaic.

I have another friend named Michael who I met at a worship training years ago. Michael is a drummer and is really good. His band even opened for the The Cure in Souther Africa, where he lives. He’s now married, and pastors a small, faithful baptist church outside of Johannesburg.

We were talking about apartheid one day, and languages and dialects came up. Did you know that there are three trade languages alone for dealing in the marketplace in South Africa? Sometimes I struggle to understand a Southern drawl here in the states and have to turn on sub-titles when I watch a British movie. My friend Michael needs to know roughly 7 languages to interact with the people he lives around. And some of them are tough! They use mouth clicks, and deep guttural starts and stops. It’s pretty awesome.

The Jews are bewildered for a few reasons. We don’t know which sound Luke is referring to here. It could be the sound of the rushing wind, but he uses a different word for sound there. Here, it seems that he’s talking about the utterances from the Galilean believers in V. 5.

Acts 2:9-11

Acts 2:9–11 ESV

9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

All of these lands have a large population of Jews. The proselytes are probably Roman. All of these people hear the Word of God in their language. The mission is happening. God’s mighty work is beginning to be spoken and displayed to the nations.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:12

Acts 2:12–13 ESV

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

This is the ultimate setup. Luke brings us to this point where we are also asking the question, “What does this mean?”

Conclusion

As we’ll see next week in Peter’s sermon: it means an awful lot. It means that the Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came with demonstrable power to enable the apostles and disciples to share the mighty works of God with those whose language they don’t even speak. It’s like the tower of Babel being reversed. It means that our worship is no longer located to a single place, but within the community of individual believers known as the church.

Many around us will ask the question “What does this mean?” when confronted with a believer in Christ who shares the mighty work of God with them. When they are confronted with the gospel. Let us make sure we know how to communicate the answers to them. Let’s read the Word of God, with the guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit, so that we begin to pray for and seek opportunities to share Christ with anyone we meet. It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus.

Turning to Communion

Let’s consider one more aspect of this event for today. There’s just so much packed in here.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote this:

Ezekiel 36:25–27 ESV

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

And John the Baptist wrote this:

Luke 3:16 ESV

16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

If you are a believer in Christ, you have been baptized by His Holy Spirit. He lives within you and now you are a new creation. You need no other baptism of the Holy Spirit because there is no other baptism of the Holy Spirit apart from what you received from Christ when you first believed. It is a baptism of fire. You are indwelled by the Spirit.

Water baptism is an outward expression of faith commanded by Christ. It expresses what happened when we were baptized by the Spirit. Our sins have been cleansed, we have died to sin, and made alive to life in Jesus Christ.

› As the ushers come forward, let’s turn to the table before us.

If you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior from sin and expressed that faith in Him through baptism, then this is for you. This is an opportunity to fellowship with one another as sons and daughters of God to remember Christ’s sacrifice. His body broken for us. His blood shed for us. That our sin would be covered by the mercy and grace of God.

If you have not received Christ as your Lord and savior and expressed that through baptism I would ask you to refrain from communion. Instead, pray that God would make known the truth of His Son known to you and to teach you true obedience.

Pray

Communion

› Be sure to give elements to the ushers and music team.

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

› Eat the bread.

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 ESV

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

› Drink the cup