The Power of Pentecost Pt. 3

Introduction

Have you ever heard of a Basillica called the Sagrada Familia? In 1882, an architect Antoni Gaudi began the project, with the EXPECTATION that it would take approximately 200 years to complete. Gaudi actually wanted to build a sanctuary that he would never see completed in his lifetime. His goal was to lay down plans for a multi-generational project, taking on all the unknowns about time. When asked why make a building that takes so long to complete, Gaudi responded, “My Client is not in a hurry.”

Nobody knew this project would need to endure two world-wars as well as the Spanish Civil War. Gaudi’s prediction of 200 years was probably acurate when you take into account the speed of human labor. But thanks to robotics and advanced computer engineering, the building project is expected to finally be complete in 2026, a full century after Gaudi’s death.

I found this quotation about the Sagrada Familia,

“Attention to detail like Gaudi’s has probably never been attempted at such a scale. There are painstaking carvings so high up that perhpas no one may see since the scaffolding came down. But maybe that’s the secret to great art— art made only for the eye of God.”

I’m no art expert, but in my humble opinion, the exterior beauty of the Sagrada Familia is dwarfed by it’s interior beauty. Gaudi’s vision for the use of light reflects and literally refracts a creativity that is hard to duplicate or rival. Who ever heard of painting with light? But essentially, that’s what he’s done and I want to visit Barcelona ASAP!

While preparing for this sermon, I was looking for some kind of picture or metaphor that could rival the beauty, intentionality, and durability of the church—not the building Gaudi designed—but the REAL church: the people of God founded on the Apostles and Prophets as their foundation. Gaudi’s foresight and creativity is embarrassingly small next to God’s grandeur and genius. Think about it:

During the Festival of Weeks—the celebration God required the Israelites to commemorate those years of dwelling in tents—look at what God did: He established a new Tent—not the Tabernacle of Old, but a new one built with Living Stones: 1st Peter 2:5

1 Peter 2:5 (ESV)

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So God is the builder of a new place for His Spirit to dwell. That dwelling place, according to 1st Corinthians 6:19

1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

So on the day when Jews from all over came to re-enact how their forefathers dwelled in tents, God’s Spirit came to dwell with mankind, IN mankind. And I declare to you today: if Christ dwells within you by the Spirit, the beauty of your interior will always exceed that of your exterior. The Spirit of Christ sanctifies you through and through, so that the Light of Christ may shine in a very dark world and a very dark time.

I want us to look at the passage I read earlier. It’s just a few verses and here’s what I want you to see:

The People of Pentecost

The Pattern of Pentecost, and

The Prosperity of Pentecost

In part 1 explained that the power of Pentecost was rooted primarily in God, not primarily in the manifestation of gifts. Instead, God’s power to make good on His promises and his providence make it possible for us to have power to fulfill our purpose: to glorify Him and make Him known until the glory of the Lord fills the earth like the waters fill the sea.

In Part 2 we looked at Peter’s sermon and I argued last week that God’s power source is transferred in a particular way: it’s through the Word. The scripture has power to change the preacher and through proclamation the scripture transforms the hearer.

The People of Pentecost

So today, we see what the power is actually for: the creation of a new people; that is, the People of Pentecost. If you’re hearing me today and you have placed your faith in Christ for salvation, trusting that His death is payment for your sins and His righteousness is makes you righteous before God, you are among the People of Pentecost. God’s Spirit dwells within you and among us for without the Holy Spirit, no one can truly say “Jesus is Lord” except by Him (1st Cor. 12:3)

1 Corinthians 12:3 (ESV)

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Luke’s intent is to help us understand what the first believers did as a normal course of life. This is, after all, a history of Jesus’ commands to His disciples through the Holy Spirit. I’m referring now to verses 42. But the danger in looking at these practices is to turn them into a mere list; as if to say, “Here’s what we have to do if we’re going to do church the right way.”

Continuing Steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine (check)

Continuing Steadfastly in the fellowship (check)

Continuing Steadfastly in the breaking of bread (check)

Continuing Steadfastly in prayers (check)

Please understand this: the early believers didn’t commit themselves to these practices in order to DO church. The early believers did these things because they WERE the church. In other words,

The on-going commitment to these practices is the BY-PRODUCT of already being the Spirit-Filled People of God. My point is this: BEING the People of God is necessarily prior to DOING godly things. The activities we see in verse 42 are sanctifying—not in and of themselves—but because they are first Spirit-enabled.

You can check through the Old Testament: Israel is not slack in their religious fervor. In fact, they had so much religious fervor they sacrificed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and found other gods to worship too. That was the problem—their hearts weren’t sold out exclusively to God, but they It’s not like they weren’t doing the things that God asked them to do in the realm of public worship. But you can be involved in Bible-based activities and practices found in the scripture and still not be pleasing to God! Look at Isaiah 1:11-15

Isaiah 1:11–15 (ESV)

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

“When you come to appear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

Often, Israel was engaging in the forms of worship without a heart of worship. So Isaiah among other prophets came to them, calling for repentance. And what is repentance? It’s simply turning your back to sin and coming back to God. Coming back to God is always the answer. I love Joel 2:13

Joel 2:13 (ESV)

and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

and he relents over disaster.

I’m laboring this point because it would be a shame if in our New Testament days, we repeated the Old Testament mistakes. I tell you the truth, if you are zealous for the apostles’ doctrine, if you are committed to fellowship, if you are the most regular at the communion table and pray seven times a day—but if you do these things to JUSTIFY YOURSELF—if you do them because you think you will score points with God and get your way with HIm—you are simply trampling His courts. You don’t want Him to hide His eyes from you, you don’t want Him to close His ears to your prayers.

Joel said “tear your hearts”—but that’s what Good preaching does. Remember? When Peter preached, the Luke records that the hearers were “cut to the heart” and they came saying “What must we do to be saved?” Peter told them, and so I’m telling you:

Repent. Recognize that God is not interested in your religious activities if you are using them as kind of bribe: Hey God, I gave you 90 minutes on Sunday so, how about answering a few of these prayer requests. You might not have ever said it like that or with those words, but isn’t that the essence of your complaint: I do all the good stuff God says to do, but it’s not working for me. Just like Isaiah 58:3

Isaiah 58:3 (ESV)

‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

and oppress all your workers.

Here’s the alternative: Ezekiel 36:25-28

Ezekiel 36:25–28 (ESV)

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. 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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

If you give up on your religious service as the thing that justifies and simply return to God confessing your sin, He promises to give you a bath, and a new heart, and give you His Holy Spirit and look at the promise, I will be your God and you will be my people. And THAT is the power of Pentecost: that God’s Spirit living inside of us makes us clean, makes us new, and makes us His people. And because we are His people, we follow a particular pattern

The Pattern of Pentecost

As human beings, we are shaped by the habits we learn, practice, and repeat. When I teach the Spiritual Disciplines class at my church for new members, I often reflect on the fact that babies are constantly observing and mimicking the habits of those around them. Their mastery of lifting up their heads, sitting up, crawling, and then walking are not just sequential but cumulative. Not too long ago, my wife and I were looking at pictures and videos of our 3 year old son. After seeing a picture where he looked particularly small in my arms, she remarked, “He was so small then, but he’s wrestling you now!” In other words, from the time of our infancy, we are not only learning particular habits—but those habits and the mastery of those habits set us up to master future habits and even new patterns.

Acts 2:41–43 ESV

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

In other words,

When we look again at our text, we observe that those who received Christ also received Christ by baptism, then they received Christ in the doctrine of scripture, and they received Christ by receiving other Christians in fellowship or partnership of the gospel, and they received Christ in the Lord’s supper or by hospitality and then they spoke to Christ in prayer. Added to all this, the Apostles confirmed Christ by signs and thus they all reverenced Christ and the reverence of Him spread among the people too.

Can you see that? Those who received Christ understood Him to be at the center of their lives. And because we are social creatures, formed around the habits and patterns learned from one another, we naturally, organically, attach to persons who have similar habits embrace patterns like our own. So believers who saw Christ at the Center linked up with others who also saw Christ at the Center. Having a common center, they became family. And what was the result? They started to look like family: Acts 2:44-46

Acts 2:44–46 (ESV)

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

And so the pattern is simple: a common King makes common subjects. If we are brothers of the same Lord, then we are children of His Father. The oneness that Paul speaks about in Ephesians 4 is not theoretical—it is real and practical: Ephesians 4:1-6

Ephesians 4:1–6 (ESV)

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

So, practically speaking, being a Christian automatically makes you a brother or sister to any other Christian. And the most natural way to recognize who’s in the family is simply this:

who comes to the family home,

who eats at the family meal,

who talks the family talk, and

who takes part in the family business.

So if you know who regularly attends Viers Mill Baptist Church for worship

If you know who takes communion here regularly

If you know who loves to talk about Jesus and how to share His message with the world around us, then you know who your family is. Let me add a brief word about two issues I discovered as I checked background sources and commentaries,

First, about “breaking of bread” (I do take this to mean communion, or Lord’s Supper… but it’s not restricted to that. Verse 46 says that they broke bread AND ate their food from house to house.

Next about “all things in common”—don’t let anyone tells you that the early church was communist. Communism imposes rules against private property from the top down—but these early believers voluntarily sold houses/property from the ground up. There’s no point of similarity from the perspective of governance, ok?

Which brings me to my third point:

The Prosperity of Pentecost

Acts 2:47 is brief so I’ll make my comments brief as well, Acts 2:47

Acts 2:47 ESV

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I think this passage would challenge many of the increasing number of Church Growth seminar speakers and Gurus of our day. The church in Acts 2 didn’t grow because of advanced marketing techniques or survey studies, or appealing to affinity groups. Nothing like that. Peter preached a sermon that gave glory to God, it pointed to Christ, it was true to the text, and the Holy Spirit convicted the hearts of sinners. 3000 souls is awesome, but that’s not the prosperity of the church: faithfulness to God and trusting Him for the results—that’s where the prosperity of the church is. It’s in reliance on the power of God, not first and foremost our human efforts.

Just as Peter made himself available to preach faithfully, when those who were under his and the Apostles’ care were also LIVING faithfully, God blessed their efforts as well. Note that it was the LORD who added to the church, not the apostles, not the membership, but the LORD .

Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. Now that was a LONG time ago, but the fact that we are gathered here today is practical proof that the Lord Jesus is still building a church that hell can’t conquer. And death? Death is simply the doorway through which the Church Militant down here becomes the Church Glorious up there… Nothing can stop us—because our founder and builder has already defeated death and sin. And through the Power of Pentecost—the Spirit of God living within us and making us God’s People, we too will endure all things, giving the glory to Christ who makes us prosper through faithfulness to Him.

The invitation (“The stone that the builder rejected became the cornerstone”)