Babel to Pentecost

Good morning Church! If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Acts 2:1. We are going to spend the next 5 weeks studying chapter 2 and learning about Pentecost. For many Baptists, the topics we are going to discuss can be confusing especially in our local context. Since the world headquarters of the Assemblies of God, is right down the road in Springfield and we have many people here from all sorts of denominational backgrounds, I think that these next few weeks will bring a lot of clarity to the topic of speaking in tongues and the last days.

Next week when we get to Peter's sermon and his quotation of Joel 2 we will spend significant time on the question “what are tongues?” but today we need to feel the weight of what happened before Peter explains it. When we look at the Word of God we can see massive events and minimize their importance because they are historical events. For example: Creation. We read that through the lens of our modern eyes and yet in the creation account we see the entire universe being spoken into existence by the all-powerful God. Yet, instead of speaking humans into existence, God creates man from the earth and shapes him into His image and He takes the rib from Adam and carefully creates the woman as his helpmate.

There are other important events as well when we look at redemptive history: The Fall, the Flood, Exodus, the Cross and resurrection. And right here is this event where we learn about Pentecost. This event is when the risen and exalted Christ pours out the Holy Spirit on His disciples just as He promised He would.

It's not about the first church service, but this is the sign and seal of the New Covenant that was established by His blood. Jesus came and lived a perfect, sinless life. Died on the cross for sinners. Rose again in victory and ascended to heaven and He promised:

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.”

So Pentecost is the fulfillment, the crescendo of His advent, because the Holy Spirit of God comes and empowers believers to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. Pentecost is proof that Jesus reigns right now. This is where the disciples go from waiting to witnessing. Today we are looking what God has done in redemptive history and how He reconciles all things to Himself.

Let's stand together in honor of God's Word as we read Acts 2:1–13.

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.”

To understand what God is doing in Acts 2, we have to go back a few thousand years. All the way back to Genesis the flood has receded and God gives Noah and his sons and their wives a clear command

Genesis 9:1 ESV

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

This is so important that God says it again

Genesis 9:7 ESV

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

So that is humanity’s command go through the earth, subdue it, spread over the face of the earth. This is the same command that the Lord gave to Adam and Eve. But instead of obeying the Lord, humanity chose to reproduce and dwell together. They migrated together and settled in the plain of Shinar. Instead of obeying the Lord, humans decided to be about their glory. They said, “let’s make a name for ourselves” and build a tower to heaven! They continued to rebel against God’s command. God told them to fill the earth and they wanted to do their own thing.

This is the Tower of Babel. Humanity was unified around self-exaltation in direct defiance of God and so God gave them different languages. Since no one could understand each other, the human race divided into different languages and scattered over the face of the earth. This is point 1

What Did God Do at Babel?

At Babel, God divided languages in judgment. The nations were scattered. The wound was deep and the scar was lasting. But Babel leaves a question hanging in the air that the rest of Scripture is answering: Will God ever gather what sin scattered?

Have you ever noticed that humanity has never stopped trying to rebuild Babel? We build towers with technology and governments. We build towers with empires, wealth, social media. Humanity keeps believing “If we can just unite ourselves around human greatness, human wisdom, and human progress, we can save ourselves!” But every tower eventually cracks because sinful people cannot create heaven on earth.

About 800 years later, we find Israel at Mount Sinai. God descends on the mountain in fire and smoke. There are thunders and earthquakes. The people of Israel are terrified and tremble before the Lord at a distance. The Law of God is written on stone tablets. God gives Moses specific directions on how to build a place for worship for Himself. It was a lavish tent called The Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was given to Moses

Exodus 25:8–9 ESV

8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

There were walls, barrier, curtains, priests, sacrifices and separation. It communicated presence without access. This is

What Did God Do at Sinai?

After the Tabernacle came the Temple of God and these structures communicated that God is holy and you cannot come near. The fire of God's presence was not for sinners to approach. This is the same God who at Babel scattered the nations and at Sinai He makes clear that the problem isn't political or social issues. The problem is that sinful humanity cannot stand in the presence of a holy God.

So Sinai leaves its own question hanging: How will a holy God ever dwell with a sinful, scattered people?

The answer was given 2,000 years ago on the cross. When Christ was dying, He cried out with a loud voice, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished!” and He yielded up His spirit, an earthquake rocked Jerusalem and the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.

What God Did at the Cross?

The fire that would have consumed God’s people at Sinai had fallen on Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon said, “Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves.” Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for His people. The barrier that kept Israel at the foot of the mountain was gone. The curtain that separated man from God was torn!

And this is what makes Pentecost possible. The Cross doesn't just forgive sin, it opens the door for God to dwell with His people in a way He never had before. The question now is: what does that look like?

What God Did at Pentecost?

Acts 2:2–3 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. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

This is extraordinary. These signs are shouting the very presence of God among the disciples. They are shouting "God is here!" Notice first the sound of mighty rushing wind.

In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God, in the Hebrew is “ruah”, hovers over the waters. In Ezekiel 37 the breath of God, once again “ruah” enters the dead bones in the valley which come to life. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that the wind blows where it wishes. In Scripture, the wind of God is tied to life, movement, action, power, creation, and the very breath of God. It's uncontrollable, uncontainable and you can't create it or manipulate it. This is the wind of God, the Holy Spirit.

Notice also the fire. Fire consistently is tied to the presence of God. The most famous is probably Moses and the Burning Bush, the fire was burning but the bush wasn't consumed because the presence of God was there. In Genesis 15, God appears and establishes a covenant with Abraham. He appears

Genesis 15:17 ESV

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

So God appeared as a fire pot and a flaming torch. Or the pillar of fire by night which illuminated the dark desert, guided the people of God, protected them, and dwelt among them. At Mount Sinai fire descended on the mountain. There was shaking and terrible thunder and fear.

But something has changed between Sinai and Pentecost. The fire doesn't rest on a mountain anymore, it rests on His people. In the Old Testament, God's presence would descend on holy places like mountains, the Tabernacle, or the Temple. Now the presence of God comes down on believers themselves. The disciples weren't in the temple. They were in an ordinary home. This shows us that the dwelling place of God is not in a temple in Jerusalem but God's people are now the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The fire comes down and divides and rests on each believer individually and yet they are not consumed. Why? Because Christ absorbed the wrath of God for His people. The flame and holy presence that caused Israel to tremble at Sinai is now the source of empowerment and joy in the life of the Christian.

Now Pentecost was a major feast and was better attended than Passover because it was much easier to travel to Jerusalem at this time of the year. These men came from the various corners of the Roman empire. These Jewish men from all over the Roman empire hear this sound that fell on the disciples and a multitude of many thousands gather and listen because this sound is a supernatural event and they hear the Gospel in their own language.

Luke records the nations and peoples from all around Jerusalem:

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.”

Three continents. Over a dozen languages. Every corner of the Roman world. And what is amazing here is not merely that God is undoing the events of the Tower of Babel, He is redeeming Babel.

At Babel, God brought tongues which divided humanity in judgment. At Pentecost, tongues proclaim Christ in grace and bring the nations to Jesus. God doesn't bring a unified language, so it’s not a reversal, rather He redeems diverse languages. The different languages remain, but now they all declare the same thing: the mighty works of God.

I think there’s a few amazing things to note here: 1. By redeeming Babel, He is telling us that we can’t change our past. The sins that we have committed are history. But its not held against us anymore and we can move forward in the grace and forgiveness of Christ. 2. God doesn't conform everyone into the same exact mold. He redeems diversity. The nations that were confused at Babel are now hearing clearly at Pentecost. The scattering is being reversed. The wound is being healed.

So, this is the answer to the question Babel left hanging. Will God gather what sin scattered? Yes. Through the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, He gathers the nations not by erasing their differences, but by uniting them around the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

In 1727, a small Christian community in Herrnhut, Germany experienced a remarkable movement of unity and prayer under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf. The people had been divided by preferences, arguments, suspicion, and theological tension. But after repentance and renewed devotion to Christ, the community experienced revival and a profound spiritual renewal. Out of that revival came around-the-clock prayer, gospel zeal, missions, and extraordinary unity. This became the Moravian mission movement who went on to send missionaries across the world to the Caribbean, Greenland, Africa, and North America.

What changed? It wasn't personalities or politics. Their preferences were still there. What changed was a focus on the Spirit of God that united them around Jesus Christ and His mission to reach the world. That is Pentecost fruit.

Sinclair Ferguson once said that "the Holy Spirit is the shy member of the Trinity because His ministry is to spotlight Jesus Christ." That is exactly what happens in Acts 2. The Spirit comes and immediately brings attention not to Himself but to Jesus Christ.

Will You Choose Babel or Pentecost?

Notice what happens in verses 12 and 13. Some people are amazed and others mock. "They are filled with new wine." I don't know about you, but I've never been around someone who got into some wine and suddenly became clearer, more focused, spoke about the glory of God in salvation, and worshipped the Lord. Hard hearts call what God is doing nonsense and this still happens today. The world still mocks holiness and bold witness. It tries to shame biblical truth and Gospel conviction.

But notice something else. It is God's Holy Spirit that makes the noise that draws men to Himself. This supernatural working brought the disciples out of hiding and thrust them into the public eye. Notice that the Holy Spirit compelled the disciples to speak the mighty works of God while they were in a house and they didn't even know they were witnessing. It happened naturally. This is what evangelism looks like in a Christian's life when they are abiding in the Spirit. They naturally witness. They naturally make disciples. A church can have programs and door-to-door things and prayer walking and those may reap some fruit, but they are no replacement for Spirit-indwelt believers declaring the Gospel of God.

Remember what Babel looked like: people unified around their own goals, their own priorities, their own glory and God divided and scattered them. Is that you? Do you feel divided and alone? Could it be that you have united around your own goals and your own purpose rather than God's mission?

The people Babel is concerned with their priorities, their glory, their goals. Pentecost is concerned with Christ being proclaimed, God being exalted, and the nations being reached. Christians are not perfect people, sometimes we get off track. That's where we remind ourselves of the Gospel and remember that we are a transformed people who are called to be bold, holy, truth-speaking, and Christ-exalting.

But you know, Pentecost is not the end of the story. The mission isn’t either. It is the beginning of the gathering. The Spirit is poured out, the nations begin to hear, and the mission is launched. But God doesn't stop there.

The Apostle John was given a vision of the end and I want you to listen to what he sees:

Revelation 7:9–10 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

This is not a vision of everyone being saved. This is a vision of God's saving purpose being fully accomplished: every tribe, every language, every people represented not because all roads lead there, but because the Spirit of God will not rest until the blood-bought from every nation stand before the Lamb.

Do you see the arc? At Babel, diverse languages were the instrument of judgment. God scattered the nations. At Pentecost, diverse languages become the instrument of grace. God begins to gather the nations. At the throne of God, diverse languages become the instrument of eternal worship and the gathering is complete.

What began in that ordinary house in Jerusalem with ordinary men and women filled with an extraordinary Holy Spirit declaring the mighty works of God ends before the throne of the Lamb with a multitude no one can number from every corner of the earth.

If you are burdened for people who have never heard the Gospel, good. Don't let that burden drive you to theological shortcuts. Let it drive you to your knees and out your front door. That burden is the Holy Spirit doing exactly what He did in Acts 2. The answer is not reassurance. The answer is Pentecost. The Spirit who began gathering the nations in that ordinary house is still gathering them and He does it through the lips of His people.

This is the mission of the Church. This is why the Holy Spirit was poured out. This is why you are here. So the question is simply this: Will you be resident of Babel or a person of Pentecost? Will you build towers to your own name, or will you declare the name that is above every name? The name that is even now gathering the nations to the throne?

Head: God wants you to know that He is gathering the nations to Himself through the finished work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Heart: God wants you to believe that because Jesus poured out His Spirit, God is gathering and restoring sinners through Christ.

Hand: God wants you to stop building your own kingdom and instead boldly help gather people to Christ through Spirit-filled witness.