Pentecost

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WELCOME

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ. It is good to once again be standing before you to minister to you the word of God.
So as you have all probably noticed, the third annual Whidbey Ren Faire is in full swing…
I have only ever been to one renaissance festival, that was more than 30 years ago now in Colorado.
My dad bought me a really cool dagger, with a handle that was wrapped in green leather. It was a neat experience.
But what is the renaissance anyway?
Renaissance is French for ‘rebirth’, and Wikipedia summarizes this period as:
a fervent period of cultural, artistic, political, and economic flourishing in Europe. Spanning roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, it bridged the gap between the Middle Ages and the modern era, and was marked by a revival of classical Greek and Roman art, philosophy, and literature.
What is not mentioned in this summary is that this was also the time of the Protestant Reformation, which I would argue is far more significant than the revival of classical Greek and Roman art, philosophy, and literature. A great deal of religious freedom came out of the Reformation, but not without cost. The renaissance was a time filled with struggle, persecution, and martyrdom for many Protestant Christians.
The reformation really began in the 14th century with John Wycliffe (1330’s to 1384) who is commonly referred to as “the Morning Star of the Reformation”.
John Wycliffe was later followed by men such as Jan Hus, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and John Calvin to name a few.
To this day Martin Luther and John Calvin remain highly controversial figures in the church. Martin Luther is often criticized for falling into staunch anti-semitism towards the end of his life.
John Calvin on the other hand is often mischaracterized by his critics and criticized for his dealings with Michael Servetus, he is also despised by many for his teachings on the nature of God and man.
Calvin is, without serious refutation, the most significant theologian of the protestant reformation. To this day, his book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, remains the most sold and most influential book of Protestant theology in the world.
This morning I would like to open with one of Calvin’s recorded prayers.
Let us pray.

OPENING PRAYER

SPIRIT, LEAD US - Prayer by John Calvin
Almighty God, as you shine on us by your word and show us the way of salvation, we may with open eyes look on that light. And as we are blind also at midday, open our eyes.
May the inward light of your Spirit lead us to the light of your word. Help us to never doubt that you alone are suficient to supply us with all things necessary for enjoying life with you. Distill and refresh us so the light of faith once kindled in our hearts by your grace may never be extinguished - until we attain to the fullness which has been laid up for us in heaven.
May we now in part be satisfied with the measure of knowledge you have given us, until at last we see you face to face. And so transformed to your image, we may enjoy the fullness of that glory into which Christ our Lord has been received.
Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join me in our call to worship.
Pastor:
On the day of Pentecost, the people gathered in Jerusalem to bring an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord.
People:
Give thanks to God, for all his gifts!
Pastor:
And on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit descended upon Jesus’ followers, and they began to speak in tongues.
People:
We will lift up our voices and praise God’s name!
Pastor:
The Spirit, source of the first fruits, gives life and is the promise of the life to come.
People:
Give thanks to the triune God, for the promise of new life!

SONG: LUYH 523 - Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid

CONGREGATIONAL GREETING

Please take a few moments and greet one another.

SONG: LUYH 641 - Eternal Spirit, God of Truth

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

Please join me in our Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon.
Prayer of Confession
People:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, both by what we have done and by what we have left undone. 
We have not loved you with our whole heart. Too often we have failed to welcome into our hearts your quickening Spirit of love and power. 
We are truly sorry and humbly repent. Wash away our sins; and direct our wandering feet into your ways. 
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon:
Pastor:
There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus: For the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2)

SONG: LUYH 601 - All Hail the Power of Jesus Name

BELGIC CONFESSION - ARTICLE 20

This morning I will be reading Article 20 of the Belgic Confession.
Pastor:
We believe that God— who is perfectly merciful and also very just—sent the Son to assume the nature in which the disobedience had been committed, in order to bear in it the punishment of sin by his most bitter passion and death.
So God made known his justice toward his Son who was charged with our sin, and he poured out his goodness and mercy on us, who are guilty and worthy of damnation, giving to us his Son to die by a most perfect love, and raising him to life for our justification, in order that by him we might have immortality and eternal life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER (Pastor Towne)

I will be leading us in our Congregation Prayer this morning.

SONG: LUYH 617 - Spirit Divine, Inspire Our Prayer

CHILDREN’S BLESSING

Parents and children, please join me up front for our children’s blessing.
Congregation please join me in blessing our children.

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OLD TESTAMENT READING - PSALM 65

O God of Our Salvation

TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID. A SONG.

This is the Word of God.

SERMON - Pentecost

SERMON SCRIPTURE

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray
Illumination - Most good and gracious Heavenly Father, as we come to this text this morning, we pray that you would open our eyes, prepare our hearts and minds, to receive your word, that we might know you more, that we might be conformed to the image of Christ, that He might be the firstborn among many.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, and for His glory.
Amen.
CONTEXT
Understanding the Old Testament connection
It is well recognized that the Old Testament is far less popular in Christianity than is the New Testament.
According to LifeWay Research, approximately 65% of sermons preached in Christian churches are sermons based on the New Testament.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. But when we take this number along with the fact that 75% of the Bible is the Old Testament, we get a more alarming statistic.
65% of sermons are preached on only 25% of the Bible.
This means that many pastors go several years without preaching on the Old Testament.
But the Old Testament is very important to our understanding of the New Testament.
Christ Himself quoted the Old Testament nearly 80 times. And there are nearly 300 direct quotes from the Old Testament in the New Testament.
…
Many of us look at the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ apart from the Old Testament significance, and in doing so we miss so much of what took place in those three days.
Likewise, many of us look at the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, apart from the Old Testament, and again, miss many important and beautiful details of this glorious event.
This morning I will spend just a little bit of time, walking us through the Old Testament shadows of what came to fruition in the final weeks of Christ’s earthly ministry, and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
That we might see the connection between the Old and the New.
The types and shadows in the Old Testament that point to the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the New.
…
Now we see in our passage of Scripture for today, that many were gathered in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
It is believed that tens of thousands of Jews were present.
But why you might ask?
It is because these events took place during one of the three major Jewish feast days.
These were times that were observed by all faithful Jews, in which pilgrimages were made to Jerusalem in reverence and celebration of events that took place in Israels history.
The first of these feast days was The Feast of Passover, in remembrance of when the Lord passed over the homes of the faithful Israelites while they were in captivity in Egypt, preventing the destroyer from entering their homes to take the life of their firstborn.
In Exodus 7:14-24, we see the first plague against Egypt for refusing to free the Israelites. The plague of blood, where all of the water of Egypt is turned to blood, but Pharaoh does not let the Israelites go.
Then in the plague of frogs, after which Pharaoh promises to let the Israelites go, then changes his mind.
Then the plague of gnats, and Pharaoh again refuses to release the Israelites.
Then the plagues of flies which fill the houses and the land of Egypt.
Then the plague of livestock in which all of the livestock of Egypt dies.
The plague of boils, the plague of hail, the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness.
All of these warnings from God, all of these proofs to Pharoah that the God of Israel was the one true God.
And still Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites.
…
Then comes the final plague, the plague of the firstborn.
In this event, the Lord commanded Moses to take a male lamb without blemish, to kill it, and to dip a bunch of hyssop into the blood and apply that blood to the two doorposts and to the lintel of each home.
Moses passed this command to each tribe of Israel that they would do the same.
And the Lord said:

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This was a shadow of what took place on Calvary, the the Lamb of God, who was without blemish, was crucified, and his blood spilt to cover the sins of true Israel.
To release them from the captivity of sin and death.
…
And so the following day Pharaoh released the Israelites, and for seven weeks, 49 days they traveled in the desert and the Lord provided for them through many miracles.
A pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them.
Dividing the Red Sea to provide safe passage and to end the Egyptian threat.
Mana from heaven to feed them.
Water from the rock.
…
And then 50 days after the passover, God appeared to the people of Israel, as fire atop Mount Sinai, and He gave them the Law, the 10 commandments.
And this is why the people were gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost (Greek for 50th).
To observe Shavuot (Hebrew for ‘weeks’), the feast of weeks. To remember the blessings that were poured out on the people as they traveled through the desert, and the blessing of God appearing before them to give them the Law. To give them guidance. To unite them as one people, under God.
…
Shadows of what was to come on this day at Pentecost.
…
EXEGESIS

1

Some people have suggested that this miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit that took place in the upper room included a group of about 120 people.
This is because there were 120 people gathered together when lots were cast to determine who would be the next apostle.
This is a commonly held belief amongst those that identify as pentecostal, a charismatic group of Christians that believe the events that took place during pentecost are more or less normative and repeatable for the church today.
But Scripture does not seem to support this assertion.
Rather what we see is a supernatural event in which supernatural gifts were given to a very select group of people for a very specific reason.
Just a few verses earlier we read that the apostles casted lots to determine who would take the place of Judas Iscariot.

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So then we see that the group of which chapter 2, verse 1, is referring, is the group of the apostles.
It is also implied in this passage that Pentecost did not occur on the same day that the apostles were gathered in a group of 120 people.
Let us read these verses together.

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Who is the they?
It is the apostles.
Furthermore, as we will see shortly, it was Peter and the 11 apostles that stood before the people after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and spoke in different tongues, and they were called Galileans.
And we know that the apostles, apart from Judas Iscariot, were all from Galilee.
Highly unlikely that the 120 previously gathered together were all from Galilee.
…
So then we see that the Holy Spirit was poured out with the real and visible symbol of flaming tongues of fire on the 12 apostles, and not on the 120.
And this is not to say that the Holy Spirit was not poured out upon many others, for certainly He was.
But the gift of tongues seems to have been given specifically to the apostles, that they might preach the good news of Christ to people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

Now drinking alcohol was not prohibited in ancient Judaism and is not prohibited in Christianity today, although some denominations have made it so. But the abuse of alcohol was prohibited then, and still is today in the church.
The early church fathers taught that alcohol is a good gift from God meant for moderation, health, and fellowship. They universally condemned drunkenness as a severe sin and spiritual danger, but they firmly rejected calls for total abstinence or the belief that alcohol itself is inherently evil. (Summary from Gemini, see Clement of Alexandria)
Today it is uncommon for people to be drunk in the early hours of the day, in the first century it was even more uncommon and even more frowned upon.
The third hour of the day represents 3 hours after sunrise, so it was approximately 9 A.M. when the apostles were accused of being drunk.
Drinking in the early hours of the day must have been such an uncommon practice that Peter uses it as a defense for the sobriety of the apostles.
…
It is human nature to seek understanding, even when seeking to understand the supernatural, when seeking to understand the hidden things of God.
We must be very carful not to wrongfully fill in the gaps of revelation with human reason.
In doing so we come to unbiblical conclusions and make for ourselves strange doctrines.
…
Peter then goes on to quote the Prophet Joel, specifically Joel 2:28-32.
And we see that these events prophesied about by Joel many hundreds of years earlier, are events that are taking place now in the first century.
And according to Joel’s prophecy, these events that are taking place in the first century, are events that are taking place in the ‘last days’.

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Notice the message that is being preached!
It is a declaration about who Christ is!
The descendent of David that would sit on the throne of David, this is Jesus, who now sits on the throne in heaven!
You see brothers and sisters, what was prophesied about was fulfilled in Christ, and those shadows of the things to come we fulfilled in exceeding grandeur!
Jesus was not merely an earthly successor of king David, destined to sit on an earthly throne over the nation of Israel.
Jesus is the king over both heaven and earth, sitting on the throne in heaven, king over true Israel, which is to say, all who have believed on Him, who by their belief are sons and daughters of Abraham and heirs to the promise!
He is our king brothers and sisters.
He is our Lord.
He is our Great High Priest.
And He is our Hope and our Savior!

36

…

37

Imagine the horror that must have run through the veins of those who were in the crowd that watched as Christ was beaten, as He was crucified.
Those that mocked Him, that spit on Him, that cheered as he was lifted up on the cross.
Those that pitied Him as a fool.
Those who now stand before the apostles with eyes open to the see who this man they call Jesus really was.
More than a prophet, more than a teacher, more than even a king! But as Peter said, He is the one who God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom they crucified.
How could such sin ever be forgiven? Besides blaspheming the Holy Spirit, what greater sin can there be than to kill the Son of the living God?
…

38

This is true for us today brothers and sisters.
Regardless of what we have done in our pasts, there is forgiveness in Christ.
If we turn to Him and turn from our sin, we will be cleansed of all of all our unrighteousness and we will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Yes brothers and sisters! When we become Christ’s, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us.
The Apostle Paul made this clear many times over in his epistles.
In Romans 8:11 we read:

11

And in Ephesians 1:13-14:

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And again in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

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This is very good news brothers and sisters.
If we are in Christ then we are not alone, and we never will be. The Holy Spirit will be within us until we pass into glory and are reunited with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that very same Spirit will continue to work within us, teaching us, convicting us of sin, and drawing us back into repentance, conforming us to the image of Christ.
…

The Fellowship of the Believers

…

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APPLICATION
They became the Church brothers and sisters.
As we also are to do.
So let us be devoted to studying the Word of God.
Spend some time in the Old Testament
Even if you spend half of your time in the Old Testament and half of your time in the New Testament, you will read the New Testament 3 times for every single reading of the Old Testament.
But you will strengthen your understanding of the things that you read in the New Testament if you have this kind of a study habit.
Let us be devoted to being in fellowship with one another.
To breaking bread and praying with and praying for one another.
…

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray
Thanksgiving - Most good and mighty God, we thank you Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to guide us in paths of righteousness, and the protect us from the desires of our flesh and from the spiritual forces of evil.
We thank you for the grace of faith that you have given us, for our regeneration and sanctification. We thank you for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have everlasting life.
Supplication - We pray that you would continue to walk with us throughout this week, prepare us for the trials that we may encounter. Cause us to walk according to Your statutes that in all we do you might be glorified.
We pray these things in the blessed name of Jesus Christ.
Amen

SONG: LUYH 618 - Spirit of God Who Dwells Within My Heart

SENDING BLESSING

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Peace be with you.
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