Pentecost 2019

INTRODUCTION

tells us to not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption.

We grieve the Spirit by rebelling against God—ignoring his commands, doing what we shouldn’t, and not doing what we should.

But I think the Spirit must also be grieved in our day because there is so much confusion in our day regarding the Holy Spirit.

People in our day think of the Holy Spirit as an experience rather than a Person within the Trinity.

People in our day are convinced that the Holy Spirit hasn’t moved unless obvious miracles occur.

People today will even manufacture a “move of the Spirit” to manipulate people into thinking they’ve had an experience with God.

Of course this has led to division among people who all claim to be professing Christians and many times with good reason.

It’s impossible for us to worship with people who look at the Holy Spirit as a experiential joy ride rather than a divine member of the Triune Godhead.

It’s impossible for us to worship with people who claim that the Holy Spirit’s presence is not evident where speaking in tongues is not present.

It’s impossible for us to worship with people who would trick others into thinking they’ve had an experience with the Holy Spirit when in fact they’ve only been emotionally manipulated.

Nevertheless, I think all of this grieves the Spirit because the truth about the Spirit is clear when we turn to the Scriptures.

[CIT] In Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to enable his disciples to understand the Scriptures and empower them to share the gospel—the good news of God’s gracious salvation offered in Jesus Christ.

[PROP] Today, Jesus still sends the Spirit to everyone of us who believes in him for salvation, and he sends the Spirit for the same reasons—to enable us to understand the Scriptures and empower us to share the gospel.

But when we refuse to give ourselves to understanding the Scriptures and refuse to tell others about Jesus, we do indeed grieve the Holy Spirit.

We don’t want to do that, so this morning—on this Pentecost Sunday which is 50 days after Resurrection Sunday—we are going to think about the Holy Spirit and his purpose.

[INTER] Why did the Holy Spirit come?

[TS] Well, there is really only one reason and we’ll see it as we notice three major PARTS to this chapter...

MAJOR IDEAS

Part #1: The Spirit’s power and purpose (vv. 1-13)

Acts 2:1–13 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. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

[Exp] The symbols of wind and fire represent the holy presence of God, which is of course appropriate given that on Pentecost God the Holy Spirit came to dwell within his people. As v. 4 says, “…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

People had come to Jerusalem from all over to the celebrate Pentecost, which was a feast or festival celebrating the firstfruits of the harvest.

There would have been thousands upon thousands in Jerusalem for this celebration and while they may have shared a common Jewish ancestry, they didn’t all speak the same language.

However, when the Spirit filled the disciples, he gave them the ability to speak in other languages so that the people gathered for Pentecost could understand the truth about Jesus in their own language.

As they remarked in v. 11, “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

Some asked, “What does this mean,” while others mocked the disciples by accusing them of drunkenness, but the power of the Spirit enabled everyone to hear about Jesus in their own language.

And that’s the purpose of the Spirit

[Illus] What does it mean that people heard in their own language? Well, obviously it means that if they spoke Greek, they heard in Greek. If they spoke Aramaic, they heard the truth about Jesus in Aramaic. If Hebrew, then Hebrew and so on.

But for those who believed the truth about Jesus, they not only heard in their native spoken language, they also heard in their inner heart language.

That’s why a little later in it’ll say that some in the crowd were “cut to the heart.”

Sometime ago I was talking with some missionaries to Indonesia, and they were telling me about the challenges of sharing the gospel with people there.

These missionaries lived on the island of Bali, and they said two languages are spoken there— Indonesian and Balinese. They said that Indonesian is the national language, but Balinese is the heart language.

They talked about a church that preached the truth about Jesus, but they preached it in Indonesian. They were concerned though that many would not embrace Jesus until they heard the gospel in Balinese— their heart language.

[App] The Spirit speaks our inner heart language, and I don’t mean that the Spirit speaks the language or dialect most beloved by us. That’s what those missionaries meant when they spoke about the Balinese.

[App]

I mean that the Spirit speaks the truth about Jesus to our hearts!

That’s the power and purpose of the Spirit!

There is no language barrier that the Spirit can’t overcome!

There is no obstacle to belief that the Spirit can’t surmount!

As God, he is all-powerful, and when he effectually speaks to our hearts about Jesus, we believe!

[Illus] If we think about for a moment, we realize that the greatest demonstration of the Spirit’s power was not in enabling the disciples to speak languages they didn’t speak before, but the greatest demonstration of the Spirit’s power was enabling those to believe who didn’t believe before!

And that only happens as the Spirit speaks to the heart the truth concerning Jesus.

Think about your own salvation—you probably heard the gospel multiple times in your own native language before you finally believed.

What made the hearing of the gospel different the moment you finally trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior?

It was that the Spirit spoke to your heart!

The Spirit gave you the gift of faith so that you could exercise that faith in Jesus!

That’s a miracle greater than speaking a language you’ve never spoken before!

And in fact that’s the whole point—the Spirit’s power accomplishes the Spirit’s purpose.

The Spirit’s purpose is to glorify Jesus (), and the Spirit does that by speaking the truth about Jesus to our hearts.

[TS] We’ll see this as we look at #2: The Spirit’s proclamation and poignancy...

Part #2: The Spirit’s proclamation and poignancy (vv. 14-36)

Acts 2:14–36 ESV

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Acts 2:14-

[Exp] The truth about Jesus is found in Word of God, which we commonly refer to as the Bible, and its that Word that the Spirit uses to speak to our hearts about Jesus. We see this in both parts of Peter’s sermon on day of Pentecost.

In part one of Peter’s sermon (vv. 14-21), the Spirit enabled and empowered Peter to explain from what was going as the Spirit was poured out and what it all meant.

We see this in both parts of Peter’s sermon on day of Pentecost.

If we look at the section Peter quoted from we three major ideas: (1) the Spirit will be poured out in the last days (vv. 17-18), (2) the Spirit’s arrival in the last days will be be a precursor to God’s judgment on the day of the Lord (vv. 19-20), but (3) salvation is available by calling on the Name of the Lord (v. 21).

Now, to call on someone’s Name is to call on that person, and Peter showed in the second part of his sermon that the person to be called on is Jesus of Nazareth.

In part two of Peter’s sermon(vv. 22-36), the Spirit enabled and empowered Peter to explain from the Psalms that Jesus who was crucified was also resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God.

Peter quotes regarding the resurrection of Jesus, saying that those words couldn’t be about David because he died and remained in his tomb, which they all go visit if they so desired.

The words of must refer then to the descendent of David who would sit on the throne of Israel forever as God promised.

And the only descendent of David to ever be resurrected after death was Jesus of Nazareth.

Therefore, Jesus must be that descendent of David who will sit on the throne of Israel forever.

In other words, Jesus must be the Lord.

Then Peter quotes regarding the exaltation of Jesus, saying that it is from God the Father’s right hand that Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit.

From the position of God the Father’s right hand, Jesus is not just Lord of Israel but Lord of heaven and earth.

That’s the proclamation of the Spirit through the Apostle Peter on day of Pentecost.

But notice the poignancy of the Spirit’s proclamation. If Jesus is Lord, that is a big problem for those who heard this sermon because they crucified him.

In v. 23, the Spirit emboldens Peter to pull no punches; he says, “...you crucified and killed (Jesus) by the hands of lawless men.”

In v. 36 he says the same thing...

Acts 2:36 ESV

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now, did everyone gathered at Pentecost have a direct hand in crucifying Jesus? Did they literally push him toward the cross or drive the nails into his flesh?

No. But by virtue of being sinners for whom Jesus died, they crucified him.

The death of Jesus was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God () in order to save sinners from their sins

[Illus]

[App] The death of Jesus was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God () in order to save sinners from their sins, but we won’t be saved unless we believe that it was our sin that put him on the cross.

We didn’t literally press down the crown of thorns.

We didn’t literally drive in the nails.

But we did crucify him. It was our sin that held him there.

Until we understand this, we will not understand the poignancy of the Spirit’s proclamation.

Until we understand that we crucified Jesus, we will only understand the gospel as historical information rather than saving grace.

The truth is our idolatry killed Jesus. Our lying killed Jesus. Our adultery killed Jesus.

All our sinning killed Jesus!

He died as the sacrifice for our sins!

[Illus] The kids were watching some cartoon this past week in which one of the characters kept messing things up or breaking things. After each mistake, however, the character would say, “I didn’t do that.”

That’s how most people respond when they look at the crucifixion of Jesus. They think to themselves, “I didn’t do that.”

The person who truly understands the Spirit’s proclamation concerning Jesus according to the Word of God knows different.

The person who truly understands the Spirit’s proclamation understands the poignancy of his message because this Jesus whom we’ve crucified has been resurrected and exalted!

He is the Lord on whom we must call if we would be saved!

And if we don’t, we will face him on the day of the Lord—the great and magnificent day of judgment.

And in his death God has saved us if believe that we are sinners and Christ is our Savior.

[TS] Now, on to PART #3: The Spirit’s piercing and promise.

We’ve seen Part #1: The Spirit’s power and purpose.

Part #2: The Spirit’s proclamation and poignancy.

And now Part #3: The Spirit’s piercing and promise.

Part #3: The Spirit’s piercing and promise (vv. 37-39)

Acts 2:37–39 ESV

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

[Exp] When those gathered for Pentecost heard the truth about Jesus from the Scriptures, they were “cut to the heart.”

The NASB says they were “pierced to the heart.”

The KJV says they were “pricked in their heart.”

The CSB gives us the meaning by saying they “came under deep conviction.”

This is what the word of God does. tells us that it is “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to cut us to the bone so that we might see our need for salvation in Jesus’ Name.

[Illus] A couple years ago, we had our deacon and staff Christmas party at our house. Just before everyone was set to arrive I reached into the pantry to grab the tin foil, but I was trying to do things too fast and not paying enough attention. As I reached for the tin foil, I sliced my finger on the cutting edge of the tin foil box.

Now, sometimes we get nicks and scrapes that we know will stop bleeding on their own. They don’t require any attention beyond a passing glance.

But this cut from the tin foil box on my finger was not going to stop bleeding on its own. It had cut deep enough, right on the quick of my finger nail that I knew it would require attention.

I didn’t have to go get stitches or anything, but I did have to wrap it up good to get it to stop bleeding.

You’ve been cut like that before or you’ve known someone who has. Maybe you’ve been literally cut to the bone or just cut severely enough that you knew the cut would have to be addressed.

That’s how the people who heard Peter’s message were cut in . Spiritually speaking they were cut to the bone or, as says, “they were cut to the heart.”

They were pierced, and they knew this wound would not stop bleeding on its own. It required attention—the kind of attention only Jesus can give.

[Exp/App] They asked Peter and the others, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them in vv. 38-39...

Acts 2:38–39 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Peter told them to repent—i.e., turn away from unbelief and sinfulness and show evidence of that turning away by being baptized.

People sometimes think that Peter is saying that baptism is necessary for salvation, but he isn’t. Baptism is the public profession of faith—a proof that you have been saved. Baptism is not a condition for salvation.

But Peter told them to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ...”

Now, this is obviously important because there is only one Name given among men by which we must be saved and that Name is the Name of Jesus!

As the hymn goes, “No other Name but the Name of Jesus is worthy of glory and worthy of honor and worthy of power and all praise!”

That’s because there is no other Name by which we can be saved!

Only Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Anointed One who has saved us from our sins if we believe in him!

And that is exactly what Peter said. He didn’t just say, “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.” He said, “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins...”

Man’s most fundamental problem is not economic poverty or physical illness or even social isolation. Man’s greatest problem is the judgment of God.

Man has rebelled against God and now God’s judgment looms over him like a dark cloud that will not dissipate.

Unless God forgives, we all will all face his judgment, and he has told us what his judgment will be.

tells us that all will be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In Jesus says...

John 3:18 ESV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Your most fundamental need this morning is not more money or physical healing or deeper relationships. Your most fundamental need this morning is the forgiveness of your sins, and that forgiveness only comes in the Name of Jesus Christ!

And if you do call on the Name of Jesus for salvation, notice what Peter says at the end of v. 38, “…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus’ disciples on the day of Pentecost will fill us if we call on the Name of Jesus for salvation!

The same Holy Spirit that enabled them to understand the Scriptures and that empowered them to proclaim the gospel will enable and empower us to do the same!

The gift of the Spirit that Jesus pours out on us when we believe is much more significant than just “speaking in tongues.”

He is much more than just a gateway to the miraculous.

He is the guarantee of our salvation, our comforter and helper— the One who teaches us all things concerning Jesus!

Notice that everything Peter said in v. 38, he called a promise in , which says...

Acts 2:39 ESV

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

God is sovereign in salvation. He call to himself those who will be saved. We should be grateful God’s sovereignty because without none of us would have called on the Name of Jesus for salvation.

[App]

But the promise of salvation in the Name of Jesus is a promise made to you, your children, and those far off. We should understand this as you, those most precious too you, and those you think are beyond saving.

God’s sovereignty in salvation makes his promise of salvation sure.

There is no one beyond God’s saving power!

You are not beyond God’s saving power!

Your children are not beyond God’s saving power!

That one that you think is too far gone is not beyond God’s saving power!

But the promise of God’s saving power is for those who have been pierced—those who have been brought to see the wretchedness of their sin before Holy God by the Holy Spirit.

It is the promise of God’s saving power that heals the piercing of God’s Holy Spirit.

[TS] {see below}

Conclusion

Before I ask you if you are depending on God’s promise of salvation, I need to ask you if you have been pierced by the Spirit.

Have you been cut to the heart as the Spirit used the word of God to reveal to you your sinfulness?

Have you seen the truth about your spiritual condition before God and in brokenness been brought to ask, “What shall I do?”

The promise of salvation is precious to those who have been pierced.

If the promise is not precious to you, perhaps you have not been pierced.

But if this morning the Spirit has used the word to pierce you, to convict you of sin and unbelief, then know that God’s promise of salvation is for you!

The promise of God is that if you call on the Name of Jesus, you will be saved (; ; )!

But you must call on Jesus today! You see, this is a limited time offer.

The Bible tells us that “now is the day of salvation,” ().

It says to us, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...” ().

[INTER] Why did the Holy Spirit come?

For one reason really as tells us...

Acts 2:41 ESV

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Spirit came so that sinners would be saved through the salvation offered in Jesus Christ.

And those who were saved at Pentecost were but the firstfruits of a greater harvest to come.

Will you come this morning?

As we respond to God’s word this morning, the hardened heart doesn’t say anything. It just goes on in sin and unbelief and condemnation.

But the heart that has been pierced by the Spirit asks, “What shall I do?”

And the Spirit says, “Call on Jesus and you will be saved,” ().

That was the Spirit’s message when he first filled us.

And that’s his message as he fills us this morning.

Have you been pierced?

Have you trusted in the promise?

Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit?

If you’ve trusted in Jesus, you have!