Filled with the Holy Spirit

Today is known as Pentecost Sunday. This is the day when all followers of Jesus, even Baptists, become honorary Pentecostals for the day. No, that is not what it is about. Pentecost Sunday is the day we mark Joel Osteen’s birthday. No, that’s not it either. What is Pentecost Sunday?

Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday. They didn’t call it Pentecost. It had other names. The day was known as the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of the Harvest. The feast marked the beginning of the early wheat harvest.

In Christianity, Pentecost Sunday is celebrated on the 7th Sunday after Easter. Today, we don’t celebrate the early wheat harvest. We remember a very important event in church history. Really, you might even say, it was the beginning and establishment of the church. On Pentecost Sunday, we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first followers of Jesus as they waited in Jerusalem after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Let’s read about it. Open your Bible to Acts 2:1-13.

Acts 2:1–13 CSB

1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

The Holy Spirit descended on these followers of Jesus and it touched off a world changing revolution. They were told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. They were told the Holy Spirit would empower them for a very specific mission. Jesus would not leave them to fend for themselves. The Holy Spirit would come upon them and be with them.

The Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of wind and fire. Often, in the Scriptures, wind is a symbol of regeneration, such as in Ezekiel 37 and the Valley of Dry Bones. If you haven’t read that section of Scripture before, I would encourage you to do so. It uses a lot of strange imagery to talk about how God has dealt and will deal with Israel.

Fire is symbolic of the presence of God. If you remember, Moses encountered God at a bush which burned with fire, but was not consumed. God’s presence was displayed in a pillar of fire which led the children of Israel through the wilderness at night.

The coming of the Holy Spirit was a physical and visible event. Don’t miss this next part. This is so important. The Holy Spirit inaugurated a new covenant based on a personal relationship with each individual believer. The coming of the Holy Spirit made following Jesus much more of a personal experience than ever before.

At Pentecost, God began a new covenant with individual followers of Jesus.

The old covenant, the Old Testament, was with the nation of Israel as a whole. God’s presence was with the nation through the tabernacle and temple. His presence was not always with the individual. Sin blocked the way between God and his people. Now, through Jesus’ sacrifice, the way for God to dwell with his people has been made. A new covenant was established and it is based on a personal relationship with God rather than simply a corporate one.

Notice in the passage we read. The tongues of fire, the symbol of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, men and women. Notice all of the plurals in the passage. It was not limited to a select few. The filling of the Holy Spirit had a powerful effect on these people. They began to boldly speak the gospel of Jesus Christ in different languages.

The Holy Spirit came on them to empower the spread of the gospel.

They were speaking about the magnificent acts of God. They were declaring what God had done. They were speaking the gospel to all who would listen to them. They had a boldness to speak about Jesus.

I think this is an interesting comparison. It almost feels crass to say. Look at verse thirteen.

Acts 2:13 CSB

13 But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

These Spirit-filled believers were compared to drunks. They were as bold as drunks. They were as talkative as someone who has had a little too much to drink. They were as uninhibited as someone who has been drinking. Peter stood up to refute the claim of their intoxication.

Acts 2:14–15 CSB

14 Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning.

In other words, they weren’t drunk. It’s too early in the morning to be drunk. They weren’t self-conscious. They were God-conscience. They were gospel-conscience. Something else was causing their boldness. Something, or I should say Someone, else was responsible for their behavior. They were under the influence, but not of alcohol. They were under the influence, the power, the filling of the Holy Spirit. They weren’t concerned about how they appeared. They were concerned about exposing people to the message of the gospel.

Think about this. The most talkative and outgoing people become introverts when it comes to sharing the gospel. People who will literally not stop talking will clam up at an instant when in comes to sharing their faith. Is this you? You are already an introvert by nature and speaking about Jesus to others just terrifies you. Why is that? If you discovered a cure to COVID-19 would you keep it to yourself? If you knew how to eradicate cancer, would you be afraid to share it?

I want you to hear this. Inside of you is the knowledge of how to cure death. Death has been defeated. King Jesus is alive! You have been entrusted with the knowledge of how to have eternal life. Are you just sitting on it? Are you keeping it to yourself? The filling of the Holy Spirit is not just for your personal holiness and sanctification. The filling of the Holy Spirit is to empower you to boldly declare the gospel of Jesus Christ.

These first believers knew what had to be done. They had to share the message. Jesus told them that this would be their primary missions.

Acts 1:8 CSB

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

This is your primary mission. This is the church’s primary mission. This is going to sound strange, but I want it to jar your thinking. You are to be as bold in sharing the gospel as a drunk person is self-confident.

I know this is going to make some of you uncomfortable, but sometimes that is a good thing. I am going to press this illustration a little further. It is a biblical illustration. Several times the Scriptures compares being filled with the Holy Spirit with intoxication. These first followers of Jesus were described as drunk. Think with me. What do you do if you don’t want to get drunk? I know of two sure fire things. First, don’t drink. You don’t have any alcohol. If you don’t want to get drunk, don’t drink. Second, if you don’t want to get drunk, you water it down. You lessen the potency of the alcoholic beverage.

Now, think about this. This might step on your toes a little bit. Are you being filled by, intoxicated with the Holy Spirit? Are you, without any regard for your self-consciousness, boldly declaring the message of the gospel? Yes or No? What if you aren’t being filled with the Holy Spirit? Maybe you aren’t drinking deeply of the Word of God. Just as getting drunk involves drinking alcohol, being filled with the Holy Spirit involves drinking deeply of the Word of God. If you aren’t experiencing the filling of the Holy Spirit, perhaps you are drinking deeply of the Word of God.

Maybe you are watering down the gospel. Are you lessening the potency of the gospel by trying to make it “less offensive” to the one hearing it? A watered-down gospel is no gospel at all. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit proclaim the gospel message boldly. Drunk people don’t care about what people think of them. They are just going to do what they do and probably regret it in the morning. People who are filled by the Holy Spirit don’t care what people think of them. They are going to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel. People who are filled by the Holy Spirit are willing to risk it all for the sake of the spread of the gospel. If that isn’t you, you haven’t drank enough yet. More could be done with this comparison of the behavior of a drunk person and a person filled with the Holy Spirit; however, for sake of time, I am going to move on.

This next part is powerful and amazing. This is transformative. This is radical.

Through the gospel, human barriers are broken down.

Many Jewish people would have been gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast. They would have come from all over the known world. Aramaic would not have been their primary language. Verse nine gives us the regions and areas where these people were from.

Those who heard the roaring of the wind came to see what was going on and they were surprised to hear Galileans speaking to them in their own native language. Why make the point about them being Galileans? Well, it would be like saying, “Look at these back-woods, hillbillies talking to us. I can’t believe these red-necks know our language.” Galilee was a working class area. They were fisherman. They weren’t highly educated intelligentsia. The power of the gospel breaks down socio-economic barriers.

The power of the gospel breaks down gender barriers. The Holy Spirit came upon both men and women. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not for one gender over another. The filling of the Holy Spirit is available for all believers.

The power of the gospel breaks down racial and ethnic barriers. I have said this once and I will continue to say it. Racism is antithetical to the gospel. Racism has no place in the heart of followers of Jesus. Look at the point Paul made concerning the power of the gospel to break down racial and ethnic barriers.

Galatians 3:28 CSB

28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 CSB

11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

Pentecost brought a new power to believers for the purpose of spreading the gospel. The Holy Spirit presence and indwelling gave them the boldness to publically proclaim the magnificient acts of God. They were not concerned about anything other than getting the message of the gospel into the hearts and minds of those who would hear them. They were uninhibited and passionate. They couldn’t help but proclaim the awesome wonder of God and his mighty acts to redeem his people.

Does this describe our attitude about the life-saving, life-changing gospel? Do we share the gospel with uninhibited passion? Are we self-conscious when we speak to others about who God is and what he has done? Are we silent when we should be proclaiming the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Are we displaying an attitude of shame rather than an attitude of confidence about our relationship with God? Do we think we need to wait for just the right time, like somehow the power of the gospel depends on us?

These are questions you need to deal with in your life. You need to be honest with yourself. You are commanded to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ. You are command to be salt and light in the world. You are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 CSB

18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Before we close, I need to talk to those of you who are here today and you are in a place where your sin has caught up to you. You’re in the storm because of what you did. You have gotten yourself into massive trouble. Your sin is catching up with you. You may have even tried to change, but you can’t do it. You can’t be good on your own. It is in your very nature. Your nature causes you to rebel against God. Your sin separates you from God. The good news is that God loves you so much that he sent his son Jesus into the world. Jesus, who is God, took on flesh and became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus died for the forgiveness of your sins. On the third day, Jesus raised from the dead to prove that everything he claimed was true. The Bible says,

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

When you call on the name of Jesus, he will hear your prayer, forgive you of your sin, and make you clean. Will you call on his name this morning and receive the forgiveness he offers. He wants to be your Emmanuel; your “God with Us.” Will you let him in your life and save you?

Please bow your heads and close your eyes. Confess Jesus by praying this prayer with me,

“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins, make me new. I ask Jesus to be my Savior and to be the Lord of my life, first in every way. My life is not my own, I give it to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus’ name, I pray.”

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, would you raise your hand?

At the end of this message, I will be standing down front, please come up and talk to me. We want to celebrate the new life you have in Jesus. If you are listening online, you can contact us through the live chat on the side or you can email me.

Dr. Benjamin Karner - [e-mail]

Close in Prayer.