Acts 2 1-21 Pentecost 2008
Pentecost, Acts 2: 1-21, May 11, 2008
“Wind Instruments”
Introduction: I have several instruments up here. They all have something in common. They all need wind to operate. They can’t be used the way they were intended unless air is blown into them. Then, they all take on a personality of their own, while making similar sounds. With the help of the wind, instructed by orderly notes, they can make beautiful music. Now, you might ask, what does this have to do with our celebration of Pentecost? Well, let me tell you. But first, let’s talk about Pentecost. What is its history? What happened on that day, two thousand years ago? Why did it happen and what was its effect?
First, the central theme of Pentecost is that Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, calls men of all nations through the mouths of the apostles and unites all believers by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Men from every nation heard the mighty works of God in their own languages. As God declared through the prophet Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy that is preach the Word of God . . . that everyone who (hears and) calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:18, 21). This gift of languages is the undoing of the damage wrought by man’s pride at Babel, when the Lord confused human languages and thus divided humanity into the many nations. The coming of the Spirit is the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy of the Paraclete, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” (Gospel, Jn 14:26).
This text fulfills Jesus’ promise that the believers would be given the gift and Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is not another baptism, but it is a description of what God was doing with His church that is the pouring out, and the pouring on of the Holy Spirit. This is what Pentecost is and means for us, but what about its history?
Pentecost was a Jewish festival day celebrating the gifts of God. The word pentecost literally means “fiftieth,” and the festival fell annually on the fiftieth day after Passover. Pentecost is also referred to in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Ingathering (Ex 34:22; Num 28:26–31). At this time of the year, between Passover and Pentecost, the wheat harvest was coming in. Thus the Feast of Ingathering (Pentecost) was like a Thanksgiving Day in the United States and likewise lasted one day.
Pentecost was one of the three great pilgrimage festivals of Israel (with Passover and the Feast of Booths—Ex 23:17; 34:23; Deut 16:16) Many believe that Pentecost was even better attended than Passover because the weather for travel was better. This is the history of Pentecost.
For Christian, it now has much more meaning and added significance. For in it we see that God, by the Holy Spirit and the Word of Jesus Christ, is ingathering His church. The harvest of souls was being brought into the barns of the church. So we celebrate this day as Christians have always celebrated this day. It might surprise many if I said that Pentecost was equally important to the Christian Church as both Christmas and Easter! Yes, we know that the birth of Christ was essential to our salvation, because if Jesus had not been born, he would not have been able to rescue us. Good Friday and Easter is also crucial in God’s plan to save us because our Lord, through a cross, purchased our salvation by Jesus’ shed blood payment for sin. We know his payment for sin was accepted, this is the declaration of Easter.
But Pentecost stands with Christmas and Easter as equally important! Why? Because, beginning with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fills believers and spreads the Gospel! By the Spirit’s power, all are made aware of the Gospel’s saving power, and all can be drawn by the Spirit’s action to Christian faith and service.
About the importance of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life, John R. W. Stott wrote, “Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable. [Further], there can be no life without the Life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of Truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christ-likeness of character apart from the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and no effective witness without his power”[i] So the Third Person of the Trinity provides the power for Christian faith, life, and growth. And here at the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gets the Good News out! In this passage from Acts, a huge assembly of people is made aware of the Gospel’s saving power and is drawn by the Spirit’s gracious work to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. In the Spirit’s power, the message of Jesus Christ is presented clearly and effectively for the salvation of man.
So what happened on Pentecost? The Lord gets everybody’s attention (vv 1–4). The crowds hear the sound of a blowing wind. The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives the evidence: tongues of fire. The Spirit gives the languages: “other tongues.”
But at first, the meaning of all this isn’t clear to the people (vv 5–13). Some respond with surprise. Some are “bewildered” (v 6), some are “amazed and astonished” (v 7). The devout Jews, for the most part, listened to the message. Some responded with ridicule as they accused the Christians of being drunk on new wine. Unable to comprehend the supernatural, they assume a natural explanation.
Then Peter explains this miracle of the Spirit (vv 14–20). Drunkenness is not the explanation. It is only 9 a.m. This was the time for morning prayers. Peter points the crowds to the prophet Joel and his prophecy, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit… And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. For Peter, he understands that the people’s ability to speak in foreign languages is evidence of the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit. The miracle of the Holy Spirit is that human language, which normally separates foreigners from each other are no longer a barrier. For the Lord God has decreed that the proclamation of the gospel is to be for all people everywhere. So Peter says, “All hear “the mighty works of God” (v 11) in their own tongue.
In Acts 2, the Lord wanted the Gospel to be easily understood. Knowing the Gospel message and receiving Christ in faith is of crucial importance, just as it is now.
All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved! The Holy Spirit draws hearts to faith, “for no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). To call upon the Lord’s name is to call him to our aid. In faith, we recognize that he alone can rescue us from sin. Only He can save us from sin’s penalty that is judgment and hell. Our God and Lord has decreed that salvation shall be available to everyone. That in Jesus Christ God offers us peace, joy, love, forgiveness, and salvation. These come through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God, in Christ Jesus.
So while, at Pentecost we are moved when we hear about the tongues of fire and the mighty wind, we are more moved by the powerful wind that came into the heart of Peter and moved him to preach to the crowds in the name of Jesus. The Spirit of God continues to blow into His people all around the globe. Robert and Diane Hedtke newsletter…
Conclusion: The Wind of God is blowing. Through the Word of God sparks of faith are being fanned into flames of fire. It is happening here. The wind and Spirit of God is blowing into your hearts and minds. He is blowing into you just as we blow into these instruments. Just as we are able to make sounds of music, God is blowing into your lives so that you call upon the name of the Lord, sing the praises, and say prayers, and most especially proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ. For this is God’s purpose for you…you are His Wind Instruments. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen!
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[i] (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church, and the World [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990], 60).