The God Who Gives

Acts 2:1–41 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.” 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.” 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.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Scripture: Acts 2:1-41

Sermon Title: The God Who Gives

           As we hear this passage, the events of this Pentecost day and Peter’s sermon following, it’s appropriate to listen in the mindset or framework of thankfulness to God. The disciples do not seem to have been farmers, and perhaps many in the group that we’re reading about were city folks; they were primarily consumers rather than producers. Yet they still saw value in being thankful to God, still celebrating this festival that God had commanded to their ancestors. We find that God’s wasn’t just bearing crops to be harvested from fields. He had much more to give.

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord.

           People: Thanks be to God.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, have you ever had one of those moments where you walk into a room or an event and you have no idea what’s going on? It’s your first time in a place that is completely new and unfamiliar to you. You know very few people, if anyone, who might help you. You don’t know where you’re supposed to go, who to talk to, what to do, or any of the other details that might help you navigate that situation. I’m guessing coming to a new country or coming to a church worship service for the very first time would fit there.

           One occasion that comes to mind for me was going to the grand march before prom my first year in Corsica. A grand march, if you’re like me and aren’t familiar with that, is a time before prom when the students are formally presented in their dresses and tuxedos or suits, the girls are typically escorted by the guys. At least in Corsica, before the formal presentation, was a time of mingling and all sorts of picture taking.

The Christian high school I attended only had junior-senior banquet, and that consisted of dressing up according to a theme or semi-formal attire, dinner, and a fun event. There was also a group of parents in northwest Indiana who put on a “Christian prom” that was mainly intended for teens from schools that didn’t host dances or who were home-schooled. On that night, if you were going, you would take pictures somewhere beforehand, you arrived and had dinner, maybe took some more pictures, and then there was a dance. It seemed simple. 

When I showed up in the Corsica high school gym though, because people said that’s what everyone did, I had no idea what this whole “grand march” thing was. In that kind of situation, I felt a mix of anxiety, confusion, and just wanted to leave. I think I ended up finding someone from our church to make small talk with, and watched and followed what other people were doing.  

I share that story with you because there are times when we come into a situation and we have no idea what is going on or what to make of it. That can happen even with Scripture. I’m guessing that most of us probably have heard this passage before. We know the details. They heard “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind…They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them…[They] began to speak in other tongues.” The crowd of “God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” heard them speaking “in his own language,” and they were “amazed and perplexed,” and wondered, “‘What does this mean?’”

Can you imagine actually witnessing that? The sounds—listening to someone all of a sudden speak in your language who you’ve never heard it from before and wouldn’t expect them to. It’d be like going to Minneapolis with a group of fellow Americans who only speak English, and suddenly hear them speak in Hmong or Spanish, Swahili, Finnish, Hebrew, and other languages. The sight—these little flames which don’t burn or singe resting on people.

What really happened that day? It’s not just an unfamiliar experience. It’s what we find in verse 4, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” What were they saying? Verse 11, “‘We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’” How was this happening? This was the work of God, as Peter preached. This was the fulfillment of the prophet Joel. Verses 17 and 18, “‘“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”’” We heard last week, in Acts 1, why this was significant. Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told the disciples, “‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”   

We could try diving into the meaning of the Holy Spirit to come in wind and fire, but let’s answer the question of what happened that day with this: when God sent the Holy Spirit to believers, they were enabled to preach to the world, prophesying about what God has done, and people took notice. Ultimately, God chose this moment in history, in that place, with these specific people, to show the public, the world, the greatest hope that there is. We’re not told exactly how these “God-fearing Jews” all ended up in their home countries, if it was moving from Judea by choice or if these were the descendants of the people who had been carried off in earlier invasions. Either way, we’re talking about people, some of whom traveled over 1,000 miles from their homes to Jerusalem, who could take back what they had seen and heard and believed. It wasn’t a random coincidence that God decided to send the Spirit, birthing the global church, when people from across the known world were in town and within earshot. No, God intentionally poured out his Spirit that the world would know him and still, take note, he was working largely through Jews.

God was giving himself to make a home in those who believed in him and who would come to believe in him. This passage, especially the inclusion of the prophesy from Joel, could almost read like a non-discrimination policy. Those who can receive the Holy Spirit, who can believe in God, who should be treated as brothers and sisters in the faith, God gives the Spirit without basing on race or color, gender, age, national origin, disability, marital status or any other descriptions that we might associate with people as being very important to who they are. God gives his Spirit to particular people—he shows himself, he testifies that he is real and is God, he allows his salvation to be experienced, he convicts the sin in the hearts, minds, and lives of people. But he doesn’t choose based on where someone’s from, what they look like, any sense that someone is more deserving than another—no, he elects people from around the world of his own perfect and pleasing free will. The sermon on election is for another time. For today, Pentecost was an event in which God was giving his Spirit to his covenant people in this world.

What does it mean for believers to have the Holy Spirit poured out on us, though? You’ll continue to hear me say that the Holy Spirit wasn’t just poured out on people back in those days. The Holy Spirit is poured out on us and on all who truly believe in the present. The Spirit is not just in those denominations with Pentecostal in their name or who might be judged as charismatic or just those who in churches where people speak in tongues or have other supernatural gifts. No, every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, which I pray includes many, if not all of us.

What does it look like though? What has God given to us, if we have the Spirit? Let’s look to the Heidelberg Catechism as a summary of Scripture. I won’t read all of these because we heard them last week or they’re repetitive. As we heard in the song that Laura shared, capturing question and answer 1, the Holy Spirit gives me assurance from Jesus “of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.” It is the Spirit, answer 8 tells us, that makes us born again. Answer 21 testifies that the Holy Spirit is also responsible for creating in believers “a wholehearted trust…by the gospel,” this is an essential component of true faith. Answers 51 and 53 tell us that members of Christ’s body receive gifts from Christ, and we get to share in him, his benefits, while being comforted and remained with forever. Finally, answers 69 and 70 hold that with the blood of Jesus, the Spirit washes away our soul’s impurity, our sins, meaning, “the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us to be members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and live holy and blameless lives.”  

If we look at a summary of these we’ll notice that the primary works of the Holy Spirit for believers are creating faith, including making us born again, which Jesus said was necessary to be saved, and assuring us of salvation. The Spirit is at work to sanctify us, to make us more and more holy and like Jesus. The Spirit remains with us throughout this life. If we’re ever wondering or are worried about whether or not the Holy Spirit is in us, if you are walking with the Lord, striving for that, and you have faith, and you have a sense of assurance regarding your eternal future, then the Holy Spirit is in you. You need not worry that just because you can’t speak a second language doesn’t mean you don’t have the Holy Spirit.

 Notice, these are the end to which the people “were cut to the heart” in Acts 2 verse 37. They recognized something was happening within them and for them. Someone had made it clear that change must take place in their lives. The Spirit was at work not just in those who spoke but also now those who heard! And so, Peter, completing the understanding, directed them, “‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’” 

What God promises, the end goal that he says will take place, these things will come to fruition. Those of you who grew up on the King James Version may remember Isaiah 55:11 this way, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void,” the NIV uses the word empty, and we are to think of it as unfilled, what God has planted will not be without fruit or flower, “but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” The only way that a person has faith and can truly repent and be saved is if God begins this work in them. I say that not to discourage by any means our participation in evangelism or outreach. But when it comes to the success of evangelism or “winning souls for Jesus,” as we might sometimes hear, we must understand that God giving the Spirit in order for particular people to come to him proceeds according to his plan and time. It’s not whether we do a good or adequate job in telling, nor is it whether the person being told is smart enough. The receiving of faith and readiness for baptism of these 3,000 was based on God’s gift alone.

I said at the beginning that when we enter a new and unfamiliar place it can be confusing, and perhaps we seek out what we know. We go to a source of information that might guide us. For Christians and for those wondering what we’re about, God gives the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Even though Jesus performed incredible signs and wonders, even though we read in the Old and New Testament of certain leaders being able to split a waterway and walk through on dry ground or throw a staff down and watch it become a snake or heal a lame man, the Christian faith isn’t primarily about signs and wonders. It is about the gospel, the good news centered on Jesus. It’s not about what we can give to him. It’s not about how composed and put together our lives appear against other people’s. Our hope is fully in the grace God has given us in his Son. 

These people, the Acts 2 people, had rejected Jesus. They were part of those that had rejected him on Good Friday. Verse 23, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” This message could have sounded like, “You all did that! Man, you guys messed up bad! Guess what? He was serious about who he was and what he came to do. God raised him back to life. He exalted him. People can be saved to heaven by believing in him and he’s sent the Holy Spirit. But guess what, you can’t have it! You’re out of luck. Ha!”

That’s what Peter’s sermon could have sounded like that day, and could have been passed down—a vengeful, turning-away kind of message. Yet the good news for those Peter spoke to and for all of us who were at one time, and maybe for some of us it’s still where we find ourselves, God gives salvation to all who genuinely repent, leaving their sin, believing in Jesus’ substitution of himself for us, and turning to love and obey him. It doesn’t matter what your life has looked like up to this point. “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and the passage, Romans 3:22-24 continues, “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

God the Father did not abandon Jesus to the grave. No, he gave him new life. God the Father did not leave his people—and that goes beyond Israel, in captivity—he rescued them. He made a way for the church of believers around the world. God the Father also does not leave us in the death that sin leads to. He promises us hope and gladness and joy, making known to us paths of new life. That is what Jesus offers to you. Jesus who lived his life completely obedient, completely innocent, and yet was condemned, was mocked, was killed. We don’t deserve that kind of love. Jesus rose from the dead, and he continues to pour out his gifts, even the Holy Spirit. God has given us perfect and full love. Amen.