Pentecost - The Movement of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-13)

Introduction

Christ returned to heaven, but God’s presence remains and reigns today in those who follow him. Have you ever wished you lived during the days of Jesus? Have you ever felt that you were missing out because you weren’t around when he was on earth? Have you ever felt like we have gotten a second rate faith because we came after? Well, Jesus says that this is the wrong way to think of it. He says in John 16:7, “nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” Do you ever feel like you’re a second rate believer because you didn’t get to see Jesus face to face? Christ ascended, then the Holy Spirit descended. Jesus says in verse 4 of the previous chapter, “while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me.” Then he says in verses 6-11, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Christ unites his people & empowers his people through the Holy Spirit. New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, says, “it’s important that someone somewhere is tracking the hurricane and telling us what it’s doing, but when it comes to Pentecost it’s far more important that you’re out there in the wind, letting it sweep through your life, your heart, your imagination, your powers of speech, and transform you from a listless or lifeless believer into someone whose heart is on fire with the love of God.” As we look back at 200 years of gospel ministry at Middle Sandy, is your heart on fire today for what the Spirit desires to do? Whether it is or isn’t, God has given us two gifts that inspire and kindle a fire within believers. As we learn about what God has given us, we learn that it is in fact to our advantage that Christ has ascended back to heaven as we continue his mission here on earth.

The Holy Spirit dwells in believers.

Acts 2:4 says, “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Al Mohler comments on this passage saying, “Pentecost demonstrates that God keeps his promises. He had promised to send his Spirit, and Pentecost was the moment in salvation history when he did just that.” You see, as powerful as the work of the Holy Spirit is, just as important is the fulfillment of what God had been promising. The Old Testament prophet, Joel, said, “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.” (Joel 2:28-29) And then, John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:11 , “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Then, Jesus promises the disciples the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, in John 16:7. The Holy Spirit was prophesied about by Joel, predicted by John the Baptist, and promised by Jesus. Here, in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit comes, and the prophecy, prediction, and promise is fulfilled. Therefore, the Holy Spirit dwells in believers today.

Mark Galli shares about how in the aftermath of the death of John Kennedy Jr. back in 1999, amateur pilot Stephen Hedges wrote about the difficulty of flying a plane by instruments alone, which is a necessary skill if you want to fly at night or in fog. Without this skill, it is easy for a pilot to experience spatial disorientation, in other words, get confused and crash. During one instrument lesson, Hedges noted, “I flew the headings and turns as instructed, but even with ten hours of instrument flying in my logbook, I was amazed at how quickly the plane slid into a banking turn if I diverted my attention for just a few moments. The first time it happened, a pang of panic shot through me, a momentary fear that made it even more difficult to comprehend what the plane was doing.” But when he heard his instructor next to him calmly say, “Watch your bank,” Hedges quickly leveled the plane. There are a lot of times in the Christian life when we’re forced to fly in the fog, when it’s hard to get our bearings, when we can’t see the horizon and get the perspective necessary to stay level. At such times it’s doubly important to keep our eyes fixed on God’s guiding Word, and to invite the Holy Spirit to provide guidance and comfort from God. Dane Ortland puts it like this, “The Spirit's role, in summary, is to turn our postcard apprehensions of Christ's great heart of longing affection for us into an experience of sitting on the beach, in a lawn chair, drink in hand, enjoying the actual experience.”

The sending of the Holy Spirit initiates the church

At the end of Matthew, Jesus calls the church to go into all the world making disciples, baptizing, and teaching them to obey Christ. But how does one group of people go to the entire world? Starting in verse 5 our passage says, “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.” Therefore, Christ calls every nationality to go and make disciples. Pentecost is not only the sending of the Holy Spirit, but also the birth of the Church. Not Middle Sandy (not yet), but the big c, Church, that continues on in mission since Christ went to heaven and will continue on until Christ returns again. Trappist monk, Thomas Merton writes, “It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement."

It’s hard to see the work of the Holy Spirit when we only look for it in the spectacular. Far more often, the Holy Spirit works in the ordinary. The ordinary of a small church in a small town simply doing the work of ministry, embracing the ordinary means of grace such as scripture, the sacraments, and prayer. After all, look at what the church committed itself to following Pentecost. In verse 42, it tells us, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” That’s pretty simple, ordinary, unspectacular. And it changed the world. From the 12 disciples in Jerusalem to a small church in Homeworth, Ohio. Here we are 2,000 years after Pentecost and 200 years after the founding of Middle Sandy EPC. The challenges before the church today are significant, but just as the Pentecost was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Helper, to send the Holy Spirit, in a similar way, Christ also promises in Matthew 16:18, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That doesn’t mean that every individual congregation will grow. Just look around, and we learn that it’s not what Jesus is saying. Rather, Christ will continue to build His church around the world until the day when we see him again. Until then, the Holy Spirit is on the move within his church.

Conclusion

Here at Middle Sandy, we have a book titled, 150 Years of Middle Sandy Presbyterian Church. We prefer to shorten the title to, the green book. The green book begins with a line that sums it up, and it perfectly encapsulates the heart of our church’s 200th anniversary. It says, “A church building is an inanimate object but I hope, through this book, you can catch a glimpse of the living, loving people who endured the hardships of pioneer life to found Middle Sandy Creek congregation in a Wilderness before the place even had a name, as well as those who followed, who kept the church moving ever ahead.” For over 200 years, Middle Sandy Evangelical Presbyterian Church has been a hub of gospel ministry in Homeworth. Christ unites his people & empowers his people through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has fulfills the promise of Christ, dwells within us, and has united the church to do the work of Christ. Therefore, let us be on mission for Christ.