Pentecost
Notes
Transcript
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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 And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech. 5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men 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 And 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 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 proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking the magnificent acts of God in our own languages.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What could this be?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”
Today our time in the word is going to center around three questions:
What just happened?
What is tongues?
Or better yet, what does tongues have to do with the mission of God?
What should we do?
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I would like to suggest that these three questions are the same questions that essentially were asked by the people who observed this event with their eyes.
What is Pentecost?
50 days from Easter Sunday
Feast of Weeks.
Harvest Feast
The initial reaction of the crowd was divided.
Some were “utterly amazed” and remarked about it.
“Aren’t these men from Galilee?”
There’s kind of a funny joke imbedded in here because apparently Galileans were hard to understand. They had a certain manner of speaking that made them easy to identify, but also difficult to understand on a good day.
An example of this is when Peter is sitting around the fire when Jesus is on trial and the people there ask him, “Aren’t you one of those Galileans?
So picture then what’s going on here.
Several of you have ties to Louisiana.
I think that the Cajun accent is the most unintelligible version of the English language there is.
Even harder to pick up than a Brooklyn or Kentucky accent.
So just imagine if a big group of backwoods Cajun alligator fisherman ran out into the street and were speaking perfect French, Mandarin, Swahili, Hindi, Spanish, Norwegian, Russian, German, and Japanese.
The irony of it would be hilarious.
Aren’t these the guys who don’t even know how to speak their own language?
And here they are declaring the wonderful works of God!
Now there was a second type of reaction here as well.
Those who were not amazed took this as an opportunity to mock.
“They’re drunk!”
John Calvin points out the sickening nature of this.
“If Jesus were to openly and visibly descend from heaven his majesty would hardly more manifestly appear than in this miracle.”
To respond to this with mocking should terrify us.
At this moment Peter stands up.
14 But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Men of Judah 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. 16 On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 I will even pour out My Spirit on My male and female slaves in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Peter immediately makes it clear, this is not a joke.
This is the fulfillment of prophecy.
This is God’s plan unfolding before your very eyes.
What exactly is God’s plan?
That God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people.
Notice the way this compliments God’s promise to Abraham.
All peoples will be blessed through Israel.
All peoples will have the Spirit poured out on them.
Spirit - Ru-ah
Wind - Breath.
As we scan the biblical story we see that there is a God, personal in nature, who interacts with His world.
We see this first in the first verses of the Bible.
Hovers
Breathes breath into Adam’s Nostrils
Throughout the Old Testament the Spirit of God descends on various people to empower them to do different things.
Things like art and craftsmanship, feats of strength, prophesying, and leadership.
We also see prophecies like this one from the prophet Joel that Peter is reciting, that point to a time in the future, when ALL of God’s people would receive this Spirit.
To people living before Pentecost, this would have been a glorious promise that could not be comprehended.
The impact of Peter saying that THIS is the day when this is fulfilled cannot be overstated.
The reality of living life in the covenant family of God after Pentecost is a reality where God’s spirit,
the same spirit that hovered over the chaos waters at creation,
the same spirit that led Israel through the wilderness,
the same spirit that descended on our Lord at his baptism,
is the same spirit that descends upon you at YOUR baptism.
If the Spirit of God could form a universe out of nothing and breath life into a lump of clay named Adam,
Then this Spirit can give you new life.
If the spirit of God can raise Jesus from the dead,
Then this same spirit will raise you from the dead one day too.
But what is TONGUES bro?
WHAT IS TONGUES?
This issue of tongues is tough.
But it is one that requires obedience to God’s word, and an ability to trace the biblical story to see where this event fits in to that story.
I do not know what the experiences of everyone in this room are with the concept of speaking in tongues.
It’s important to address this because the topic of tongues has the ability to completely derail the storyline of what is going on here.
Let me paint a picture for you of how this topic typically gets approached.
There usually two different views on what exactly speaking in tongues is and what it is for.
On one hand, we have in certain parts of the Christian world a deeply felt belief that all of the events we see taking place in the book of acts (tongues and healing) are and should be the normative experience for all Christians.
The other view which is called cessationism, would say that all of these “sign gifts” ceased to exist around the 2nd century and are not a part of the Christian experience.
I would like to propose that both of these views are faulty.
Within the camp that
The understanding of tongues as an unintelligible heavenly language (sometimes referred to as glossilalia)
is not the historical orthodox teaching of the church.
We see clearly that the disciples here at Pentecost were speaking actual languages that required no translation.
The people heard them in their own languages.
Later on Paul is instructing the Corinthian church about how the gift of tongues is to be used in the church, and it is made abundantly clear that there must be translation so that it can edify the church.
Unfortunately, in most places where the speaking of tongues is practiced, there is not translation for the majority of what is uttered in church.
Not to mention that it is rarely an actual language that is being spoken.
Any doctrine that teaches that speaking in tongues is the sign that we are saved is an unbiblical doctrine.
And those that teach it betray a misunderstanding of the grand narrative of scripture.
In fact, that teaching is less than 150 years old.
That’s not old enough for it to be true.
ADD CESSATIONIST ERRORS
God still uses signs and wonders.
For the advancement of the gospel.
Talk about India.
In this landmark moment where we see tongues being used, the purpose and effect is the advancement of the mission of God.
That all nations would be blessed.
That every tongue on earth would be a language that praises the most high God.
What we see here is actually a reversal of Babel.
A reversal of Babel that retains the diversity of culture.
The diversity of language at Babel wasn’t a punishment.
It was God compelling humans to do what he had commanded them to do which was to be fruitful, increase in number, and to fill the whole earth.
In mankind we see a basic tendency to resist God’s design for the world.
God’s intervention at Babel was advancing what He desired for humans living on the earth.
To develop in culture and language.
God didn’t thwart them because he doesn’t like towers.
He thwarted them because they were resisting his will for the earth to be filled with color and beauty and diversity.
God is a lover of culture.
If you have kids, or if you’ve ever taught kids, isn’t it delightful when they grow in their ability to communicate, to create art, and to build?
God has twin missions for his people.
Cultivate the earth and fill it,
and participate in his mission of drawing all peoples to himself.
It’s in Pentecost that we see this mission of God coming to fruition.
Luke lists languages from all over the known world.
This is to show that the good news that Jesus has made a way to be included in his family is for ALL people.
Not just jews.
Not just people who know the language Jesus spoke.
All people.
And this should drive our missionary efforts.
And by missionary I don’t strictly mean overseas.
Every Christian is a missionary by definition.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Peter’s sermon lays out for all the people the gospel.
Jesus died (Peter says, you killed him)
He rose from the dead,
poured out what you now see and hear
34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand 35 until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”
At this point there is no laughing going on.
The burning question is “Are we now these enemies of God”
This moment is one of the critical moments that precedes conversion, when there is a horrifying realization of ones own utterly hopeless position before God.
It says they were pierced to the heart.
What shall be done?
38 “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
This is what we extend to the nations.
Salvation and inclusion in the covenant!
28 They will know that I am Yahweh their God when I regather them to their own land after having exiled them among the nations. I will leave none of them behind. 29 I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
and
And here we have Jews, from all corners of the known world, here in Jerusalem, hearing the word of God in their native tongues and receiving the Spirit
“We are living between two fixed points.”
Pentecost and Parousia
We are in the last days now. And not because of specific world events occuring right now in Palestine.
The time referred to as the last days are all of the days between Pentecost and Christ’s second coming.
Pentecost is the glorious first day of the harvest.
And every day since then is a day where the Spirit of God is at work in the world, acting through the church to continue to draw the nations into the family of God.
Where does this lead us?
18 “Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see My glory. 19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away—who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations. 20 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
This was originally written to Jews.
Now that us Gentiles are included in the covenant family of Israel, this is for us as well.
The sign has been established.
Christ Crucified and Resurrected!
God says that we have brothers in other nations.
And it is our distinct duty and delight to proclaim God’s glory to them!
We extend to them the invitation to be changed and be royal priests alongside Christ.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me”— this is the Lord’s declaration— “so your offspring and your name will endure. 23 All mankind will come to worship Me from one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another,” says the Lord. 24 “As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
Why that horrible ending?
There is only one sign.
There is an eternal death.
God will judge the living and the dead.
God’s enemies will be made a footstool under his feet.
40 And with many other words he solemnly urged and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added.
Every day now is an extension of the harvest feast.
Every day is an opportunity to extend the gospel to our neighbors near and far.
And today is the day that we are given to repent and believe.
Communion
No one comes unless they're drawn
By the voice of desire that leads 'em along
To the redemption of what went wrong
By the blood that covered the innocent one
No more separation between us
So lift your voice just one more time
If there's any hope, may it be a sign
That everything was made to shine
Despite what you can see
So take this bread and drink this wine
And hide your spirit in the vine
Where all things work by good design
For those who will believe