Pentecost: The Birth of the NT Church

Main Idea: The work of the Spirit always involves a one-time baptism and an ongoing filling of His power in order to be an effective witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 1 Recap

Acts 1, The baptism of the Holy Spirit is promised and the Great Commission of Acts is given. Judas’ vacant seat is filled, so the rag-tag team of 120 men and women are ready for the gift that had been promised.

Today, we will be talking about the main event in the life of the New Testament Church. If you are a superhero fan, then consider this our origin story… the birth of the body of believers called the Church. And what we will see in the story today are two key elements of this event. Two things which alters the life of the 120 gather believers and empowers them for ministry. These two things are Baptism and being Filled, both of which are distinct from one another and of which are necessary to carry out the mission of Acts 1:8.

So, with this in mind, let’s read today’s passage:

Acts 2:1–13 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Outline

OT Significance

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Filling of the Holy Spirit

OT Significance

Passover means 50th - 50 days from the Sabbath after Passover week

Feast of Firstfruits or Feast of Weeks

Leviticus 23:15–17 ESV

15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.

This was to celebrate the coming harvest. According to Lev. 23:17, two loves of bread were made from fine flower with leaven as a wave offering; a celebratory offering of gratitude that eagerly anticipates the fullness of the harvest to come. This is not to be mistaken with the celebration of firstfruits that happened the day after Passover, which was an offering of the first stalk from the Barley harvest, which was to be waved before the alter.

You see, if Passover foreshadowed Jesus’ death, then the offering of the stalk (the one taking place the day after Passover) represented His resurrection, the firstfruits from among the dead. Then, 50 days later, at the Festival of Weeks, an offering to celebrate the coming harvest. Not the full harvest, because that was still to come, but the beginning.

And what do we see as a fulfilment? The birth of the New Testament church! Jesus, the firstfruits, then the formation of his body, the Church, which is still growing 2,000 years later to you and I!

The Giving of The Torah

Pentecost is also the anniversary of Moses receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai - the law of God given to the people of Israel so they could represent Him well to the surrounding nations. Why is this significant? Because it is Christ that has come, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it… initiating a New Covenant through his new body, indwelt by His Spirit, which is the church.

Not only that, but this is also a direct fulfillment of the prophecy from Joel 2:28-32 (of which we will get into next week).

This gives incredible validity and credibility to the scriptures (because of the accuracy and fulfillment of these things), but it also lays the groundwork for our comprehension of just how important and vital the event of Pentecost is to our own lives.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

As I mentioned earlier, there are two distinct parts to our story today. First, is the Baptism. Unfortunately, there is confusion today surrounding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some say this is descriptive of what happens at salvation. Others say this is a separate event that happens to a christian after salvation. Later on down the road, perhaps when you have come to a realization of the Spirit’s power, God really cranks up the spiritual amps at a second baptism that supercharges you for ministry.

So, which is it?

To answer this question, we first need to go back to chapter one to see what Jesus said about it:

Acts 1:4–5 ESV

4 And 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So, this baptism is the promise from the Father. The giving of the Spirit that would come just 10 days after Jesus’ ascension. Now it is true that the 120 people who were gathered together were already believers. They believed in Jesus because they spent time with him and were witnesses of his resurrection. Of course they believe! And, perhaps this is where the sticking point is. In a unique point in history, believers in Jesus were baptized separately from their belief. But, if we are to be faithful to scripture, the baptism explains the act of the Holy Spirit coming upon and into a person. That explains the moment of salvation.

And what is baptism but a full immersion into the faith. For water baptism, the imagery is full immersion under water representing our death and burial with Jesus, then being raised out of the water, representing new life. It is the same with the baptism of the Spirit. We, who were once dead in sin have been raised to new life in Christ, by the regenerating work of the Spirit.

Once we move past the first few chapters of Acts, this is exactly what we see. We should not build our theology on exceptions. We have a unique circumstance in the early church where followers who walked with Jesus (existing believers) were promised the indwelling of the Spirit at a later date. Once those unique circumstances had past, you see a profession of faith and the baptism of the Spirit happening at the same time.

I think the other problem is that well-meaning brothers and sisters confuse baptism with filling, which is what we will be talking about next. But, before we do, let’s take a look at some of the ways this baptism happened:

Wind

From Heaven. This was a supernatural phenomena. There were no storm clouds brewing. This was dynamis power from God himself that happened inside the upper room.

Like the sound of a mighty rushing wind. This was not wind, but it was likened to a mighty rush of wind, not like a heavy gust that turns your umbrella inside out. This is more like CAT5 hurricane. This was strong and forceful, just like the word dynamis describes.

The Greek word here is pnoe, which means wind or breath. This is also very close to the word pneuma, which means Spirit. And we see the correlation of Spirit, breath, and wind throughout the scriptures:

Ezekiel 37 - breath from God filled the people formed from the valley of dry bones.

John 3:8 ESV

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 20:22 ESV

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Two Key references that are helpful for us:

1. Gen 1 Spirit hovering over waters = Acts 2 Violent wind filling the room.

God the Spirit is present and moving. In Gen. 1, he is present during the creation of the physical world. In Acts 2, he is present, filling the new creation that is The Church: The Body of Christ.

2. Gen 2 God breathed into Adam to give life. John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus you must be born again (like Adam), but from above (by the Spirit).

In Gen. 2, the breath of God gave physical life. In John 3, the wind of heaven regenerates and gives spiritual life to the dead soul.

This is fulfilled in Acts 2. The Spirit of God came in power and breathed that power into the 120 gathered together. For us today, Ephesians 2 tells us that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Not crippled and in need of help, but DEAD. Just like what God did to Adam and what Jesus told Nicodemus, we must be revived and regenerated through the breath of the Holy Spirit, because as John said in chapter 6 of his gospel, it is the Spirit who gives life (v.63)

Fire

The other visual during this world-altering event was of tongues of fire. This was a tongue-like flame that divided and rested on the group, instantaneously.

Fire is a consistent visual of God’s holiness, righteousness, and judgement throughout the Bible. Here are just a few:

Burning bush

God’s covenant with Abraham - a smoking pot and flaming torch passed between the divided animals

Pillar of fire leading the Hebrews through the wilderness

Consuming fire on Mt. Sinai

Our God is a consuming fire

The promise of Pentecost’s baptism, as declared by John the Baptist:

Matthew 3:11 ESV

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.

Why is this relevant?

First - because it speaks to who God is:

Burning bush - God’s sovereignty and aseity (His self-sustaining and eternal nature)

God’s covenant with Abraham - His faithfulness

Pillar of fire leading the Hebrews through the wilderness - His compassion and longsuffering

Consuming fire on Mt. Sinai - His Holiness

Our God is a consuming fire - His judgement

The promise of Pentecost’s baptism - His Fatherly love in the giving of Himself to His children

Second - This power infused their what? Their speech. Life and death are in the power of the tongue and now, this small band of 120 people have been supernaturally endowed from on high to give them bold and powerful speech that God uses to turn hearts back to himself.

That’s the way it was at Pentecost, and that’s the way it should be for you and I today.

Let me unpack that for you...

Empowered Speech

The immediate imagery for those familiar with the Old Testament is that of the Tower of Babel. It was there that humanity worked together in one language to build a tower to God. Then, in a stunning act that is completely unique to human history, God came down, confused their languages, and dispersed the people. And thus, our multi-cultural and multi-lingual world was born.

But at Pentecost, this was a complete reversal of what happened in Babel. Instead of many languages being spoken, likely only one language was being spoken by the 120 was speaking, yet people from all over the region heard it in their own languages. It was an unfathomable display of the unity of God’s Kingdom!

Again, this was done at the express direction from the Spirit, because they spoke as He gave them utterance.

Does this mean that we are always supposed to speak in tongues as a sign that we are truly saved? Of course not… no more than we would expect to hear the roar of a violent wind or see fiery tongues. All those are linked you see.

It was needed then because Jews from 15 other regions where there, all of whom spoke in their own language. There was a need to speak other human languages. That is not always the case. It certainly isn’t for me here in Ashe County. English is perfectly sufficient. And, as we will see next week, Peter’s first Spirit-infused sermon was spoken and heard in one language: English. I’m kidding. It was in the local language of the day, likely Greek or Aramaic.

The takeaway is that their speech was empowered from on high, just like it can be for you and I now.

Filled

Filled = on-going process of the ministry of the Spirit in one’s life.

Twice in this passage, there was a filling:

The mighty wind-like sound

The multi-lingual speaking

Don’t think of this as a one-time act of say, filling a cup with water. Think of this rather, like a sailboat. It can never move under its own power, but must rely on the wind to move it. It takes, not only a burst of wind, but an on-going, continual force of wind to continue pushing a sailboat forward. And that is exactly what we see throughout Acts: people doing and proclaiming as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

So we see that filling is different than the baptism, because it is a continual thing. As we are being made into the image of Christ throughout our lifetimes, we can be constantly filled (or not, depending on your focus).

How?

By making your relationship with God your priority. What did we see the gathered group doing in the upper room from last week’s Selecting Godly Leaders sermon?

They dedicated themselves to prayer

They bowed to the authority of scripture

They became well acquainted to what scripture said

They sought God’s will.

So it is with filling. You have to make time in prayer, in the word, and in God’s presence top priority and as you are faithful with it, the Spirit will fill you up.

The Crowd’s Reaction

They came because of the sound of the wind. It was such a sudden and violent event, that it drew the attention of a large crowd.

Then, the crowd was completely bewildered, amazed, and astonished as they witnessed each other hearing what was being said in their own languages… by Galileans! Galileans had a reputation for being unlearned and having a think, noticeable accent, just like one might assume that a sophisticated city executive could look down on a people from a more rural area who speak with a country drawl. (They are wrong, of course… those assuming city executives).

These were average, unlearned men! How on earth could they be speaking in such a powerful way?

Some remained amazed, while others just passed it off as being sloshing drunk, because you know, when you get tipsy, you tend to be bit unruly when your multi-lingual abilities start to slip out.

Now, these people came from all over (15 nations mentioned) to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. These were Jews described from having come from the East, from the West, from the North, and from the South. They were from all over! Could it be that Luke has an intentional design, even in the explanation of the geography of these pilgrims, to foreshadow the expansion of the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth? It was for people from every tribe, nation, and tongue? Indeed, this is a universal gospel!

Here is the point. Yes, this was a supernatural event that involved a miraculous display of a multitude of languages being expressed at once. The focal point shouldn’t be on the how of this particular circumstance, but rather on the why: what was being said by this power? Verse 11 tells us. They were hearing of the mighty works of God. Next week, we will see Peter stand up in front of this crowd to boldly proclaim Jesus’s death and resurrection.

And, as Boice put it best:

Acts: An Expositional Commentary (Filled with the Spirit)

The interesting thing is that the circumstance common to every case is that whenever Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit they immediately began to testify forcefully and effectively to Jesus Christ. It is not that they spoke in tongues, though this did occur at Pentecost and possibly elsewhere. It is not that they did miracles, though occasionally miracles were performed. No, when the Holy Spirit came upon his people in a special way, filling them, they immediately began to testify verbally about Jesus… So if you ask whether a person is “Spirit-filled,” the only way to answer the question is by determining whether or not he or she speaks often and effectively about Jesus.

Don’t get caught up in the signs and wonders of it all. Focus on the point of the power: to proclaim Jesus in boldness of speech. That is what you and I are supposed to be doing. For it is the gospel (good news of Jesus) that is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!

When you get together with friends, is Jesus ever a topic of discussion?

What about the chatter around the dinner table?

The water-cooler talk at work?

A discussion with a stranger?

The point of this passage is this: if we have recieved Jesus as Lord and Savior (meaning that we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit) and if we are intentional in our pursuit to be filled by the Holy Spirit, then there is only one outcome: you verbally testify about Jesus.

What About You?

Now that you have heard, what is your reaction? Are you:

Bewildered and somewhat confused about this whole christianity thing?

Skeptical about religion and spiritual things?

Indifferent?

Curious to learn more about the christian faith?

A believer who is convicted that your spiritual life in no way resembles the event at Pentecost.

There is good news. Though you were dead in your trespasses and sins, you can be made alive in Christ, just like this story today, if you call upon his name and believe.