Sermon Tone Analysis

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:

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

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:

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.

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:

Why is this relevant?