"Pentecost: A Pouring Out” Series

"Pentecost: A Pouring Out” Acts 2:14-21

OUTLINE:

I. Old Testament Pouring Out

1. Water (1 Sam. 7:6)- turn to God in repentance.

2. Dust or Dirt- (2 Sam 20:15, Isa. 37:33, Jer. 6:6, Ezek 4:2)

3. God’s Wrath: (Isa 42:25)- Points to the bowls in Revelation.

4. Oil- consecrated to God and His Purposes.

5. Blood (Ex 29: 4) Pour out with blood is “to kill”: A sacrifice has been made.

II. Pointed TO the Pouring Out of Christ

1. The violent slaying of the Savior. Lk 22:20, Mk 14:24

2. Granting the Spirit of baptism: cleansing (Titus 3:4-7) and overflowing of God’s Love poured out. (Rom 5:5-6)

III. The Pouring Out of the Spirit upon the Church:

1. Equips to WITNESS to the TRUTH about Jesus Matt. 23:30) 1 John 5:20

2. Equips them with a Warning and the Solution: Another “Day” is coming:

There is a Savior.

We are spending a few weeks witnessing the Power of Pentecost and today we hear part one of Peter’s Pentecost Message in Acts 2:14. He is Preaching and Teaching what God says; This is God’s Word: “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. (All PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM receive the SPIRIT. It’s a Kingdom promise from the King to God’s Kingdom People.) Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”

The Old Testament “Pouring Out”

Peter, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, preaches a message directly from the Word of God concerning the main event of THAT Pentecost day in Jerusalem, namely, the filling of the Promised Spirit. He quotes directly from Joel 2:28-32 that this “pouring out” of the Holy Spirit of God was promised, not only by Jesus, but by God through the Prophet Joel some 500 years before. But there’s an enormous amount of REDEMPTIVE history in this word, “POUR OUT”.

For the sake of time, I’ll quickly give you a few examples of the 110 times that this word is used in the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 7:6 there is one example of WATER being “Poured out”: ”They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." This symbolized Israel’s spirit of sorrow for their sin, completely pouring out their souls and lives before the Lord: They would repent of their sin and be devoted to Him alone. (That’s a great part of being BAPTIZED isn’t it?) There were many ceremonial washings in the Old Testament where water was poured over priests and worship vessels, symbolizing cleansing and consecration to God.

The second example of “Pouring Out” is that of Dust or DIRT- I have given you several examples of these in your notes. (2 Sam 20:15, Isa. 37:33, Jer. 6:6, Ezek 4:2) The word used in these passages is the pouring out of DIRT, heaping it up in the building of ramps in order to attack cities- the dirt was carried and poured out. The “POURING OUT” or heaping up caused the enemy to be conquered and fall.

WRATH: Look at Isaiah 42: 23: “Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter ? 24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose law they did not obey? 25 So He poured out on him (JACOB/ISRAEL) the heat of His anger and the fierceness of battle; and it set him aflame all around, yet he did not recognize it; and it burned him, but he paid no attention.”

Time and time again Israel was in obstinate disobedience to God, to the point that even when God POURED OUT His WRATH on Israel, they were oblivious to what was happening. Does that sound at all familiar? The Rebellion of Israel was the rebellion of a nation against God. Their sin and rebellion was based in arrogance and pride against God’s Word and His Will. The RESULT was a loss of passion and love for God, disunity among Israel (the divided Kingdom), and a lack of trust and love for each other. And just like of Israel, God continually challenges His people to LOVE HIM above all to avoid disaster, but rebelling AGAINST God is the natural fruit of sinful human nature.