Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

06-15-2008

Acts 2:1-37

INTRODUCTION

Background

• Old Testament – Pentecost was a festival where every Jew who lived within 20 miles was compelled by law to attend.

• Pentecost means – “The Fiftieth” and was a celebration the fiftieth day after Passover.

Pentecost had an:

o Historical significance in that it commemorated the giving of the law to Moses

o Agricultural significance in that the Jewish nations offered two loafs in gratitude for the seasons harvest.

• But today we celebrate Pentecost for a very different reason…

ILLUSTRATION

Today we celebrate Pentecost because it marks the birth of the church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church…Gates of Hades will not prevail”) and the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit upon humanity (Joel 2:28). As such I thought it would make sense to discuss the Holy Spirit today and His role in the Church.

I can remember learning addition, subtraction and multiplication in school as a child. All of it made sense to me and then came division. It took me twice as long to learn division and the other kids, it just didn’t make sense, it was a foreign concept to me. The way that I ended up “getting it” was by learning the rules of division until I got the concept behind the rules.

It would seem to me that the Holy Spirit is not all that dissimilar. Most of us have no problem grasping the concept of God the Father or Jesus Christ the son but the Holy Spirit is a foreign concept.

PROPOSITION:

It is my hope today that if can begin to learn about the role the Holy Spirit in the Church of God, then gradually over time we will meet the person of the Holy Spirit.

ORIENTATION

Today we are going to see that the Holy Spirit builds up Christ’s Church and Christ’s people by:

o Demonstrating the Power of God – (v. 2-4)

o Equipping Believers For the Works of God (14)

o Convicting Sinners To Return To God – (v.

TRANSITIONAL SENTENCE

Look with me at vs. (2-4) as we see the Holy Spirit…

Demonstrating The Power Of God – (v. 2-4)

The miracles of God do not just happen, they are the work of the Holy Spirit which can be clearly seen in our passage today…

The Miraculous Sounds (v. 1-2)

• “And suddenly…The rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.”

o The Power of the Holy Spirit, even when expected catches them off guard. (Acts 1:5 but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”)

 I believe Christ’s return will be much like this rush of wind, for it is said Christ will come “Like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

o The Holy Spirit demonstrates the power of God in the sound of the rushing wind.

The Miraculous Sights (v. 3)

• “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire…” v. 3

o Luke is trying to describe what occurred, but this is similar to the baptism of Jesus (the Holy Spirit was “like” a dove). These were not literal tongues, but rather flames shaped like tongues.

o This fulfills the prophecy of John the Baptist (Luke 3:16 “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

o These tongues rested on each one of them (not including those outside)

o The Holy Spirit baptizes them collectively and makes them one. The Holy Spirit fills us at Baptism and seals us in Chrismation as one in the body of Christ.

The Miraculous Speech (v. 4)

• “They were filled with the Holy Spirit…”

o It was in the filling of the Holy Spirit that they began to speak in other tongues and worship God. The filling of God’s Spirit was so powerful the overflow was to praise Him.

• and began to speak in other tongues…”

o In most cases speaking in tongues is for personal edification, in the apostles spoke in familiar tongues, speaking in languages they did not inherently know.

Illustration

Often times the United States will demonstrate a new weapon by doing a test fire. The weapon is fired not simply to see if it will work, it is fired in order that the rest of the world will see that it works!

The miracles of the Holy Spirit are similar. The Holy Spirit does not simply – “do miracles”, the Holy Spirit displays the power of God “through miracles” pointing to Christ, for the world to see.

Application

• If we want to meet the person of the Holy Spirit, lets first understand one of the roles He plays in the Church. The Holy Spirit demonstrates the Power of God through the miraculous.

• The Holy Spirit does this not to “wow” us, but to point to Christ and to unite us.