The Power of Pentecost.
Text: Leviticus 23: 15-22; Acts 2:1-11
Introduction. A few weeks ago we began a series on Sunday mornings surrounding the Feasts of Israel. You will recall from Leviticus 23, how God has set out a plan of the ages, a great prophetic calendar whereby the history of the Jewish people from the time of Christ to the end has been predicted. The first four feasts, are the spring time feasts and these have been fulfilled in Christ’s first coming, the last three feasts the autumn feasts are yet to be fulfilled, but will be fulfilled as perfectly as the first four when Jesus Christ comes to earth a second time.
The last time we touched on this subject we considered the feast of first fruits or “Yom HaBikkurim” as the Jewish people call it and you will recall it speaks of a “promise to come”. In its simplest form the word “firstfruits” means “beginning”, the people were to bring before the Lord the beginnings of their harvest, understanding as they did so that there was more to come. But in Judaism there are actually two feasts of first fruits, the first is considered early firstfruits, and the second is considered latter firstfruits it occurs fifty days later than the first and is known as the “Feast of weeks” or “Pentecost.”
This morning we turn our attention to this final spring feast, Pentecost, the feast of weeks. We read in Acts 2 that the early church were gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, praying. Did it ever occur to you why it was they were there at this specific point in time?
Well think about what we have learned so far. At the feast of Passover, Jesus died, during the feast of unleavened bread He was buried and on the feast of firstfruits he arose. Now the Jewish people would begin “counting the omer”, that is they would count the days until the time of the next feast, the latter first fruits which is Pentecost. Any thinking person would begin to put two and two together and realise that the events surrounding Christ’s life and ministry are paralleling with the feasts – celebration which Jews had been observing annually since the time of Moses. I think it was no accident that the church was gathered together, praying on the day of Pentecost, expectant that the promise Jesus gave them pertaining to the Comforter, the Holy Ghost might be fulfilled. And they were not to be disappointed.
Yet the events of Acts 2 have become a source of great consternation for many people & that’s a shame for the consequence of that is that we miss the whole purpose of the Day of Pentecost. The consequence is that we have all kinds of groups who uphold one aspect of this great day over another. Some only see the tongues, and others only see the church, and yet others only see a new dispensation. Now whilst all of these things are there none of them represent the central truth of the Day of Pentecost.
I. Pentecost Is Not About Tongues.
A. Tongues a side issue in this chapter.
1. Indeed in many ways tongues a side issue in the New Testament.
(a) Only mentioned in any detail in 3 places.
(i) Mark 16
(ii) Acts 2 (Also passing refs Acts 10 & 19)
(iii) 1 Corinthians 12-14.
B. The tongues mentioned in Acts 2 are only a small cog in a bigger mechanism.
1. Those brethren who push and push the issues of tongues in this passage are missing the whole point of Pentecost.
2. Those who say that tongues is the major thing, the hallmark of Spirit baptism and filling are emphasizing something the Scriptures give no emphasis too.
3. Certainly the tongues mentioned here (& throughout the N.T.) are unrelated to the present day phenomenon that is practiced on in many of the so-called Pentecostal churches.
(a) Tongues mentioned here are not some ecstatic supposed “heavenly” utterance, but a known intelligible earthly language.
(b) The Spirit of God goes to great lengths to point that fact out.
(i) Vs 5 - “devout men OUT OF EVERY NATION under heaven.
(ii) Vs 6 - “Every man heard them speak in HIS OWN LANGUAGE.”
(iii) Vs 7 & 8 - The miraculous thing was that the speakers were all Galileans, but every man heard them speak “IN OUR OWN TONGUE WHEREIN WE WERE BORN.”
(iv) Vss 9 & 10 then lists the foreign places these men had come from, and
(v) Vs 11 states again “we do hear them speak in OUR TONGUES the wonderful works of God.”
(vi) Four times does the Holy Spirit specifically record that these were intelligible human languages & yet we still have well meaning people today trying to fob off the Acts 2 experience as something mystical, incomprehensible, heavenly & angelic. Nonsense!
4. Add to this evidence the proviso for speaking in tongues recorded in 1 Cor 14 and you start to get the idea that our Pentecostal brethren are not as Pentecostal as they suppose.
(a) No more than three to speak @ any meeting (vs 27)
(b) Each speaker to follow after the other (vs 27)
(c) One person to interpret (vs 27)
(d) If no interpreter present, no one is to speak. (vs 28)
(e) Constantly the speakers are in control of their faculties (Vs 32-33)
(i) No emptying of the mind, no head rolling or hysterics, no wild laughter, no animal noises, nothing ecstatical.
(f) No women to speak (vs 34)
5. Leave aside the argument that tongues have ceased, leave aside the argument that it is the least of the gifts. Leave aside the argument that Jesus never spoke in tongues and still the Charismatics and Pentecostals are struggling to justify their practice within the confines of theses Scriptural guidelines.
(a) Pentecost wasn’t about tongues, & Pentecostals are wrong to place the emphasis they do upon the gift of tongues and Pentecost.
II. Pentecost is not about the Church Beginning.
A. There are people who want to argue about when the church started.
1. Some believe the church started in O.T. w/ Adam, yet others with Abraham, some say with John the Baptist. others points to the calling of the twelve, some say in declaration of Matt 16:18, yet others say John 20:21-22 and then there are those who say Acts 2.
2. Some people want to fight about it.
(a) Important thing is the church started.
(b) If you ask me when did it start? I would say Pentecost, but I would point out to you that the church existed in embryonic form prior to Pentecost.
(c) But if the mark of the church is Spirit baptism & indwelling then you have to look to Pentecost.
B. The point I’m making is that God doesn’t make that emphasis in Acts 2.
1. That’s why men argue over it. If it were clear there would be no argument.
2. You’re missing the point if you major in on Pentecost as the birthday of the church.
III. Pentecost is not about a New Dispensation.
A. I believe Pentecost does mark a new dispensation.
1. On that day we can confidently say the church age began. But we don’t want to get hung up on that point.
2. Its important, but its not most important.
3. Pentecost was the day when for the first time in human history God the Holy Spirit took up a permanent residence in redeemed mankind - the church - the temple.
4. That is an extremely important fact, but if we stop there we miss the real emphasis of Pentecost.
IV. What Was Pentecost About?
A. The word “pentecost” is derived from the Greek word for “fiftieth.”
1. The Day of Pentecost, always falls on the fiftieth day after the Passover.
2. Remember it is called the “Feast of Weeks” (Marked a week of weeks, that is seven periods of seven = 49 days, or if you like fifty days from Passover).
B. It is important that we understand what Pentecost was in the mind of the Jew.
1. It was the Feast of Harvest. A one-day affair timed to coincide with the wheat or barley harvest.
2. It was a festivity of thanksgiving, centring on the harvest theme.
a. A small field was reaped and the corn was ground into flour.
b. To the flour was added oil & leaven (normally Jews were purging out leaven), and two loaves of bread were made.
c. These loaves were then offered to the Lord as a wave offering - that is they were waved into the sky in thanksgiving to God for the harvest.
d. It was all very symbolic, particularly when placed alongside the events of Acts 2.
C. Notice Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was FULLY COME, they were all with one accord in one place.”
1. Don’t rush over those two words “fully come.”
2. Here was the pinnacle of all that Pentecost symbolised.
3. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit, the leaven always a picture of sin, the two loaves of bread picture the two constituents of the church, Jew & Gentile.
a. The day of Pentecost was not about tongues, or the birth of the church per se, or a new dispensation. No. It marked the beginning of a harvest - the Harvest of Nations, when God would form a church out of Jew & Gentile, a church indwelt by His Spirit, yet also indwelt by sin the tares growing side by side with the wheat.
b. But the key to understanding Pentecost is to hold the primary thought that Pentecost represents a harvest of nations.
D. Notice the perfect timing of God in orchestrating this moment.
1. Estimated populace of Jerusalem grew by 3 000 000 at Passover, men came from near and far - 50 days later they are expected to meet in Jerusalem again, many would not return home until after Pentecost, hence “There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of EVERY NATION UNDER HEAVEN.” (Acts 2:5).
2. If God had waited just one day more all these people would have been gone, but He waited until their last day in Jerusalem, knowing that whether they were converted or not (3000 of them were) they would travel throughout the world bringing with them, possibly a story of conversion, but certainly an experience unlike anything they had ever witnessed before.
3. They would do the footwork for the coming of the Gospel by the apostles and others into their region! Pentecost was about the harvest of nations.
E. If you want further proof of that, then notice the potent signs given to Israel.
1. “Cloven tongues as of fire” & “speaking with other tongues.”
2. Both are pictorial of judgment.
3. Israel was being judged. The Gospel was no longer the monopoly of one nation, but soon to become the property of every nation.
a. Fire always pictures purging and judgment.
(i) “Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and HIS TONGUE AS A DEVOURING FIRE.” (Isaiah 30:27).
(ii) The tongues of fire picture judgment
(iii) “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11).
(iv) Baptism of the Holy Ghost & fire are two separate baptisms.
(iii) Baptism = putting someone into something.
(v) Believer is baptised in the Holy Ghost, but unbelievers will be baptized with fire.
(vi) Those Christians who seek the baptism of fire are making a big mistake!
b. Tongues is also a picture of judgment.
(i) First mention - Babel - judgment.
(ii) “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” (Isaiah 28:11).
c. Notice both elements are cited as proofs of judgment - Isaiah 66:16-19.
d. That’s why tongues are given in the N.T. as a sign to the Jew.
(i) What was the sign? What was the judgment? That the Jewish Messiah who was largely rejected by Israel would be offered unto the Gentiles who would embrace Him and then recommend Him to the Jew.
(ii) It was a sign that the Gospel was going out into all the world, unto every creature and that the peoples so despised by Judaism as pagan would find forgiveness and acceptance with God.
F. Why was the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost?
1. So that men could speak in tongues? No. Though they did.
2. So that the church could be born? No. Though she was.
3. So that a new dispensation could begin? No. Though one did.
4. The Holy Spirit was given that the church might be equipped and empowered to fulfill the Great Commission and harvest the nations for God.
5. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
Conclusion: Do you know what a real pentecostal is? A real Pentecostal is one who is busy working in God’s harvest of nations.
You see folks God doesn’t want us working signs and wonders - He wants us out there witnessing to His wonders and working towards the greatest wonder or work of all - the regeneration of lost souls. That’s what Pentecost was about 2000 years ago. That’s what its about today. We have that same power within us, we are just as well equipped as the early church to get the job done, we have just as much of the Holy Ghost as they to win men, but are we doing it? Are you doing it? Are you involved in bringing men to Jesus? I pray that you are, and if you not I pray that you would be.
