“Birthday of the Church: Past, Present, and Future”
Acts 2:1-13
#Pentecost
INTRODUCTION… Most Expensive Birthday Parties (http://www.lolwot.com/20-of-the-most-expensive-and-craziest-celebrity-birthday-parties-ever/)
Birthdays are a time of celebration. For most of us birthdays include, cake, ice cream, and a few friends. I know in our family we go out to eat at a special restaurant that the birthday person chooses. That is what we do. I looked up some of the most expensive birthday parties and had fun reading through the list. Here are some highlights:
#1 Justin Beiber had a clown theme birthday party that cost $20,000
#2 Sir Philip Green had a 60th birthday party that lasted 4 days and cost $6 million. After his birthday, he had a nightclub built for his daughter’s 21st birthday. Yes a ‘nightclub built.’
#3 Beyonce threw a party in New Orleans for her mother’s 60th birthday which cost over $100,000 and included all the guests arriving in horse-drawn carriages.
#4 Katy Perry threw a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed party.
#5 Paris Hilton threw 5 birthday parties for her 21st birthday in 5 different cities: London, New York, Tokyo, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
#6 Simon Cowell spent $1.6 Million for his 50th birthday which included a shark tank and all his guests arriving in limos.
Birthdays can be a grand celebration. Today on the Church calendar it is known as Pentecost which is the “Birth of the Church.” It is on this day that we celebrate believer’s in Jesus Christ forming a family of faith with a divine purpose. To be honest, the day was already significant for Jewish believers and it gained new meaning 40 days after Easter for Christians. As I thought about this passage, most often referred to as Pentecost, I wondered how we could think about it and study it, so that it would have the same affect on us as it did in the early church… which is encouragement! The early church was born on this day and it fueled them to go out and conquer the world. It energized their Christian lives. It was a significant event that changed everyone. Let’s take a look at Pentecost Past, Pentecost Present, and Pentecost Future.
I. PENTECOST PAST
If we look in the past, before this day in Acts chapter 2, we will find a different sort of
Pentecost celebration. If you were to walk up to any person before this particular day and asked them what Pentecost meant, they would tell you that it was a great feast held in Jerusalem every year. It was also called the Feast of Weeks. Everyone who could make the journey would travel to Jerusalem to feast. They were celebrating a year of hard work in the fields and harvesting. It was a celebration of thanks to God for His provision.
READ DEUTERONOMY 16:10-17
“Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you. 11 And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name-- you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees. 13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your Feast-- you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. 16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.”
There is a Jewish feast going on which is why, in today’s text, we find everyone together on the Day of Pentecost. They were together having a good time of celebration and thanks for the year. They were all just following the tradition they had grown up with. Pentecost was a time of celebration where people would feast and be thankful for what God had already given them and for the provision He would provide in the future.
I found it interesting that a requirement of the celebration was that no one should come to God empty-handed. Verse 16 shares that requirement and verse 17 shares that the gift the person was to bring was to be in proportion to what God had already given. Give out of what God has given. I want you to keep in mind that word “proportion” because it will come in later as we think about Pentecost.
II. PENTECOST PRESENT
In the passage of Acts that we will read from today, we find the birthday of the church. We know who was there. Acts chapter 1 describes the believers in Jesus and how they normally met together. They were waiting as Jesus Christ instructed them to do. Acts 1:13-15 says, “Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)…” We know some of their names, but not all of them. They were meeting together and praying. There were 120 people obeying Jesus’ command from Acts 1:4 to wait in Jerusalem for a gift.
READ ACTS 2:1-13
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
It seems that for these Christians celebrating Pentecost together, it would soon take on a whole new meaning for they would be witnesses and participants to the birth of the Church. The main difference about this day of Pentecost and all the Pentecosts that came before it was the fact that the Holy Spirit came in a mighty way, in a new way, and it came so fantastically.
We find that the Holy Spirit came in the wind. There they were enjoying a meal together when the whole house was filled with the sound of a rushing wind. The Holy Spirit has been associated with the wind before hasn’t it? Jesus talks about the Spirit and wind in John 3:8 when He says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is like the wind. It goes wherever it pleases and we cannot see it. The Spirit, like the wind, is a powerful force. Just ask anyone who’s ever had their roof torn off or a tree uprooted in their yard. The wind is powerful. So is the Spirit. The Spirit came in power this day of Pentecost and everyone heard it.
We also find that the Holy Spirit came in the fire. Not only did they hear the Spirit come but they saw it as well. They saw fire appear and a little flame came to each of them and rested on them. The fire meant something very important.
We find in Exodus 3, that when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush—it meant that Moses was in the presence of God.
We find in Exodus 13, that when God led the people of Israel, He did so with a pillar of fire—meaning that the people of God were being led by the presence of God.
We find in Exodus 19 and 24, that when God was present on Mount Sinai the whole top of the mountain was on fire and blazing – meaning that the presence of God was among them.
Fire means the same thing here in this passage. The very Spirit of God was among them and was about to take up residence in their hearts. They actually saw the fire come to each of them. They saw that God was there and was about to anoint them to do the work of the church. The Spirit came in power this Day of Pentecost and everyone saw it.
We find that the Spirit came and allowed those who were there to speak in tongues. What an amazing miracle for the beginning of the church! And really, if you think about it—the Holy Spirit was providing exactly what the apostles and other’s needed to proclaim the Gospel. The rest of the passage after verse 5 tells us that there were Jews from 14 different nations around the world. That’s at least 14 different languages that had to be learned so the Gospel could be preached. Through the power of God, these apostles were given the gift to speak and be heard by everyone in their native language. All the thousands and thousands of Jews who were in Jerusalem would be able to hear the Gospel and understand it. Amazing and wonderful! The Holy Spirit came in power this Day of Pentecost and everyone saw it demonstrated.
So, the church was born. The Holy Spirit had now come to rest on the followers of Jesus and they could now go out and do as He had asked them to do—spread the Gospel. The church was started and has been going on about the Father’s business ever since.
ILLUSTRATION… What is the church?
Russ Blowers is a minister who is active in his local Indianapolis Rotary club. At club meetings each week a member gives a brief statement about his job. When it was his turn, Russ said: "I'm with a global enterprise. We have branches in every country in the world. We have our representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth. We're into motivation and behavior alteration.
We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes. We care for our clients from birth to death.
We are into life insurance and fire insurance. We perform spiritual heart transplants. Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking. (There's not enough money to buy it.)
Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn't own a home, was misunderstood by His family, hated by enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial, and arose from the dead--I talk with Him every day."
We have seen that the Holy Spirit came on a day that had some past history. All the Christians were together in celebration. Then we saw the new meaning of Pentecost with the present look. The Holy Spirit came with power and with the presence of God. And now we look to the future.
III. PENTECOST FUTURE
This day of Pentecost was really just the beginning for the church and there was much to look forward to. There are two aspects of the Holy Spirit which should give us great encouragement and also challenge us at the same time. Presence and Proportion.
PRESENCE
The most important aspect of this day was that the Holy Spirit came down for the believers in a new way. Jesus asked them to wait and now the wait was over. Before, in Old Testament times, the Spirit of God was with His people, but not on a permanent basis. We don’t really understand that because that is not how God works post-Pentecost. To be honest, the people in the Old Testament would marvel at how God works today constantly among His people. The best example to see the different is to look at the period of the judges. The Book of Judges tells us of the leaders God raised up for Israel before they had kings. Each of them was filled with the Spirit of God, but only when needed and never on a permanent basis. Also, the prophets had the Spirit of God, but they seemed to be the only ones who had it—the Spirit was only for a select few. Now, the Holy Spirit is available for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and it stays on a permanent basis.
The Holy Spirit provides us the environment needed to have a personal relationship with God. It is through this internal ever-present helper that we connect with God personally. And Christians have had the Holy Spirit as part of their lives ever since this special Day of Pentecost.
APPLICATION
What does that mean for us? What does that mean for me and you? If we are a believer in Jesus Christ, then we have the constant ever-present help of the Holy Spirit with us. That means we live in a new reality and we indeed are a new creature. We have God with us 100% of the time:
* We have God who is the guide and helper (John 14:18)
* We have God who gives a power to resist temptation and sin (John 16:8-11)
* We have God who enables us to see what is good and right in situations (John 16:8-11)
* We have God who convicts us of our errors that we might do right (John 16:8-11)
* We have God experiencing our sin with us as we do it grieving Him (Ephesians 4:30)
* We have access to God through prayer even when we don’t know what to say (Romans 8:26)
* We have God inside us pushing us towards love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
That is the reality of life for us who are believers in Jesus Christ for we have the ever present help and conscience of the Holy Spirit with us.
PROPORTION
Earlier when we were talking about Pentecost Past I mentioned the word “proportion.” I told you it would come up again. Here we are. In Pentecost Past, people were commanded to bring an offering in proportion to what God had given them. We find proportion when it comes to Pentecost Future as well.
READ ROMANS 12:4-8
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Notice there is “proportion” here as well. As a result of Pentecost Present, we have the Holy Spirit with us now in Pentecost Future. Romans 12 gives us several spiritual truths that are important as we think about Pentecost and life with the Holy Spirit:
* As a believer, we are one part of the whole family of believers connected through the Spirit (verse 5)
* Each person who is a baptized believer receives a spiritual gift or gifts (verse 6)
* We must use the gift in proportion to our faith and our spiritual maturity (verse 6)
The visual picture we get is one of a body that in order to function correctly, must have all its organs and hands and feet working together towards one purpose. If you think mechanically, the same picture is all of the gears working together fitting together appropriately to produce movement or action. Each part has a job to do and is essential in function.
APPLICATION
What does that mean for us? What does that mean for me and you? Pentecost means that you and I each have a job to do as believers in God’s Church. Since you are here and part of this church family, you have a job here to do.
Are you doing it?
Are you using your gift or gifts that God has given you?
Are you as a giver, teacher, encourager, pray-er, leader, helper, doing what God has tasked you to do?
Are you sitting on the sidelines?
As a way to actually apply the proportion gift that you have, I have spiritual gift inventories up front here. Maybe you are unsure of your gift. I invite you to come forward today and pick up a spiritual gifts inventory, do it, and then make an appointment with me to plug you in where your gift is needed here at the church. This spiritual gift inventory is not something you will find in the Bible, but a man-made tool to help believers get set off in the right direction in using the spiritual gifts God has already given us. The challenge is to use the gift in proportion to what God has already given us!
CONCLUSION
