Pentecost - The Church Is Born!
Today we will be reading from Acts 2:1-13
Last Sunday we took a look at a combination of Jesus’ ascension into Heaven and the Holy Spirit being given to all of humanity on the Day of Pentecost.
In doing so we contrasted the work of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Counselor
- O.T. -counselor the Law
o Rabbis and Scribes - teaching the law
o Pharisees - creating new laws (traditions) to reinforce the law itself was the counselor
- The N.T. - Counselor = the Holy Spirit
o Present and working throughout the world
o Convicting us of sin
o Calling us to repentance and salvation
o Living within us after salvation
o Guiding and directing our thoughts and actions
o Leading us to live holy lives
The Mediator
- O.T. mediator - the priest
o Offering sacrifices for our sins
- N.T.
o No office of the priesthood found in the N.T.
? Prophets, apostles, evangelists, preachers, teachers, elders, deacons (Eph. 4:11 / 1 Tim. 5:17 / 1 Tim. 3:8)
? No need to go through a human priest (don’t exist)
o Jesus is the One and Only High Priest
o Jesus is the Perfect Sacrifice that was sufficient for all
God
O.T. The God of Israel
- Sovereign
- Shrouded in mystery
- Known only through the Torah
N.T. The God of Israel
- Revealed through Jesus
- Knowable through the Holy Spirit
So, today we are taking a closer look at the difference between the activities of the Holy Spirit in the OT and how He works in the world since the day of Pentecost.
We see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, too but it was different. The Holy Spirit would move into and out of the life of a person to perform certain actions. Sometimes the person would be a righteous person such as Joshua (Numbers 27:18) or David (1 Samuel 16:12-13). But, we also see the Holy Spirit enabling such people as Samson and some of the other judges who were living unrighteous lives. He did this in spite of them in order to accomplish His plans and purposes.
But, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was given in a much more expansive way.
So … just HOW did the Holy Spirit of God arrive???
Let’s read Acts 2:1-13
(Prayer for help)
What an amazing event!!!
The Jews of that time were coming to Jerusalem for Pentecost, the celebration of the early harvest!
You know that quite often before we receive the tithes and offerings for the week we read a Scripture about bringing in the “first fruits” of the harvest. That is literally what these people who were coming into Jerusalem were doing.
They were celebrating the Goodness of the Lord in the abundance of the early wheat harvest. In Exodus 23:16 they were commanded to, “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.”
So, here are people from at least fifteen different nations who spoke at least fifteen different languages and all of them are following the command of Yahweh the Lord God of Israel.
Imagine yourself trudging along through the narrow streets of Jerusalem with the first fruits of your field. You may have done this many times over many years.
Suddenly there is the sound of a mighty rushing wind but there is no wind.
And then, the 120 men and women in the upper room (Acts 1:13) saw, “what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
Then, all 120 of them come pouring out of the building, “declaring the wonders of God.” (Acts 2:11)
And finally, the entire crowd from over 15 nations who were around the building heard them, “declaring the wonders of God in (their) own languages!” (Acts 2:11)
WOW!!! Just try to imagine that!
You would expect that if you were trying to tell a big crowd from 15 different countries about something great that happened you might try speaking in a trade-language that they would all understand, right?
Not so! All of the followers of Jesus are speaking in a language they do not know. And, every listener is hearing in their own language! And, to compound the situation, just imagine if you were to hear 120 people speaking different languages all at once it would be the sound of chaos! But it wasn’t …
Now, imagine that they are not just speaking but are almost shouting! I mean, there has been the sound of a mighty wind with no wind and they have seen fire on their heads and they are filled with the Holy Spirit of God!
How on earth did anyone understand anything that was being said?
It was the work of the Holy Spirit, that’s how!
So, finally, Peter starts talking in one language and everyone still understands what he is saying.
OK. Now let’s think a little about the crowd from these 15+ nations.
Over 3,000 of them place their faith and trust in Jesus and are baptized.
So, how many were in the crowd?
We don’t know but it must have been huge!
What happened here? When the 120 men and women came flooding from the upper room they did not leave the Holy Spirit up there; He came out with them and He flooded over this entire massive crowd.
The Holy Spirit convicted their hearts of sin.
The Holy Spirit showed them that there was a way for them to be saved and forgiven.
The Holy Spirit filled these 3,000 men and then He went home with them to their 15+ nations.
Right here we see the first fruits of the harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God and how appropriate it is that it occurred at the Festival of the Harvest of the first crops!
And … the Church was Born!!! On that day the Church was Born!!!
You see, in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would work in the lives of individuals as needed in order to accomplish the work of Yahweh, the LORD God of Israel on earth.
But now, the Holy Spirit is like the atmosphere of this planet, surrounding the earth, available to all, working the grace of God.
The Holy Spirit is working the Grace of God by:
- Convicting of sin
- Calling sinners to repentance
- Enabling sinners to respond to the Grace of God for salvation
- Filling those who are truly saved with His Spirit
- Enabling those who are filled with His Spirit to share the wonders of God’s grace with those who are lost
Is the Holy Spirit:
- Convicting you of sin right now
- Calling you to repentance
- Calling you to respond to the Grace of God for salvation
Are you:
- Truly saved and filled with the Holy Spirit
- Sharing the wonders of God’s grace with those who are lost
Final thoughts and prayer
