The Mission Ignited
Acts 2:1-13
We are in week three of our series through the book of Acts - a sermon series I've entitled "The Church On Mission." I chose to preach through this book of the Bible in correspondence and connection to our theme for LVBC in 2015. We are, by God's grace, emphasizing the call of God on our lives and on our church to take the gospel to our neighbors across the street, and to the nations across the globe.
As we began this series two weeks ago I preached a message entitled "Power for the Mission." That title was based off of Acts 1:8 where just before his ascension Jesus gave the disciples this promise: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Jesus promised them that the Person of the Holy Spirit would descend upon them and in so doing they would receive power for the express purpose of being witness for Christ across the street in Jerusalem and around the world to the end of the earth.
Last week I entitled the message "God's Mission is on Track." We looked at the episode when the apostles replaced Judas the betrayer with Matthias. And we came around this idea that something as detrimental as the betrayal and subsequent suicide and demise of one of the inner 12 of Jesus' band of followers would not derail God's mission of the church. The gates of hell came against the church, and continue to come against the church but God uses Satan's devices and schemes for his ultimate purpose. And the comforting truth in that is no matter what comes against us, God is still on his throne and he will accomplish all his good pleasure. And that's the face of God we look to in times of difficulty.
This week we're turning the page to chapter 2 in our study of this wonderful historical account of the first century church written by Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I've entitled this message, "The Mission Ignited." I think as we get into the text you'll see where that comes from.
Most of you are probably aware that in our church we are blessed to have about a 1/2 dozen or so Chattanooga firefighters. I'm thankful for them, not only because of their commitment to this local body but because of their commitment to our community and our city in taking up the task of being first responders, ready to save lives through their skill and training.
One of the things they are well versed in, no doubt, is a phenomenon known as a "backdraft." The reason I'm certain they're aware of this phenomenon is because of the tremendous danger it presents to them as they take on the task of fighting fires.
So what is a backdraft? Most of you are probably familiar with the fire triangle. There are three necessary elements in order for a fire to exist: fuel, heat and oxygen. When one of those 3 ceases to exist so does the fire. So here's how a backdraft occurs: when a fire is burning in an enclosed building is as the fire burns it consumes all the oxygen in the room. (ie. lid on a candle) There's still heat and fuel, but no oxygen so the flame goes out. A backdraft occurs when oxygen is suddenly reintroduced through the breaking of a window or the opening of a door. There's already fuel and heat, and when the oxygen is suddenly reintroduced to the room it results in an explosion of flame and fire that can be incredibly dangerous.
What we're going to study today is something like a spiritual backdraft. And while firefighters seek to prevent the physical phenomenon of a backdraft, these early followers of Christ were seeking a spiritual backdraft. You see in that upper room with 120 or so followers of Jesus - they had two parts of the fire triangle. They had the fuel. The fuel was the very word of God; the word of Christ that was spoken to them. The Word is our fuel as well. They had the heat - the heat of their love and passion for their resurrected savior who had died on the cross for them and was resurrected to new life to provide hope for the future. But the oxygen, the Holy Spirit was suddenly introduced into that room. The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma - which means air (pneumatic). The Pneuma, the Spirit, the mighty rushing wind of God is suddenly introduced into this room where there is fuel and heat. And the result is an explosion, an ignition of missionary flame and fire.
1When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Before I launch into the exposition of this passage, I want to first present two premises that result in an obvious conclusion. By considering these I believe we will not only have a greater understanding of this passage but also help us in the particular application of the principles contained herein.
Premise #1: The promise of the power from the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8 is for the express purpose of world evangelization. Jesus did not say he was sending the Holy Spirit in power so that you can experience warm fuzzies; personal encouragement and edification; some type of spiritual ecstatic event. Now those may be secondary and ancillary results but they ARE not the primary purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 is clear about that - they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes and they would be witnesses. Jesus said something very similar recorded in Luke 24: 47"And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:47-49
I think it's very clear, the promise of the power from the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8 and Luke 24 is for the express purpose of world evangelization; of being witnesses, Jesus said, to "all nations." That's premise #1.
Premise #2: World evangelization is an unfinished task.
The gospel has not yet reached all people groups, all tribes, all tongues and nations. It is an unfinished task. We know it is an unfinished task because Jesus has not yet returned to establish his kingdom. He promised as much in Matthew 24: And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
Has the end come yet? I sure hope not otherwise we're all in trouble. And since the end has not yet come, the gospel has not been preached to all nations and penetrated the whole world.
When we put premise #1 and premise #2 together we're left with this.
Conclusion: The promised power experienced at Pentecost is still valid and available for the church today. Do you see how I arrive at that conclusion? The power of the Holy Spirit was given for world evangelization; world evangelization is an unfishinished task. Therefore, the power is still accessible today.
Pentecost is not an isolated event. Rather, it is the first of many power-infused outpourings of God through His Spirit to bring missionary zeal to his church. It's the infusion of oxygen that produces an ignition of growth and outreach.
The history of the Christian church proves this to be the case. The 2,000 year history of the church is not one of a steady, constant move across the globe like a well-orchestrated military conquest advancing into new territories and regions. Rather, the history of the church points to sudden spurts and abrupt explosions of missional activity. And so throughout the church's history we see outpourings of the Holy Spirit which result in missionary zeal. Even in our own country this has been the case.
The 1st Great Awakening began in 1734 - 42 years before the declaration of independence - where God swept through our country in power.
The 2nd Great Awakening occurred beginning in 1790 and really broke out into massive conversions in our country between 1800 and 1810.
On Sep 23, 1857 Jeremy Lanphier organized a lunch time prayer gathering in New York City. 6 people showed up. Lanphier was disappointed by the turnout, but they continued to meet, pray. Within 6 months the Holy Spirit had moved on New York City with such power that 10's of thousands of people gathered daily across Manhattan and spent their lunch hour on their knees in prayer, and as a result many were brought to faith in Christ.
These revivals are not orchestrated events by clever men - they are God-sent, supernaturally infused, movements of the Spirit in power upon his church for the purpose of missional outreach. Revival is not something we can schedule; it's not something we put on the calendar and say "April 5-10 we will have a revival." It doesn't work that way. God sends it according to his purpose and plan. I had someone ask me not long ago, "How come in your entire time as pastor at LVBC you've not scheduled a revival." Very simply because God doesn't operate according to my schedule, I operate according to his. He alone schedules revival in his church.
Here's what we CAN do - the same thing the disciples in that upper room did - they prayed and waited. They prayed, expectantly with full assurance and waited.
I'll mention one more revival in American history that you may not have heard of - it was known as the Brownwood Revival. Not the Brownsville revival, but the Brownwood Revival in Brownwood, TX.
On January 22, 1995 at Coggin Street Baptist Church, God sent the Holy Spirit in power to that Southern Baptist Church and Holy Spirit revival broke out.
When recollecting on that event the pastor said this: "On that day I lost control of my church, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me." The pastor said after 1 1/2 years as pastor there, he was ready to quit. He went to the Lord in earnest prayer and said, "I'm done - I can't do anything with these people." He sensed in his heart the Holy Spirit reply, "You're right. Now that you realize you can't do anything with these people, I'm going to do something with these people."
On that January Sunday morning at the conclusion of the first of two morning services, a college student came down front and asked for permission to address the congregation. He read from Joel 2 and then wept before the congregation and said, "Our college campus needs revival. Our church needs revival." Following that a woman from the congregation joined him at the microphone, voicing her agreement. Then one by one people began to come forward to confess sin, to receive Christ for the first time, or to yield to God in obedience to God's call.
So many people were responding to God's work in their lives that the pastor did not feel he could end the service. Sunday school classes, which usually followed the first service, were canceled, and as people arrived from classes and the second service, they were met by excited church members who told them to go straight to the sanctuary to see what was happening.
The pastor went home that afternoon fearful, unsure of how some church members would feel about the morning's events. But when he returned to the church that evening, he was approached by a senior adult who said, "I've been praying to see revival at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church for 40 years and today I saw my prayers answered."
Within three weeks the revival had spread to Howard Payne University in Brownwood – resulting in many conversions. The next week the revival hit the campus of Southwestern Baptist seminary in Fort Worth. Recordings of those spontaneous revival services began to be distributed across college campuses as far away as Massachusetts to Alabama.
The pastor from Coggin Avenue Baptist was all of a sudden deluged with requests to come speak at college campuses around the country. In all over 100 college campuses were numbered that had experienced the results of this great outpouring of God's Spirit in 1995. The pastor who's humble confession was the spark God used to ignite this revival was Dr. John Avant, pastor of FBC Concord in Knoxville. He'll be preaching in this pulpit, bringing the concluding message of our Missions Conference March 1st.
But revival doesn't come because we have a guest preacher. Revival comes because God, in his gracious good will determines to pour out his Spirit in power on an expectant, hungry, thirsty, praying people. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled." Oh may we be that people! I want us to approach this passage today with the understanding that the promised Holy Spirit coming in power, igniting the church to missionary zeal and fervor is still valid and available for us today. Why? Because the task of reaching the ends of the earth has still not been accomplished.
Five things from this passage that I think are important for us to identify as we seek to apply these truths to our life together as a church on mission.
I. The SIGNIFICANCE Of The Festival
When the day of Pentecost arrived…
Why did Jesus choose Pentecost – a distinctly Jewish festival – why did he choose that day as the day when he would pour out the Spirit on the disciples? Why not 10 days earlier when he ascended? Why not two weeks later? I think there are two parallel reasons why Jesus chose to pour out His Spirit that are incredibly significant.
A. A dramatic increase in POPULATION
dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation
On this Jewish holiday known as Pentecost there would be a tremendous number of Jewish pilgrims that had made the journey to Jerusalem from across the known world. It was one of the three Jewish feasts that called for a pilgrimage to the Holy City. It got its name, Pentecost (fiftieth), from the fact that it took place 50 days after Passover.
Remember, Jesus celebrated the Passover with the disciples in the upper room Thursday night before he was crucified on Friday. Then 50 days later he would send his Spirit and ignite the mission. So it seems apparent that Jesus was very intentional because of the opportunity to witness to so many Jews from so many nations at one place at one time. Remember, the outpouring of the Spirit was for the purpose of reaching nations. The best initial opportunity to do that was the Pentecost festival. Secondly...
B. It provided powerful SYMBOLISM
It was a feast of harvest. That's what Pentecost is called in Exodus 23:16: You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor. In Deuteronomy and Leviticus it’s called the feast of weeks. It’s celebrated 7 weeks after Passover – 7X7 =49. The counting started on the day after the Sabbath, so that’s 50 days – Pentecost.
It’s the feast of firstfruits, the feast of the harvest. In other words there was a beautiful symbolic significance: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in extraordinary power was meant for world evangelization. And what is this but a great harvest in the field of the world. And that is exactly what happened -- 3,000 people were harvested for God and given eternal life on the day of Pentecost, the feast of harvest. And those 3,000 souls were the firstfruits of an ongoing harvest Christ is accomplishing through his church.
It's a shame that the phrase "Pentecostal power" has for many people become singularly associated with speaking in tongues, not with global missions. I'll come back to the miracle of tongues in a few minutes, but just be sure at this point that you see the main focus: Pentecostal power was given for a feast of harvest in Jerusalem, and on this very day, Jesus pours out the Spirit in extraordinary power and 3,000 people are harvested from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
II. The SUDDENNESS Of The Fall
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound…
I focus on the word “suddenly” to drive home this point: The Holy Spirit is free & sovereign and not bound to anyone's timing as to how he will release His power. We trust daily for his indwelling presence and grace; we walk in the obedience of the faith. But we also should pray day and night for the outpouring of power from on high. However, we cannot make the Spirit come. When he comes, he comes suddenly. He will not come on our timing or by our directive. Why? Because he knows what’s best for us.
You’ve probably heard of Dwight L. Moody, the 19th century pastor and evangelist that God used in great power. Moody Memorial Church & Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Moody Radio bear his name.
In the summer of 1871 two women in Moody's congregation felt an unusual burden to pray for Moody "that the Lord would give him the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire." Moody would see them praying in the front row of his church and he was irritated, “why do they think I need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Fire. I’m indwelt by the Spirit." But soon he gave in. In Sept 1871 he began to pray with them every Friday afternoon. By his own admission he felt like his ministry was becoming a sounding brass, just noise with little power.
Two months later the Great Chicago Fire happened, bringing much of the city of Chicago to ashes – including Moody’s church. He went to New York to seek financial help from some friends he knew there.
Day and night he would walk the streets desperate for the touch of God's power in his life. Then suddenly, well I’ll let you hear DL Moody tell it in his own words. One day, in the city of New York -- oh, what a day! -- I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name... I can only say that God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world -- it would be small dust in the balance.
He prayed and he obeyed and he waited. But he did not make the Spirit come. He came suddenly. And when he came, notice that the effect was Pentecostal -- not in the experience of tongues, but in the harvest. When the Spirit comes in power he comes suddenly -- on his own terms and in his own time -- and he comes for harvesting.
Now when the Holy Spirit came upon those believers at Pentecost, he manifested himself in three ways – three senses were involved – the sense of hearing, the sense of feeling/touch, and the sense of seeing. They heard a sound from heaven, they felt the great wind as it filled the house, and they saw visibly the Holy Spirit descend upon them as tongues of fire. Sometimes when the Holy Spirit descends on a people He will manifest himself in sensory ways. But listen – just because the Holy Spirit manifested himself in these ways does not mean that they are normative; or that he is somehow pigeon-holed into only showing up in this way.
Think about it – when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, what form did he take – He took the form of a dove, right? Here in Acts 2 the manifestation was a sound, a wind, and a visible manifestation of fire.
He manifested differently in the church in Acts 4:
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:31
He manifested differently in Stephen's life: 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 15And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Acts 6:10, 15
In Acts 16:26 there is an earthquake. At times the Spirit stoops to give us visible, audible, touchable demonstrations of his presence and power.
Why he does this for some and not others, and at some times and not other times is part of his sovereign wisdom. He is not fire. He is not wind. He is not a dove. He is not a warm glow, He is not an earthquake. So we can’t say that because the Holy Spirit manifested in these ways at this time that this is how he will ALWAYS manifest himself. He is free to manifest himself how he wants because, he’s God. Bottom line is, he shows up suddenly.
III. The SPEECH Of Those Empowered
The result of being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit is they were empowered to speak. Now what most people tend to focus on here is the fact that they spoke in tongues. These tongues were human languages supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. But I want you to consider the CONTENT of what they spoke. Because regardless of what language someone speaks, the content of what someone speaks is important. And when you consider the content of their speech what you discover is that the filling of the Holy Spirit results in – get this – worship. It’s spontaneous, Spirit-empowered worship of God. What is worship? Worship is ascribing worth to God. Notice what verse 11 says they were saying: we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
They were telling the mighty works of God. That’s worship. Now in verse 4 Luke describes HOW they were given the ability to speak in other languages: 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Verse 11 tells us WHY they were given the ability to speak in other languages: to proclaim the mighty works of God. The literal translation of verse 11 is that they were speaking "the greatnesses of God". They were overwhelmed with the Greatness of God and spoke it out. That's the essence of the fullness they received - an overwhelming experience of the greatness of God. And that spilled over in courageous, passionate praise and witness.
Now some would say that the miracle of speaking in other languages is at the heart of the experience. But I would not say that. Because the Spirit fell on the church again in Acts 4:31 and the house was shaken and the fullness came and the passion and boldness was there, but there were no new tongues. Nor was there wind/fire. In other words, the manifestations are not the essence of the Spirit's filling - speaking the Greatnesses of God is the essence and heart of being filled with the Spirit.
The speaking in tongues in Acts had a very definite roll to play. It's directly connected to the presence of people from all the nations who need to understand the great things the disciples were saying. It was intended to advance the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. It was a first fruit that God means for all peoples to understand his greatness and that he is willing to do miracles, like this one, to make his glory known among the nations.
IV. The SPECTRUM Of The People
As you read verses 9-11, because we are not familiar with these 1st century people groups, it may appear like a random list of nationalities, tribes and peoples. But Luke’s list here is very purposeful. Let’s read those verses again: 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians.
Luke lists no less than 15 different peoples, nationalities or regions in those 3 verses. And the list is a very ordered list – he lists peoples from the north, and from the south. People from the East and people from the west. Peoples from Europe, Asia, Africa and Arabia. In other words, God’s word was communicated to people from all four directions of the known world in this one magnificent, miraculous event. This is the firstfruits harvest of God’s global mission for the church.
Additionally, tucked away in these people groups are the ancestors of every human being on the planet. We know according to the Bible, every human is related with a common human ancestor, a common human father – Adam. But we’re also related through another common human ancestor. Who is that? Noah. Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their three wives – 8 people – were saved from the wrath of God in the ark of safety.
All other humans perished in the flood. From those three sons of Noah – Shem, Ham, and Japheth, came every people group in the world. Among those 15 groups Luke mentions are three groups that by their names they can be traced back to sons of Shem, Ham and Japheth – grandsons of Noah (of which there were 16). You can read about the grandsons of Noah and the nations that descended from them in chapter 10 of Genesis.
Now here's what else is interesting: when you turn the page to chapter 11 of Genesis you have the episode of human history known as the tower of Babel, where human language was confused and the differences in human language, where different tongues originated.
But on the day of Pentecost, descendants of those sons of Noah and those first nations and those differing languages, are all together by the power of God they hear the gospel in their own language.
Here’s what we need to grasp from this church – the miraculous event of Pentecost was not about speaking in tongues. The miraculous event of Pentecost was about God, by the power of his Spirit, using human agents to communicate the glory of God to the nations. And he will even use supernatural means to overcome the obstacles that exist there.
The reason missions exists is because worship does not. There are people around the world created by God to be worshipers – they are pre-worshipers. And God is worthy of their praise, he deserves their glory. And we do missions to the end of the earth so that there will be more people gathered around the throne giving God the glory he’s due.
And that’s the overarching purpose of Pentecost – power for missions. Not warm fuzzies or hair standing up on the back of your neck, or an emotional, ecstatic experience. Listen, I love all those things, I anticipate and enjoy the move of the Holy Spirit in my life in sensory manifestations. But if it doesn’t result in missionary zeal, I can’t identify it as being from the Holy Spirit and should therefore not attribute such things to the Holy Spirit.
Very quickly, let me hit this last point we see from the text…
V. The SHOCK Of The Crowd
12And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
This shock, amazement and perplexity generated two contrasting responses. Many responded with the question: "What does this mean?" Others developed a naturalistic explanation – “they’re drunk.”
And I think these two responses we see in the shock from the crowd really serve as a warning to us. Remember, these are all religious folk; they’ve come to Jerusalem for a religious festival. Here’s the caution: When revival comes upon a people – when he is poured out in extraordinary power – there is immediate division in the religious community. Some will honestly inquire and ask, “what does this mean.” Others will mock and provide some naturalistic explanation, writing it off as merely human enthusiasm, or emotionalism. I believe the caution for us is to honestly ask the question, “What does this mean?” Do what the apostle John urged in his first epistle: 1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
So we test the spirits, we ask honest questions. Why? Because believe me, if the Holy Spirit moves in a powerful way on a people, I don’t want to miss it because I was a biased skeptic that wrote every movement off. The task of global evangelization is an unfinished task. The Pentecostal Power of the Holy Spirit was given for the express purpose of global evangelization. Therefore, that Pentecostal Power is still available to us today.
But now I’ve got a question to ask that I haven’t asked in several weeks. Let’s ask it together:
So What?
So what does this mean? How do we apply these truths to our lives as individuals and as a church? Here’s the thought I came around this week:
We must identify and remove the barriers that could restrict the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Now that means you need to identify and I need to identify what those barriers are. Ask yourself and ask the Lord, “what am I doing – or what am I not doing that would prevent or limit the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.”
Illustration: In NASCAR racing, every car is required to use what’s called a restrictor plate. These restrictor plates are placed between the carburetor and the engine. Do you know what they restrict?
They don’t restrict the fuel from the gas tank; they don’t restrict the heat from the spark plugs. They restrict the oxygen, the air. Remember the fire pyramid we looked at earlier. Three things required for a fire: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Restrictor plates limit the airflow and thereby significantly reduces the power of the engine.
What are some restrictor plates you have in your life? What are some things that are barriers, restrictors of the Holy Spirit breathing life and thereby reducing the power with which you live? Identify those barriers and remove them. Then pray, wait, and expect the Holy Spirit to empower you for his mission!
Last Thought: Just as OXYGEN revitalizes a fire, the Holy Spirit wants to revitalize our church. We must remove the barriers and SURRENDER to Him.
