Jesus had told them to wait—His first disciples, I mean. He had given them important work to do—the most important work of all, actually—but He had told them not to attempt it just yet. No. They were to wait. “Don’t give,” He said, “until you have received. Nothing can be done by you until something has been done to you.” So, wait. “You are witnesses,” He told them, “but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:48, 49).
And they waited. They might not have. They had such great news—news of a Savior whose death had conquered sin and whose resurrection had conquered death. They might have thought, ‘This stuff will sell itself,’ and they might not have waited. They might have rushed out first thing to do God’s work in man’s strength, to seek heavenly ends with earthly means, to pursue spiritual purposes with the meager arsenal of the flesh.
It’s just like us to think we can do God’s work on our own steam, to witness to His grace without His power, to speak His truth without His authority. But without His Spirit, our witness is ineffective. Unless we have power from God, we have no power with men.
Thankfully, the apostles obeyed our Lord and restrained any impulse they had to get on with the work. And in due time the Day of Pentecost arrived, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them with “a sound like a mighty rushing wind” and “tongues as of fire,” and then—not until then, but then—they hit the streets to bear witness to Christ. This we read about, of course, in Acts, chapter 2.
It is now as it was then—as it always will be. We are Christ’s witnesses, but it is the Spirit who makes our witness effective. And we dare not rely on our own power, on our own strength, on our own authority. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to make our witness effective. And here in our passage for today we see why. First, it is the Spirit who works in the mouth of the witness. Second, it is the Spirit who works in the ear of the sinner. And, third, it is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer.
It Is the Spirit Who Works through the Mouth of the Witness
(Acts 2:1-13)
First, then, our witness depends on the Spirit because it is the Spirit who works through the mouth of the witness. What took place on that first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was nothing short of breathtaking. Two things happened to Jesus’ followers.
Words from the Spirit Fill the Mouth of the Witness (vv. 1-4)—First, words from the Spirit filled their mouths. Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that ‘divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them’ (v. 3). In other words, the message did not come from within them. This was not an instance of self-expression. The message they were to deliver came from God. He put it in their mouth. And their words were of such power and intensity that the only way to talk about it was to say their tongues were on fire.
Words from the Spirit Flow from the Mouth of the Witness (vv. 5-13)—So, not only did words from the Spirit fill their mouths, but words from the Spirit flowed from their mouths. In verse 6, Luke says, ‘And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered’—why?—because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.’ This, of course, was the miracle of Pentecost. The disciples spoke in their own native tongue—presumably Aramaic—and the people, who were ‘from every nation under heaven’ (v. 5), heard the disciples, each in his own language, whatever it might have been. But the point here is, it was the Spirit’s work.
Jeremiah was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom in the sixth century BC, just before the Babylonian invasion. He was given the unenviable task of warning the people and urging them to repent from their sin and return to the Lord. I say ‘unenviable’ because the people didn’t want to hear his message of judgment. In fact, he was shunned, ridiculed, imprisoned, and even beaten for his trouble. He came to the point where he said, ‘The word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.’ He considered leaving the ministry and finding something to do that might be less hazardous than calling people to the Lord. He told himself, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name.’ But, as soon as he said this, he came to realize ‘there [was] in [his] heart as it were a burning fire shut up in [his] bones.’ ‘I am weary with holding it in,’ he said, ‘and I cannot’ (Jer. 20:8, 9).
And God said to him, ‘Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully…. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks rocks in piece?’ (Jer. 23:28, 29).
The Spirit, you see, works in a person, and then He works through that person. Just as the Holy Spirit presented Himself to the apostles on Pentecost as fire, so He presented Himself as fire to Jeremiah centuries before that. If His fire is not in us, no flame will catch. It is the Spirit who works through the mouth of the witness. Otherwise, there is no effect.
Let me say, this is not just for preachers to take note of. Every one of us is a witness; each of us is called to bear testimony to the truth that is ‘in Jesus’ (Eph. 4:21). But we cannot expect to be effective without the Spirit. And how do we access the Spirit. I know of no other way than through intentional, heart-felt, urgent praying. Where the Spirit is at work, there is power, and where there is power, there has been prayer. As the words of the old hymn say, ‘The arm of flesh will fail you; ye dare not trust your own.’
It Is the Spirit Who Works in the Ears of the Sinner
(Acts 2:14-36)
Now, we have seen that it is the Spirit who works through the mouth of the witness, and that’s important. But just as important is this: It is the Spirit who works in the ear of the sinner. You and I can bear witness to the truth of the gospel, but if the Spirit does not open the ear of the listener, nothing happens—at least, nothing profitable for the sinner. How does this work? What is it that the sinner needs to hear?
The Sinner Hears of the Promise God Makes (vv. 14-21)—First, the sinner needs to hear the promise God makes. Going back to our text we see that the crowd was divided over what they were hearing. ‘All were amazed,’ Luke says, ‘and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But,’ he tells us, ‘others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine”’ (vv. 12f.).
It was then that Peter stood up and addressed the crowd. “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” he began, “let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.” What we see here is that Peter is preaching a sermon, and every good sermon is based on a biblical text. So, Joel, chapter 2, is Peter’s text. And this text is filled with promises from God. ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,’ God says. ‘Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ All wonderful promises, but the greatest promise is voiced in verse 21: ‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ So, that’s first. The sinner hears the promise God makes.
The Sinner Hears of the Promise God Fulfills (vv. 22-36)—But then, second, the sinner hears the promise God fulfills. Where does Peter go with his message after he gives his text? He goes straight to Jesus. No sooner does the promise of salvation fall from his lips than he says, ‘Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.’ (vv. 22-24).
This is the heart of Peter’s message, and it is the heart of ours: the God who promises salvation fulfills His promise in Jesus. These are the raw materials the Spirit uses to do His work in the ear of the sinner: God’s promise made; God’s promise fulfilled—always in Jesus.
But one more thing has to happen if the word of witness is not to fall on deaf ears—if it is to be effective. And this, too, is the Spirit’s work.
It Is the Spirit Who Works in the Heart of the Believer
(Acts 2:37-41)
We have seen that we must rely on the Spirit in our witness to Christ, first of all, because it is the Spirit who works in the mouth of the witness and, second of all, because it is the Spirit who works in the ear of the sinner. And now, third, it is because it is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer.
Peter preached a powerful sermon on that Pentecost Day long ago. He testified to Jesus’ death on the cross, he spoke of His resurrection from the tomb, and he announced His ascension into heaven, where He is ‘exalted at the right hand of God’ (v. 33). And all this was the message the Holy Spirit put in Peter’s mouth. Then the Spirit worked in the ears of sinners so that they could hear what Peter was saying. But there remained one more thing for the Spirit to do. And it is the ultimate reason we rely on Spirit for effective witness. And that is this: It is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer. Without this, there is no lasting effect. There is only a disconnect.
The Spirit must be at work in the heart of the hearer. And here in our passage we see the evidence of the Spirit’s work on the heart because two things happen.
The Afflicted Heart Seeks Relief from Sin (v. 37)—First, the afflicted heart seeks relief from sin. Luke tells us that, ‘when they heard this [that is, when the people heard Peter’s message] they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”’ (v. 37). This is clearly the work of the Spirit, because only the Spirit can ‘cut to the heart.’
And that’s what the Spirit does. He wounds us. He afflicts us. He confronts us with our sin and our need for grace. One of the stanzas of the great hymn, ‘Amazing Grace,’ begins, ‘’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear.’ And that is an act of grace. It doesn’t feel like it at the time. It is actually quite painful. But it is necessary. The Spirit persuades us of the danger we are in because of our guilt.
The Afflicted Heart Finds Relief in the Savior (vv. 38-41)—But, thankfully, the Spirit doesn’t leave us in a state of alarm. The hymn goes on to say, ‘…and grace my fears relieved.’ And that’s what the Spirit does. In Hosea 6:1 the prophet says, ‘Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.’ Not only does the afflicted heart seek relief from sin and guilt, but the afflicted heart finds relief, and that relief is found in the Savior. In Acts 2:38 we read that ‘Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”’ It is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer, you see.
One of my favorite stories in the Book of Acts takes place in chapter 16, where the account is given of Paul’s arrival in Philippi. With him were Silas and Luke. There was no synagogue in the city, so when the Sabbath day came, these three missionaries sought out a women’s prayer meeting on the bank of the Gangites River. Luke says that they ‘spoke to the women,’ and among them was a woman named Lydia. And as Paul spoke, ‘the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul’ (Acts 16:13, 14).
This is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and the Holy Spirit works in our heart to revive us. We are darkened in our imaginations, and the Holy Spirit floods our minds with light. We have a heart of stone, and the Holy Spirit gives us a heart of flesh. And then we are able to believe, to turn to Christ and receive Him by faith. It is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer.
And so, when we bear witness to the saving power of Christ, we must rely on the Spirit to empower our efforts. We have work to do. It is the most important work in the whole world. Jesus said to His first disciples, ‘You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). But as a preface to that statement, He said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.’ We must wait for the Spirit.
There is no witness—at least, there is no effective witness—without the Spirit’s power. So we must rely on Him. It is the Spirit, after all, who works in the mouth of the witness. It is the Spirit who works in the ear of the sinner. And it is the Spirit who works in the heart of the believer. There’s no getting around this. So, like those first disciples we have the great privilege of bearing witness to Jesus, but, like them, we must prepare. And preparation begins with waiting—waiting on the Spirit of God.
