Transformed By the Spirit
Text: Acts 2:14-21
Introduction
1. Illustration: A woman testified to the transformation in her life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared, "I’m so glad I got religion. I have an uncle I used to hate so much I vowed I’d never go to his funeral. But now, why, I’d be happy to go to it any time."
2. One of the aspects of Spirit baptism is that it transforms.
3. In our text today, we see three types of transformation…
a. Individuals
b. The Church
c. Creation
4. Read Acts 2:14-21
Proposition: We are transformed when we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit.
Transition: The first type of transformation happens in…
I. Individuals (14-15).
A. Peter Stepped Forward
1. There is no greater evidence of the Holy Spirit transforming individuals than that of Peter.
a. Peter was notorious for sticking his foot in his mouth.
b. “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. 22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matt 16:21-23)
c. In addition to this incident, you’ll recall that Peter, after saying that he would die for Jesus at the Last Supper, later that night denied three times that he even knew Jesus.
2. But here we see a completely different Peter. In v. 14 it says, “Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd”
a. The same Peter who before had shied away from confrontation or ran and hid, now steps up.
b. Not only did he step up, but it says that he “shouted to the crowd.”
c. This is the same verb that is used for speaking in tongues. He was speaking in his own language, but he was speaking as the Spirit enabled him.
d. This was not a researched, fully written out sermon, but rather it was a spontaneous, Spirit-inspired declaration.
e. You’ll also notice the boldness of Peter’s sermon. It says that he shouted it to the crowd. He wasn’t being timid or quiet about it, he was shouting his message to the crowd.
f. This is not the same Peter as before; this was a Peter who was empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
g. He was different; he was changed; he had been transformed.
3. Then he continues with this Spirit-enabled message. He says, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that.”
a. He wanted to make sure that the crowd understood what was going on.
b. He specifically wanted to address the skeptics. He wanted to know that they weren’t drunk as they had accused them of being.
c. He pointed out that it was only nine o’clock in the morning. For the Jews, nine o’clock was an hour of prayer in the temple, and they didn’t even eat breakfast until it was over.
d. So, for any devout Jew of that day, being drunk before or during prayer was simply not done. So, their accusation of the believers as being drunk was simply ridiculous.
e. They were not drunk at all; they were just filled with the Holy Spirit.
f. Now, the Peter from before Pentecost, before the outpouring of the Spirit, would have been incapable of this kind of boldness.
g. But this was a new Peter; a different Peter; a Spirit-filled Peter; a transformed Peter!
B. Be Transformed
1. Illustration: John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was strong and husky when he was a youth. He early determined to earn money and drove himself to the limit. At age 33, he earned his first million dollars. At age 43, he controlled the biggest company in the world. At age 53, he was the richest man on earth and the world’s only billionaire. Then he developed a sickness called "alopecia," where the hair of his head dropped off, his eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared, and he was shrunken like a mummy. His weekly income was one million dollars, but he digested only milk and crackers. He was so hated in Pennsylvania that he had to have bodyguards’ day and night. He could not sleep, stopped smiling long since, and enjoyed nothing in life. The doctors predicted he would not live past another year. The newspaper had gleefully written his obituary in advance—for convenience in sudden use. Those sleepless nights set him thinking. He realized with a new light that he "could not take one dime into the next world." Money was not everything. God was displeased with his sinful life. Then and there he surrendered His life to Christ, repenting of his sins and pleading for God to change his heart. The next morning, he awoke a new man. He began to help churches with his amassed wealth; the poor and needy were not overlooked. He established the Rockefeller Foundation whose funding of medical researchers led to the discovery of penicillin and other wonder drugs. John D. began to sleep well, eat, and enjoy life. You could say he began to live life to the fullest! The doctors had predicted he would not live over age 54. He lived to be 98 years old. (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations).
2. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed into new people in Christ.
a. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
b. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are changed.
c. Just as we see in the life of Peter, we are transformed into new people.
d. Whereas once we were timid, shy, and standoffish, we are now bold and empowered.
e. Once we would never walk up to a stranger, or even a family member, and tell them about Jesus, now, we would openly tell them about what God has done in us.
f. We’re not the same anymore; a new life has begun.
g. This is what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. Before the Holy Spirit we were sheep, but now we are lions!
h. Have you opened the door for the Holy Spirit to change you?
Transition: Not only does the Holy Spirit change individuals, but he also transforms…
II. The Church (16-18).
A. Pour Out My Spirit on All People
1. Whenever we question something, we must always make sure it matches up to the Word of God.
a. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Tim. 3:16).
b. Like I told you when I first became your Pastor, my theology is very simple, if the Bible says do it, you do it, and if the Bible says don’t do it, don’t do it!”
2. So, Peter, to show these skeptics their error, points them to Scripture. He says in vv. 16-17, “No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”
a. He shows them that what they have witnessed is the fulfillment of Scripture. He says that “in the last days.”
b. This is a change, for Joel said, “in those days,” Peter through the inspiration of the Spirit was announcing a new age known as the “last days.”
c. It would be the time from Jesus’ first coming to his second coming. We are now, and have been, in the last days. This is the new era of the Spirit and of the church.
d. Now, as all the minor prophets did, Joel had announced God’s anger with his people, but, as they also did, Joel was also giving them hope.
e. He announces the promise of the Father to pour out his Spirit on all people. This would be a new development, because God had before this only given his Spirit to priests, prophets, and kings.
f. But now, he would pour out his Spirit on all his people.
g. Furthermore, we need to notice the all-inclusiveness of the Father’s promise.
h. You’ll notice that those filled with the Spirit in the past were mostly men. But in the new age of the Spirit that would change.
i. He would pour out his Spirit on sons and daughters. This was a radical change. At this time women were treated as second class citizens who had no rights.
j. However, in the age of the Spirit, God would pour out his Spirit on daughters, girls, and women.
k. Now, our church has had the blessing in its history of being led by several female preachers. We have been blessed to have this experience and this is in keeping with the prophecy of Joel.
l. He also says that there would be no prejudice as far as age. Young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams.
m. These were both means by which the Spirit would speak in the OT, and this would continue in the new era. But age would not matter, for the Spirit would use both young and old.
3. Another way the church would be transformed was social status would be insignificant. In v. 18 it says, “In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.”
a. Notice that the Spirit would be poured out even on servants.
b. At this time, in the Roman empire about 20% of the population were slaves. In some places that percentage went as high as 80%.
c. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28).
d. Like women, servants had no social status, rights, or privileges. But that would not matter in the age of the Spirit, for he would be poured out even on the lowest members of society.
e. We should also pay attention to how the Spirit would use them; they would prophesy. This is an answer to prayer, more specifically, the prayers of Moses.
f. “But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them all!” (Num. 11:29)
g. In the age of the Spirit, he would be poured out on and be used by all of God’s people, men, and women, young and old, even the lowest members of society. God would use us all!
B. Preached the Word of God with Boldness
1. Illustration: Hugh Hewitt in his book “The Embarrassed Believer” contends that most Christian are embarrassed believers.
a. They do not talk about their faith or church. They don’t have Bibles on the corner of their desks. They never engage others in spiritual conversations.
b. And the result has been the dramatic increase of pornography and violence over the last five decades. The values of the world today pale in comparison to the values of mid last century.
c. He writes, “From Paul’s imprisonment and martyrdom to this year’s murders of Christians around the globe, there is an ennobling and inspiring thread of courage uniting saint after saint. It is an inheritance of every believer. And it is to this that we are called.”
d. Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes...” Romans 1:16.
e. And Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
f. Too many of us are embarrassed, silent, secret agents for God. Yet we are called to be bold witnesses of Jesus Christ.
g. He closes with these words, “Christians in America trying to save the lost, comfort the suffering, cure the ill, clothe the naked and bring joy to the despairing will not make a significant and lasting impact unless they do so openly and without apology as Christians.
h. The witness must accompany the work, or the work will not endure, and the world is hungry for our witness.’ Bold witness!
2. We need to be transformed into a bold, unashamed, witnessing church!
a. “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31).
b. One of the key gifts that the Spirit gives us is boldness.
c. The boldness to speak to people we don’t know.
d. The boldness to speak to our friends and families.
e. The boldness to speak at work, or at the store, or a restaurant.
f. One of our main challenges is that people don’t know we’re here. But it’s more than just being out in the country and not having a big enough sign. Another part of the challenge is that we don’t tell people that we’re here!
g. Holy Spirit, give us the boldness to preach the word, and to share our faith with those in need of Jesus!
Transition: So, the Holy Spirit will transform individuals, the church, and…
III. Creation (19-21).
A. Wonders in the Heavens
1. In the last days, even creation itself would be transformed. In vv. 19-20 it says, “And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below—blood and fire and clouds of smoke.20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives.”
a. The world as we know it will be changed. Initially, not for the better it would seem.
b. There would be physical signs. They would be blood, which would probably mean that war would be worldwide.
c. There would also be fire and smoke. Things would be burning up and there would be chaos.
d. In addition, the sun would turn dark, and the moon would turn blood red.
e. All of this would precede the coming of the Lord, or as Joel puts it, “the great and glorious day of the Lord.”
2. But with God, there is always good news of hope. In v. 21 it says, “But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’”
a. This is the best news of all, that anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved!
b. We serve a holy, righteous, and just God. And because he is holy, righteous, and just, he cannot tolerate it when people continually refuse him and choose not to repent.
c. However, he is also a God of love, mercy, and forgiveness.
d. “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:9).
e. The question is, will we do this willingly or will be like the Israelites of the past and refuse to repent?
B. New Heaven and New Earth
1. Illustration: The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for God to step in and set right all that is wrong. Rather, they are to model the new heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for what God will someday bring to pass. — Phillip Yancy
2. As we await the second coming of Christ, we need to do so with both expectancy and urgency.
a. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Rev. 21:1-4).
b. We need to wait with expectancy. All you must do is look at the news or surf the internet to see that things are getting worse.
c. Much of what we see and hear has already been predicted in Scripture.
d. We can plainly see that the time of Christ’s return is just around the corner, and he is coming to set up his kingdom.
e. Jesus is coming soon, and I look forward to that meeting in the air!
f. But we also need to have a sense of urgency about his coming.
g. We all know people that if Jesus came for us today that wouldn’t make it.
h. We need to have a sense of the urgency of Christ’s coming, and we need to be about the business of fulfilling the Great Commission.
Conclusion
1. One of the aspects of Spirit baptism is that it transforms.
2. In our text today, we saw three types of transformation…
a. Individuals
b. The Church
c. Creation
3. What’s the point preacher? The point is that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and he will not force himself upon you. He wants to transform you into a new person. The question is will you let him change you?
