Posts Tagged ‘Pentecost’

One Unforgettable Day

Sunday, May 27th, 2007

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INTRODUCTION

As you look back on your life there are probably certain things that stand out in your memory. Moments in time that were forever preserved in the memory banks of your mind because of the impact those events had on your life. Certainly the impact may have been positive or negative but the memory remains. Unforgettable.We keep pictures to remind us of some of these moments – we reminisce with family and friends and sometimes something contacts our senses that triggers a memory (a smell, a sight, a taste etc.). But not only are there individual memories that each of us have but there are also collective memories that we share with each other. Some of these memories are of events that we were actually a part of and then there are other memories that are passed on – memories that we may not actually have been a part of but share in nevertheless.

Families share memories unique to them (eg. Family vacations), communities share memories of tragedies or celebrations (Walkerton crisis), nations share memories (Victoria Day, Canada Day, Confederation), and the world shares memories (war, holocaust). Some of these memories fade in significance over time but there are a few that remain unforgettable as long as there are people who keep the memory alive.

Within the church there are unforgettable memories as well – memories of events that we may not have directly been a part of yet we share in regardless. One of the most important memories is found recorded in Acts Chapter 2. What is significant about this memory and distinguishes it from many other memories we have in our life is that the memory of what happened then is something that is still happening now! We not only remember through the pages of the scripture what happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out among the early church in the book of Acts but we also are witnesses and for some of us participants in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit today! And for those who have and are experiencing Him, it truly is unforgettable!

Today, I’d like to take a look at this “memory” of the work of the Holy Spirit in the beginning Church found in Acts and in doing so I pray the Holy Spirit will do a fresh work in our hearts this morning!

PRAY

The Book of Acts begins by drawing attention to the fact that the work of Jesus was continued by the Spirit first through the apostles. But the apostles are not really dominant in the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit is! Everything in the lives and preaching of the apostles and early believers is still centered in Jesus as their living Saviour and exalted Lord and the program to extend the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth is Christ’s program. Yet, there is running throughout this Book a new awareness of the Holy Spirit.

It came, not only from their initial Pentecostal experience, but from a daily consciousness of the presence, guidance, and fellowship of the Spirit and from many special manifestations of His power. Their baptism in the Spirit never became a mere memory of something that happened in the distant past. It was an ever-present reality. (p. 135, What the Bible Says about the Holy Spirit by Stanley M. Horton)

It is evident while reading through the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit was in charge of the church. And indeed that is still the case. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit’s prominence is seen. Not only were the final commands of Jesus given through the Spirit in Him; they had to do with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus commanded his disciples not to leave Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). The outpouring on the Day of Pentecost would never have had the effect or gained the attention it did if only five or six people had stayed. Further, the book of Acts emphasizes again and again a unity, a “being in one accord,” by which the Spirit was fulfilling the prayer of Jesus in John 17. It was important for the believers to be together in one place for this unity to be fostered and for its blessings to be realized.

As we continue this morning, I’d like take the next few minutes to look at some characteristics of what happened on this particular Day of Pentecost and see if these characteristics are still true of what happens today as we experience the Holy Spirit. While there is much that could said this morning I’d like focus on 7 characteristics.

the promise of the Father (is for the church today as well)

Jesus told his disciples prior to ascending to heaven to wait for the gift promised to them by the Father which He went on to identify as the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:4-5 (NIV)

It is called the promise of the Father because He is the One from whom the promised outpouring comes, as Jesus had already taught them. He would ask the Father, and the Father would send the Spirit. A prophecy of John the Baptist, recorded in all four gospels declared that Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit – it is the Father who sends the Spirit but it is the Son who baptizes. It is through the Son that one receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

John’s baptism by water was only a preparation for the new age of the Spirit, while Jesus’ baptism is actually a part of it. Baptism in the Spirit is immersion into a relationship with a divine Person, not into a fluid or an influence. It is a relationship that can continue to grow and enlarge. It is like water baptism in that it involves a distinct act of obedience and faith on our part.

So this outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was a fulfillment of the promise of the Father – the promise of being baptized or “filled” with the Holy Spirit. However this is a promise that can and is also being fulfilled in the church today! God is still the Giver of the Holy Spirit and Jesus is still the Baptizer! The Church is not a reservoir that received one donation of the Spirit forever. Jesus still asks the Father as the believer comes, and the Father still sends the Spirit. Realize today that the promise of the Father was not only for the believers gathered around Jesus while He walked this earth but also for believers who gather together in the Name of Jesus today!

waiting (the Baptism is to provide power for service)

Another characteristic of the events surrounding the Day of Pentecost was Jesus’ command to the disciples prior to the event to wait for it! Why would Jesus say this?

Maybe it was for preparation. But if that is the case why would Jesus have spent 40 days with the believers teaching them, dealing with Peter, recommissioning them! The evidence shows that Jesus had already prepared them.

The key to answering this question is found in Acts 1:8,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NIV)

The waiting was to show the disciples that the commission Jesus gave them was not to be a mere human enterprise. They were not to use their own ingenuity to figure out ways to spread the gospel. They were to be led by the Spirit. He would be in charge. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit provides power for service because it is Him who is at work through the believer.

The commission that Jesus gave the disciples is the same commission for the church today. And in the same way it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that this commission is fulfilled.

Does this mean that the believer who has not received this Baptism cannot be used by God? Certainly not – but that same believer must not give up waiting or tarrying for the Baptism! You notice that the apostles and believers weren’t waiting around doing nothing prior to the outpouring the Spirit. They spent the time of waiting in prayer and meeting together in one accord. According to Luke 24:52-53, they spent time in the temple continually praising and blessing (thanking) God. The Spirit was already working in their lives, but they were waiting – anticipating the Baptism, the endowment with power from on high!

When we think of the word waiting, most of us immediately conjure up an image of standing in a line. A lot of life is spent waiting in lines isn’t it? However, the use of the word waiting here has more in common with the image of expectant parents waiting for their child to be born. Do the mother and father sit down and a couch and do nothing while they watch the belly of the mother grow? No! They continue to live their lives…however, their lives are lived with the expectation and the preparation for the coming of that little one. They are still waiting – but it is an expectant wait.

Believers are still used by God prior to receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit but it certainly is something to be expected as a part of the fulfilled Christian walk.

wind and fire (connection with the Old Testament)

The third characteristic of this unforgettable day is found in Acts 2:2-3,

Acts 2:2-3 (NIV)
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.

The signs preceding the Pentecostal outpouring connect it with the Old Testament experiences as well as with the Old Testament promises. The Day of Pentecost was an Old Testament harvest festival (you can read about it beginning at Leviticus 23:15). For the Church, this day marked when the long-awaited spiritual harvest would begin.

But before the outpouring of the Spirit came, two unusual signs gave further connection with Old Testament symbolism. First there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty, rushing wind. Though there was not an actual wind, the sound filled the house. In the Old Testament wind was a frequent symbol of the Spirit. What is significant is the indication that the sound was that of a violent – or more accurately translated mighty wind – a wind with carrying power, suggesting the mighty power that was being imparted upon the believers by the Holy Spirit for the witness of the gospel.

The second sign was the appearance of “tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them”. The picture being described here is that there was what appeared to be a mass of flame over the whole group which then broke up into tongues of fire resting on the head of each person.

When you look at the connection with Old Testament symbolism there is something astonishing that begins to surface.

The Old Testament records a progressive development with regard to worship. First, it was simply at an altar, as with Abraham. Then God commanded His people to build a sanctuary in the wilderness, the tabernacle. Fire from heaven came down upon a sacrifice there to indicate God’s acceptance of this new sanctuary. But it happened only once. The next change came when Solomon built a temple. Again, fire came down and consumed the sacrifice, indicating God’s acceptance of the sanctuary. But it happened only once. The temples built by Zerubbabel and by Herod were just rebuildings of the same temple, so the sign was not repeated. (p.141 What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit by Stanley M. Horton)

Now, here on this day of Pentecost the old temple is about to be destroyed (AD 70 it was destroyed). The believers are united together as the Body and are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) as well as priests and living stones for the Temple (1 Peter 2:5). Here we have a twofold picture of the new temple – The Body of believers united together is the temple (sanctuary) for the dwelling of God by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:21,22; 1 Corinthians 3:16).

Ephesians 2:21-22 (NIV)
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

Also, the bodies of the individual believers are each a temple or sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Notice that the appearance of fire came over the whole group indicating God’s acceptance of the whole Body as a temple – then it broke up with the single flame on the head of each believer to show God’s acceptance of each person as a temple of the Spirit.

These signs were not repeated as part of the Pentecostal baptism or the gift of the Spirit just as the fire came only once on each new sanctuary in Old Testament times. What they show is that before the Holy Spirit was outpoured, God acknowledged the believers as the temple, the body of Christ. The Church was now in full-fledged existence with the glorified Christ as the Head of the Body. The members of the Body were now ready for the Promise to be outpoured.

And so every believer today inherits the same distinction that was given to those gathered in the room that day. As a believer you are fit as a temple of the Holy Spirit! It is on the merits of your faith in Christ that the Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence!

they were all filled (the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all who seek Him)

Acts 2:4 (NIV)
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

There are some who would say that the baptism in the Spirit at Pentecost and the speaking in tongues were limited to the 12 apostles. However, more than 12 languages were spoken,

Acts 2:8-11 (NIV)
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!”

Also, notice in the passage immediately preceding Acts 2 there is mention of 120 believers gathered together and choosing a new apostle (1:15) and then Acts 2:1 starts with saying, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…” So the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to all the believers who were gathered and was not reserved for the apostles.

Friends, the only qualifications for being baptized in the Holy Spirit are your faith in Christ and your desire to receive the Baptism. Does that mean when those qualifications are met that you will immediately receive the Baptism? No – for it is the Father who gives and Jesus who baptizes. It was in God’s timing on the day of Pentecost that the believers received and it is in God’s timing that we receive as well. But in His time it will happen!!

Other languages (Speaking to God – blessing for the believer, sign to the unbeliever)

Another characteristic of this unforgettable event is the fact that as the believers received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit they spoke in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. What does this mean, “as the Spirit enabled them” or as other translations put it, “as the Spirit gave utterance”? It means that they used their tongues, their muscles. They spoke. But the words did not come from their minds or their thinking. No, the words came from the Holy Spirit and these words were expressed boldly, loudly, and with obvious anointing and power.

This passage is often interpreted in various ways. Some take the position that the disciples were all really speaking in their native Aramaic and that this was a miracle of hearing rather than speaking. But verse 6 and 7 are too specific for that. Each man heard them speak in his own language without any of the usual Galilean accent. The 120 believers spoke in real languages that were actually understood by a variety of people from a variety of places. This brought a witness to the universality of the Gift and to both the universality and unity of the Church.

I want to make another important observation about this characteristic this morning. On this unforgettable day, the sound of the tongues gathered the crowd, but what they heard was not preaching. What they heard was the wonderful works (v11 – mighty, magnificent, sublime deeds) of God. This may have been in the form of shouts of praise, speaking unto God. It was not preaching – it was worship!

What Luke recorded in Acts 2:12 was that the people were amazed (astounded) and in doubt (perplexed, at a loss), completely unable to understand what this was all about. They understood what was being said but not why it was being said. They were confused by what they heard.

Then others began to make fun of the believers saying that these people were full of new wine or drunk (intoxicated). What they heard was what they mocked. What they saw was similar to what some would see in some drunk drinkers. Yet we must not take from this that there was any sign of the kind of frenzy that marked heathen drunkenness. The believers were still in control of their faculties. Their chief emotion was still joy. And they all quit speaking immediately when the apostles stood up!

It seems that when the 120 were speaking in tongues, the mocking increased, for this is something Peter refers to when he begins to speak (2:15). With the crowd listening growing more and more confused it was time for the tongues to stop. They had blessed the believer, been a sign to the unbelieving crowd, but did not and could not do the Spirit’s work of convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Only the believers really received anything from the experience up to this point. They were filled. The Spirit who caused them to glorify God in other languages must also have revealed the same truths to their own hearts, so that their joy and emotion rose out of new appreciation of God and Christ. (p. 144, What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit, by Stanley M. Horton)

The Spirit’s work of convincing the world began when Peter stood up and began to speak. What he gave was not a sermon. He did not study or prepare for it or try to figure out three points. “Began to speak” is “uttered forth,” the same verb that is used in 2:4 of the Spirit giving utterance in tongues. However, this time the Holy Spirit enabled Peter as he was speaking in his own language, Aramaic, a language the whole crowd understood. In other words, instead of a sermon, it was a manifestation of the gift of prophecy.

The important observation that needs to be made here is that when the believers began to speak in other tongues it was evidence of their baptism in the Holy Spirit. When they were speaking in tongues they were speaking to God and in this way it was a blessing to the believer and a sign to the unbeliever of the wonderful majesty of God. It is the same for us today – that is why tongues – as Paul writes later to the Corinthians – while being the initial evidence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not to be relied on for convincing the unbeliever of their sin and their need for God! That’s what Peter and the other apostles and believers understood as he stood up under the gift of prophecy – which is the next characteristic of this unforgettable event.

fulfillment of prophecy (an explanation of the miracle)

After explaining that the 120 were NOT drunk, Peter began to declare that what the crowd had seen and heard (2:33) was the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32. Joel’s prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taking place before their very eyes!

We can draw three primary points from what Peter says to the crowd: (points marked with an * are taken from an article by Roger Stronstad, “What is Means to be Pentecostal” in the June 2001 issue of the Pentecostal Testimony)

The pouring forth of the Spirit is the eschatological or last-days gift of the Spirit (2:17a;38) *
Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is indicating to the crowd and through the pages of scripture to us, that the entire church age is “last days.” It is the last age before the restoration of Israel and Christ’s reign on earth, the last age before He comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on those who know not God and reject the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

The pouring forth of the Spirit is potentially universal – crossing all age, gender and social/economic boundaries and is available from generation to generation (2:17b-18a, 39) *
Again here we have repeated through the mouth of Peter that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to everyone who call on the name of Jesus and are seeking it. But more than that, this gift is not limited to one generation or one “season” of time!

The pouring forth of the Spirit comes as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who has received the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured Him out on His followers! (v22-36)
This gift of the Holy Spirit is a testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is testimony to the truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy regarding the Messiah – He is the Christ!

CONCLUSION

response of the crowd

I want you to put yourselves in the shoes of the crowd for a moment. Here you are coming to Jerusalem for what always an exciting time of celebration and revelry. Only this time things turn out to be a little more exciting than usual! All of a sudden there are people moving through the crowds shouting at the top of their lungs. One of them moves closer to you and you recognize that she is speaking English – perfectly with no accent! And she is smiling from ear to ear, turning around and around with her hands in the air shouting praises to God and to Jesus! As you wonder at what’s happening you notice that all around you people are noticing the same thing. That these Galileans are speaking in different tongues and are begin understood by the people who know that native tongue. But then things start to get noisier and noisier as the crowd starts murmuring amidst the Galileans praises to God. A few people shout out, “Look at these drunkards – what are they doing?”

All of a sudden the Galileans who were speaking in other tongues stop and you follow their gaze as the noise of the crowd diminishes. You see a man stand up on some steps ahead flanked by 11 others. And this man begins to speak. You realize as you listen to him that you aren’t the only one captivated by his words. As he speaks, he begins to explain what has happened this day. All of a sudden the realization begins to sink in – if this is what a man named Joel prophesied many, many years ago and it is coming true – then this Jesus who had been crucified over a month ago is really the Messiah – but if that is the case, – oh, oh! The murmuring begins to pick up again and people begin shouting out – the concern and sorrow in their voices echoing the feeling in your heart, “What shall we do?”

Then the man speaks again,

“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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

It wasn’t long before you joined the throng rushing up to the apostles crying out, “I repent, I believe!”

What happened to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost isn’t really any different from what happens today in the hearts of those who are confronted with the reality of the gospel and the conviction of the Holy Spirit…

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Empowerment: Is it In You?

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

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This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series The Coach in Your Corner

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(Acts 2:1-12)

INTRODUCTION

In sports a lot is made of the mental attitude of the athlete. Teams psych themselves up. Coaches give stirring half-time soliloquies, but power is never simply a matter of talk or hype. Power is proven in the game.

Back in 1965 the University of Florida Gators were talking a good game, but they lacked the stamina to prove it on the field. By half-time their football team was usually depleted. They sat in the locker room exhausted and went out for the second half listless. Researchers at the University of Florida began to study the problem and discovered that the Gators? devastating defeats were due to ongoing dehydration in the Florida humidity. Dr. Robert Cade and Dr. Dana Shires came up with a specially prepared beverage that ensured the team retained a proper balance of electrolytes and water while they played. They gave their elixir the catchy name of Gatorade.

Thanks to Gatorade, the Gators went 7-4 that year and 9-2 the next, winning the Orange Bowl in 1967. They did it by outplaying and outlasting their opponents late in the game, because they had staying power when others didn?t.

It?s that kind of staying power Christians need to win in life, too. Oh, we can talk a good game, and we?re pretty long on hype sometimes. Power isn?t, however, a matter of words but demonstrated effectiveness. As the folks at Gatorade love to ask, “Is it in you?”

Pentecostals have existed for the last 100 years because they rediscovered the source of effective staying power for Christian service. Jesus called it the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The key to confidence for early Pentecostals was that they knew and experienced firsthand the infilling power of the Holy Spirit. Is it in you?

You can know you?ve got the power: it IS in you.

How can we know? How can we be confident that the power of the Holy Spirit is with us? The early Pentecostals knew they discovered an essential truth when they saw a curious pattern outlined in the Bible. The book of Acts describes what happened when believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit. It tells us something fascinating: They spontaneously spoke out in languages they had never learned. Let?s look at the first time it happened in Acts 2.

Acts 2:4 (NIV)

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

This miraculous gift gave the 120 believers who were gathered in the upper room a dynamic prayer language that provided evidence (and confidence) that they had indeed received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They knew, however, something that we often forget today. The real proof of power is in the game. The expression of power is what happens on the field. This raises the proverbial question at a deeper level. Is it really in you? Sometimes we believe our own hype. We need to avoid the appearance of power in favour of the demonstration of power instead.

Is it in you? Avoiding the APPEARANCE of power

In our media-saturated world, it?s easy to get a “made-for-TV” image of what life ought to be like.

Hollywood has a way of creating perceptions of how things ought to be. If we determine reality according to the way Hollywood defines it, we could end up very confused. Have you ever noticed how in the movies??

? It?s always possible to park directly outside the building you?re visiting.

? Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames. ? Imagine rear-ending someone in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and then running out of the car screaming and looking for cover. It?s absurd, isn?t it?

? It doesn?t matter if you?re heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts; your enemies will patiently wait to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you?ve knocked out their predecessors.

It?s kind of funny when we think about it. Life isn?t like Hollywood portrays it, but too often we?re content to accept caricatures for reality. Sometimes we let caricatures define our expectations of what reality should be, and then we get frustrated when life doesn?t tally up.

This is true in church life, too. Made-for-TV-church images abound about what the Kingdom ought to be like, how church ought to be and how the miracle-working power of God ought to operate. Sometimes these ideas may create anticipations and expectations that our day-to-day faith life simply doesn?t measure up to, and we?re tempted to throw in the towel.

Pentecostals tend to romanticize the following verses until real life let-downs cause us to give up.


Acts 1:5-8 (NIV)

5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ? 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is a classic Pentecostal passage. Jesus predicts, 50 days after His resurrection, that there?s a day coming when power will be outpoured; a day when the church will be born with power? power available to every believer so that the entire earth will be filled with the knowledge of God. The promise of Pentecost is something that happened to the church on a given day. It?s a promise God makes to the church across space and time, a promise He makes to you and me.


Acts 2:39 (NIV)

39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The danger is that we can get an unrealistic image in our minds about what the promise of Pentecost should look like. Everybody will agree, however, that no matter what kind of Pentecost we imagine, it?s the Pentecost experience in the book of Acts that we need. Pentecost means power if nothing else!

Pentecost means POWER!

Pentecost means power, but just what kind of power? We may each have our own idea of what power looks like. There?s a distinction between two types of spiritual power (or two paradigms of Pentecost) ? peak-moment empowerment and every-moment empowerment. It?s the difference between power in the exceptional moment and the staying power that Christianity requires.

PEAK-moment empowerment vs. EVERY-moment empowerment

Our spirituality sometimes is built on the peak-moment empowerment rather than the every-moment empowerment that Scripture teaches. When we think of power and Pentecost, we tend to think of it in terms of three facets of spiritual power?witness, service and miracles. These are peak-moment experiences.

For instance, when we think of Pentecostal, Holy Ghost-filled evangelism, we often have images of the sweaty, shouting evangelist, flailing his Bible around. He has lightening in his eyes, and thunderbolts in his pointed finger. We tend to think of it as the power to proclaim, rather than the power to attract.

i. Witness: power to PROCLAIM vs. power to ATTRACT.

There were plenty of mountain peak moments of proclamation in the book of Acts. Consider Peter who proclaimed the gospel on the Day of Pentecost itself, and saw 3,000 people added to the church in just one day. In order to be successful Christians, we need more than peak-moment empowerment (such as was demonstrated on the Day of Pentecost). We need to remember that it?s the every-moment empowerment that made the early church an incredibly attractive force.

The church in the book of Acts was highly attractive, and as a result thousands of people in Jerusalem alone were daily added to the church. Luke summarized this attractive force (every-moment empowerment) like this:


Acts 5:13 (NIV)

? they were highly regarded by the people.

There are churches of varying sizes in our community. Some are large churches, some are smaller. Sometimes we can feel good about filling our buildings on a Sunday morning. Yet if we think about the early church, we realize how they outstripped all our efforts with their incredible power to attract. In spite of oppression, persecution, and even martyrdom, the early church was held in high regard by the masses, attracting more than 10,000 converts (out of an estimated 100,000 living in Jerusalem at that time).

If we listen to the world around us, it?s not hard to pick up its undercurrent when it comes to the gospel. It goes like this: Jesus ?yes,? church ?no.? When Gandhi was a young man practicing law in South Africa, he became interested in Christianity. Deciding to attend a church there, Gandhi was put out at the door by a white elder and told that his kind was not welcome. Later he said, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”

It was the early church?s power of attraction to people of all kinds, and their ability to be like the Christ they worshipped that caused them to grow. So the question persists?is it in you? Does that kind of power translate through our church?

There?s another facet to the promise of power. Some of the best devotional writers of the 19th century, people like F.B. Meyer, Andrew Murray or R.A. Torrey, always spoke of Pentecost as power for service. We often see Pentecost power as a power to persevere rather than a power to care.

ii. Service: power to PERSEVERE vs. power to CARE.

Again we tend to romanticize the power to serve. We think of that unique, long-suffering saint who hangs ?tough,? and stays ?true? against huge obstacles, great oppression, rebellion and persecution. We think about biblical heroes like Stephen who stood preaching to the Sanhedrin while they lifted their hands to kill him. Or what about those recognized Christians who made big sacrifices such as Mark Buntain and Mother Theresa? It?s easy to excuse ourselves from real discipleship by saying, “I couldn?t do that so I guess there?s no Pentecostal power for me.”

Of course, there are moments of extraordinary perseverance, but they happen as an expression of believers who experience the every-moment power, the kind of power that helps us cultivate ongoing, caring relationships with one another.

The members of the early church were people motivated and moved with compassion. Look at Acts 4:34-35.


Acts 4:34-35 (NIV)

34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

It?s hard to know whether they cared for the people because they experienced such deep community, or they experienced community because there was such significant care. Whichever way it works, the two go together. There?s no meaningful care without community, and no real community without care. That?s why Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church. It was the catalyst of a new kind of society that was transformational.

Greg Paul is the founder of Sanctuary, a ministry in Toronto for street people. He?s written a book called God in the Alley that chronicles some of the lives he?s encountered that have reintroduced him to a Jesus he?d never known before. Sanctuary has truly created a transformational community that honours people where they?re at, and gives them dignity in Christ. It?s not perfect, but it works on a day-to-day, every-moment basis. Sanctuary is about broken people meeting broken people incarnationally, and introducing them to Jesus.

Is it in you? Do you have the courage to incarnate God?s world in your world?credibly, honestly, and with real care?

iii. Miracles: power to PERFORM vs. power to EXPERIENCE.

The other common facet we automatically think of is power for miracles. Often we see it as a power to perform rather than a power to experience the supernatural.

The Bible talks about how the apostles performed miracles, but if we look a little closer, we may notice the emphasis isn?t necessarily on the apostles as individuals, or on their unilateral ability to heal, their power to perform. Instead the scriptural testimony points to the power of the community to experience the miraculous. For instance, there?s an interesting, literal translation found in Acts 5:12 NASB: “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people.”

Notice the passive verb. Nobody was making these things happen; God was at work! Miracles were taking place. Circle the words ?the people.? That?s where the miracles were happening. What the early church had is a sense of the miraculous in their midst ? every-moment power rather than peak-moment power.

There?s a distinction between the New Testament model for spiritual power and an idea that?s all too common among us today. It?s the “man of God” model which suggests that spiritual power is available to one person in the crowd?the one with the most charisma, the biggest voice, and possibly the biggest ego?while the rest of us stand back and go ?ooooh?aaaah.?

The New Testament model is that every believer is a candidate for spiritual power. God can use anyone of us anytime He wants. This is the anointing power of Pentecost that took a once exclusive power from priests, prophets and kings and turned us all into a kingdom and priests to our God and made us all prophets of the Most High! At Pentecost we all become recipients of a moment-by-moment, existential empowering that makes the church a vital, exciting place.


Acts 2:43 (NIV)

43 Everyone was filled with awe?

What ?filled them with awe?? Our knee-jerk response is miracles, what else? Wouldn?t we be ?in awe? in a world filled with signs and wonders? Take a closer look at the verse. It doesn?t say that ?many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles, and then they were filled with awe.?

Acts 2:43 (NIV)

..and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

Instead the priority is on the sense of wonder, mystery and awe. It wasn?t the miracles that made the church thrilling, it was the presence of God. In that atmosphere of awe, God deigned to perform signs and wonders.

C.S. Lewis, in his classic Miracles, expresses well the tremor that passes down the human spine at the suspicion that perhaps God might be real, that He might be more than mere projection.

“There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (man?s search for God) suddenly draw back. ?Suppose we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that!?” [Lewis, C.S. Miracles. (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2001) p. 150]

We might come to church on Sundays, thinking, “Ho-hum, here we are. Razzle me, dazzle me, do something to entertain me.” We?re never anticipating that anything will actually happen. Is it possible that we would be ?in awe? if it did?

Pentecost is the true basis for Christian spirituality, the intimate presence of the Holy Spirit, who along with the Father and the Son makes up the Trinity. The Christian response to popular spirituality (with a small s) is Spirituality (with a capital S) ? life charged up with the personal Spirit of God and lived out in the world.

Annie Dillard is a provocative writer. She always pushes the envelope, sometimes too far, but listen to what she says about the attitudes of people in the church.

“Why do people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?…Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up batches of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake some day and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.”

This is the God who calls us out into His presence. Do we realize that when we come to celebrate God together we?re entering a danger zone? How do we find such awe (or a proper fear of God)? How do we experience such a God? What does it take to move into this dimension of spirituality? Is it in you? Is that sense of the mystery of the divine among us in such abundance that it?s our worship of the Lamb that?s filled with ” ?wows? and ?awesomes??” Or have we lost the wonder of worship?

It?s all about being filled with the Spirit.

“For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit? But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:5, 8).

How can we be baptized in the Spirit? How do we experience His fullness so that we walk in wonder and awe? How can we be filled with the power to attract, care and experience God? It can happen for you just like the believers in the book of Acts.

Is it in you? How to be baptized in the Spirit?

i. Ya gotta SEEK it!

Acts 1:14 (NIV)

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer?

They had been told as Jesus ascended into heaven that the Holy Spirit would come. So they set themselves to seeking that encounter with God. Seeking is a matter of prayer. In Acts 1, it meant corporate prayer, gathering as a group and seeking the Lord together. In the Psalms, it often means personal prayer. Whether we?re alone or with others, the truth is that we have to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

ii. Ya gotta WANT it!

Acts 2:1 (NIV)

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

These believers were serious contenders. The Day of Pentecost was 10 days after the ascension of Christ. Pentecost (or the Holy Spirit) didn?t come immediately. The early believers waited together (praying and worshiping) for 10 days before they received the inundation of spiritual power. That?s not so easy for us microwave-nanosecond-high-speed-hook-up post moderns. These people were intent on meeting with God.

iii. Ya gotta be OPEN to it!

Acts 2:4 (NIV)

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

When they finally were baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Bible says they “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.” The Spirit did the enabling, but they did the speaking. If the Spirit prompts you today, will you be willing to come forward to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of tongues?

If you?re open to it, He?ll do it. And if He does it today, if He fills us everyday, we?ll become the kind of ?powerful? church we read about in the book of Acts. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the doorway to another dimension in your walk with God. It will give you a new boldness in Christ (endue you with power). It allows the Holy Spirit to function even more in your life, to give even more than is needed to walk with God.

Is it in you? Once you receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues, and the proof of everyday, anointing power in your life, people won?t have to ask. They?ll see the working of the Holy Spirit in your life, and they?ll simply know.

Coming next week: Performance ? Spirit-filled living ? the power to overcome obstacles and develop the character of Christ.

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The Day of Pentecost: One Unforgettable Day!

Sunday, May 30th, 2004

Read at beginning of service:

Acts 2:1-13 (NIV)

1 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.”

INTRODUCTION

As you look back on your life there are probably certain things that stand out in your memory. Moments in time that were forever preserved in the memory banks of your mind because of the impact those events had on your life. Certainly the impact may have been positive or negative but the memory remains. Unforgettable.

We keep pictures to remind us of some of these moments ? we reminisce with family and friends and sometimes something contacts our senses that triggers a memory (a smell, a sight, a taste etc.). But not only are there individual memories that each of us have but there are also collective memories that we share with each other. Some of these memories are of events that we were actually a part of and then there are other memories that are passed on ? memories that we may not actually have been a part of but share in nevertheless.

Families share memories unique to them (eg. Family vacations), communities share memories of tragedies or celebrations (Walkerton crisis), nations share memories (Victoria Day, Canada Day, Confederation), and the world shares memories (war, much of history). Some of these memories fade in significance over time but there are a few that remain unforgettable as long as there are people who keep the memory alive.

Within the church there are unforgettable memories as well. Memories of events that we may not have directly been a part of yet we share in regardless. One of the most important memories is found recorded in Acts Chapter 2. What is significant about this memory and distinguishes it from many other memories we have in our life is that the impact of the event then is still having an impact on us now. In fact, what happened on the Day of Pentecost is still happening today. We not only remember through the pages of the scripture what happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out among the early church in the book of Acts but we also are witnesses and for some of us participants in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit today! And for those who have and are experiencing him it truly is unforgettable!

Today, I?d like to take a look at this “memory” of the work of the Holy Spirit in the beginning Church found in Acts and in doing so I pray the Holy Spirit will do a fresh work in our hearts this morning in the hopes that this will truly be unforgettable!

The Book of Acts begins by drawing attention to the fact that the work of Jesus was continued by the Spirit first through the apostles. But the apostles are not really dominant in the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit is! Everything in the lives and preaching of the apostles and early believers is still centered in Jesus as their living Saviour and exalted Lord and the program to extend the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth is Christ?s program. Yet, there is running throughout this Book a new awareness of the Holy Spirit.

It came, not only from their initial Pentecostal experience, but from a daily consciousness of the presence, guidance, and fellowship of the Spirit and from many special manifestations of His power. Their baptism in the Spirit never became a mere memory of something that happened in the distant past. It was an ever-present reality. (p. 135, What the Bible Says about the Holy Spirit by Stanley M. Horton)

It is evident while reading through the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit was in charge of the church. And indeed that is still the case. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit?s prominence is seen. Not only were the final commands of Jesus given through the Spirit in Him; they had to do with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus commanded his disciples not to leave Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). The outpouring on the Day of Pentecost would never have had the effect or gained the attention it did if only five or six people had stayed. Further, the book of Acts emphasizes again and again a unity, a “being in one accord,” by which the Spirit was fulfilling the prayer of Jesus in John 17. It was important for the believers to be together in one place for this unity to be fostered and for its blessings to be realized.

As we continue this morning, I?d like take the next few minutes to look at some characteristics of what happened on this particular Day of Pentecost and see if these characteristics are still true of what happens today as we experience the Holy Spirit. While there is much that could said this morning I?d like focus on 7 characteristics.

the promise of the Father (is for the church today as well)

Jesus told his disciples prior to ascending to heaven to wait for the gift promised to them by the Father which He went on to identify as the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

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Acts 1: 4-5 (NIV)

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

It is called the promise of the Father because He is the One from whom the promised outpouring comes, as Jesus had already taught them. He would ask the Father, and the Father would send the Spirit. A prophecy of John the Baptist, recorded in all four gospels declared that Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit ? it is the Father who sends the Spirit but it is the Son who baptizes. It is through the Son that one receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

John?s baptism by water was only a preparation for the new age of the Spirit, while Jesus? baptism is actually a part of it. Baptism in the Spirit is immersion into a relationship with a divine Person, not into a fluid or an influence. It is a relationship that can continue to grow and enlarge. It is like water baptism in that it involves a distinct act of obedience and faith on our part.

So this outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was a fulfillment of the promise of the Father ? the promise of being baptized or “filled” with the Holy Spirit. However this is a promise that can and is also being fulfilled in the church today! God is still the Giver of the Holy Spirit and Jesus is still the Baptizer! The Church is not a reservoir that received one donation of the Spirit forever. Jesus still asks the Father as the believer comes, and the Father still sends the Spirit. Realize today that the promise of the Father was not only for the believers gathered around Jesus while He walked this earth but also for believers who gather together in the Name of Jesus today!

waiting (the Baptism is to provide power for service)

Another characteristic of the events surrounding the Day of Pentecost was Jesus? command to the disciples prior to the event to wait for it! Why would Jesus say this?

Maybe it was for preparation. But if that is the case why would Jesus have spent 40 days with the believers teaching them, dealing with Peter, recommissioning them! The evidence shows that Jesus had already prepared them.

The key to answering this question is found in Acts 1:8,



Acts 1: 8 (NIV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The waiting was to show the disciples that the commission Jesus gave them was not to be a mere human enterprise. They were not to use their own ingenuity to figure out ways to spread the gospel. They were to be led by the Spirit. He would be in charge. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit provides power for service because it is Him who is at work through the believer.

The commission that Jesus gave the disciples is the same commission for the church today. And in the same way it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that this commission is fulfilled.

Does this mean that the believer who has not received this Baptism cannot be used by God? Certainly not ? but that same believer must not give up waiting or tarrying for the Baptism! You notice that the apostles and believers weren?t waiting around doing nothing prior to the outpouring the Spirit. They spent the time of waiting in prayer and supplication, joining together in one accord. According to Luke 24:52-53 they spent time in the temple continually praising and blessing (thanking) God. The Spirit was already working in their lives, but they were waiting ? anticipating the Baptism, the enduement with power from on high!

Notice also that it was during this time of waiting that an apostle was appointed to replace Judas. So you see the believer is still used by God prior to receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit but I?m not saying that it shouldn?t be anticipated and sought after for it certainly is something to be expected as a part of the fulfilled Christian walk.

wind and fire (connection with the Old Testament)

The third characteristic of this unforgettable day is found in Acts 2:2-3,

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Acts 2:2-3 (NIV)

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.

The signs preceding the Pentecostal outpouring connect it with the Old Testament experiences as well as with the Old Testament promises. The Day of Pentecost was an Old Testament harvest festival (you can read about it beginning at Leviticus 23:15). For the Church, this day marked when the long-awaited spiritual harvest would begin.

But before the outpouring of the Spirit came, two unusual signs gave further connection with Old Testament symbolism. First there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty, rushing wind. Though there was not an actual wind, the sound filled the house. In the Old Testament wind was a frequent symbol of the Spirit. What is significant Is the indication that the sound was that of a violent ? or more accurately translated mighty wind ? a wind with carrying power, suggesting the mighty power that was being imparted upon the believers by the Holy Spirit for the witness of the gospel.

The second sign was the appearance of “tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them”. The picture being described here is that there was what appeared to be a mass of flame over the whole group which then broke up into tongues of fire resting on the head of each person.

When you look at the connection with Old Testament symbolism there is something astonishing that begins to surface.

The Old Testament records a progressive development with regard to worship. First, it was simply at an altar, as with Abraham. Then God commanded His people to build a sanctuary in the wilderness, the tabernacle. Fire from heaven came down upon a sacrifice there to indicate God?s acceptance of this new sanctuary. But it happened only once. The next change came when Solomon built a temple. Again, fire came down and consumed the sacrifice, indicating God?s acceptance of the sanctuary. But it happened only once. The temples built by Zerubbabel and by Herod were just rebuildings of the same temple, so the sign was not repeated. (p.141 What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit by Stanley M. Horton)

Now, here on this day of Pentecost the old temple is about to be destroyed (AD 70 it was destroyed). The believers are united together as the Body and are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) as well as priests and living stones for the Temple (1 Peter 2:5). Here we have a twofold picture of the new temple ? The Body of believers united together is the temple (sanctuary) for the dwelling of God by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:21,22; 1 Corinthians 3:16).



Ephesians 2:21-22 (NIV)

21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

Also, the bodies of the individual believers are each a temple or sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).



1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)

19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Notice that the appearance of fire came over the whole group indicating God?s acceptance of the whole Body as a temple ? then it broke up with the single flame on the head of each believer to show God?s acceptance of each person as a temple of the Spirit.

These signs were not repeated as part of the Pentecostal baptism or the gift of the Spirit just as the fire came only once on each new sanctuary in Old Testament times. What they show is that before the Holy Spirit was outpoured, God acknowledged the believers as the temple, the body of Christ. The Church was now in full-fledged existence with the glorified Christ as the Head of the Body. The members of the Body were now ready for the Promise to be outpoured.

And so every believer today inherits the same distinction that was given to those gathered in the room that day. As a believer you are fit as a temple of the Holy Spirit! It is on the merits of your faith in Christ that the Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence!

they were all filled (the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all who seek Him)



Acts 2:4 (NIV)

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

There are some who would say that the baptism in the Spirit at Pentecost and the speaking in tongues were limited to the 12 apostles. However, more than 12 languages were spoken,

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Acts 2:8-11 (NIV)

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!”

Also, notice in the passage immediately preceding Acts 2 there is mention of 120 believers gathered together and choosing a new apostle (1:15) and then Acts 2:1 starts with saying, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place?” So the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to all the believers who were gathered and was not reserved for the apostles.

Friends, the only qualifications for being baptized in the Holy Spirit are your faith in Christ and your desire to receive the Baptism. Does that mean when those qualifications are met that you will immediately receive the Baptism? No ? for it is the Father who gives and Jesus who baptizes. It was in God?s timing on the day of Pentecost that the believers received and it is in God?s timing that we receive as well. But in His time it will happen!!

Other languages (Speaking to God – blessing for the believer, sign to the unbeliever)

Another characteristic of this unforgettable event is the fact that as the believers received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit they spoke in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. What does this mean, “as the Spirit enabled them” or as other translations put it, “as the Spirit gave utterance”? It means that they used their tongues, their muscles. They spoke. But the words did not come from their minds or their thinking. No, the words came from the Holy Spirit and these words were expressed boldly, loudly, and with obvious anointing and power.

This passage is often interpreted in various ways. Some take the position that the disciples were all really speaking in their native Aramaic and that this was a miracle of hearing rather than speaking. But verse 6 and 7 are too specific for that. Each man heard them speak in his own language without any of the usual Galilean accent. The 120 believers spoke in real languages that were actually understood by a variety of people from a variety of places. This brought a witness to the universality of the Gift and to both the universality and unity of the Church.

I want to make another important observation about this characteristic this morning. On this unforgettable day, the sound of the tongues gathered the crowd, but what they heard was not preaching. What they heard was the wonderful works (v11 ? mighty, magnificent, sublime deeds) of God. This may have been in the form of shouts of praise, speaking unto God. It was not preaching ? it was worship! If it was preaching it should have brought the salvation of at least some (1 Corinthians 1:21). But no one was saved as a result of the tongues.

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1 Corinthians 1:21 (NIV)

21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

What Luke did record in Acts 2:12 was that the people were amazed (astounded) and in doubt (perplexed, at a loss), completely unable to understand what this was all about. They understood what was being said but not why it was being said. They were confused by what they heard.

Then others began to make fun of the believers saying that these people were full of new wine or drunk (intoxicated). What they heard was what they mocked. What they saw was similar to what some would see in some drunk drinkers. Yet we must not take from this that there was any sign of the kind of frenzy that marked heathen drunkenness. The believers were still in control of their faculties. Their chief emotion was still joy. And they all quit speaking immediately when the apostles stood up!

It seems that when the 120 were speaking in tongues, the mocking increased, for this is something Peter refers to when he begins to speak (2:15). With the crowd listening growing more and more confused it was time for the tongues to stop. They had blessed the believer, been a sign to the unbelieving crowd, but did not and could not do the Spirit?s work of convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Only the believers really received anything from the experience up to this point. They were filled. The Spirit who caused them to glorify God in other languages must also have revealed the same truths to their own hearts, so that their joy and emotion rose out of new appreciation of God and Christ. (p. 144, What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit, by Stanley M. Horton)

The Spirit?s work of convincing the world began when Peter stood up and began to speak. What he gave was not a sermon. He did not study or prepare for it or try to figure out three points. “Began to speak” is “uttered forth,” the same verb that is used in 2:4 of the Spirit giving utterance in tongues. However, this time the Holy Spirit enabled Peter as he was speaking in his own language, Aramaic, a language the whole crowd understood. In other words, instead of a sermon, it was a manifestation of the gift of prophecy.

The important observation that needs to be made here is that when the believers began to speak in other tongues it was evidence of their baptism in the Holy Spirit. When they were speaking in tongues they were speaking to God and in this way it was a blessing to the believer and a sign to the unbeliever of the wonderful majesty of God. It is the same for us today – that is why tongues – as Paul writes later to the Corinthians ? while being the initial evidence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not to be relied on for convincing the unbeliever of their sin and their need for God! That?s what Peter and the other apostles and believers understood as he stood up under the gift of prophecy ? which is the next characteristic of this unforgettable event.

fulfillment of prophecy (an explanation of the miracle)

After explaining that there was no way that the 120 were drunk, Peter began to declare that what the crowd had seen and heard (2:33) was the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32. Joel?s prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taking place before their very eyes!

We can draw three primary points from what Peter says to the crowd: (points marked with an * are taken from an article by Roger Stronstad, “What is Means to be Pentecostal” in the June 2001 issue of the Pentecostal Testimony)
The pouring forth of the Spirit is the eschatological or last-days gift of the Spirit (2:17a;38) *

Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is indicating to the crowd and through the pages of scripture to us, that the entire church age is “last days.” It is the last age before the restoration of Israel and Christ?s reign on earth, the last age before He comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on those who know not God and reject the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

The pouring forth of the Spirit is potentially universal ? crossing all age, gender and social/economic boundaries and is available from generation to generation (2:17b-18a, 39) *

Again here we have repeated through the mouth of Peter that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to everyone who call on the name of Jesus and are seeking it. But more than that, this gift is not limited to one generation or one “season” of time!

The pouring forth of the Spirit comes as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who has received the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured Him out on His followers! (v22-36)

This gift of the Holy Spirit is a testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is testimony to the truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy regarding the Messiah ? He is the Christ!

CONCLUSION

response of the crowd

I want you to put yourselves in the shoes of the crowd for a moment. Here you are coming to Jerusalem for what always an exciting time of celebration and revelry. Only this time things turn out to be a little more exciting than usual! All of a sudden there are people moving through the crowds shouting at the top of their lungs. One of them moves closer to you and you recognize that she is speaking Canadian ? perfectly with no accent! And she is smiling from ear to ear, turning around and around with her hands in the air shouting praises to God and to Jesus! As you wonder at what?s happening you notice that all around you people are noticing the same thing. That these Galileans are speaking in different tongues and are begin understood by the people who know that native tongue. But then things start to get noisier and noisier as the crowd starts murmuring amidst the Galileans praises to God. A few people shout out, “Look at these drunkards ? what are they doing?”

All of a sudden the Galileans who were speaking in other tongues stop and you follow their gaze as the noise of the crowd diminishes. You see a man stand up on some steps ahead flanked by 11 others. And this man begins to speak. You realize as you listen to him that you aren?t the only one captivated by his words. As he speaks, he begins to explain what has happened this day. All of a sudden the realization begins to sink in ? if this is what Joel prophesied then this man Jesus who had been crucified over a month ago is really the Messiah ? but if that is the case, – oh, oh! The murmuring begins to pick up again and people begin shouting out ? the concern and sorrow in their voices echoing the feeling in your heart, “What shall we do?”

Then the man speaks again,
“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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

It wasn?t long before you joined the throng rushing up to the apostles crying out, “I repent, I repent!”

What happened to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost isn?t really any different from what happens today in the hearts of those who are confronted with the reality of the gospel and the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

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