Tag: pentecost

Sermon Idea: The risen Lord Jesus builds His church through the presence of His promised Spirit and the preaching of His Word.  

Introduction: Our Lord Jesus made it plain that he is the builder of his church, a work that is so sure that the attempts of Hell itself will prove to be futile. 

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Mt 16:18)

This passage has been a comforting balm to believers throughout church history, because no matter what comes—persecution, poverty, attack, or apostasy—the church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be built. 

I shared this with you in one of my earliest sermons here, but I love the conviction that is present in one particular paragraph of Article 27 in the Belgic Confession. 

“And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small in the eyes of men—as though it were being snuffed out.”

Christ has promised to build his church, and we should believe him. No matter how unimpressive she may seem to the world, or how many predict her demise, Christ will have a people for Himself.

What does this have to do with Acts 2? What does it have to do with us? Oh, so, so much. If Christ is the builder of his church and it will be successful, how will he do it?  

In our study of Acts thus far, we have made a point to emphasize that the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven does not mean his absence or apathy. Jesus Christ lives and reigns from heaven, so that what we see in Acts are the acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Beloved, the building of Christ’s church is not dependent on our ability to be clever marketers. 

It does not hinge on our ability to satisfy the preferences of every visitor. 

The building of Christ’s church is not at the mercy of denominational resources or institutions. 

The risen Lord Jesus builds His church through the presence of His promised Spirit and the preaching of His Word.  

When we last left the disciples, they were together in an upper room, devoting themselves to prayer. They were doing so in obedience to Jesus, who commanded them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit. As they were staying, they rightly sought the Lord for a replacement of Judas, and appointed a man named Matthias. 

These twelve apostles serve powerfully as the beginning of God’s restoration promises to Israel. With the twelve restored, God will fulfill his promise to pour out his Spirit on his people. 

What I hope to do with the remainder of our time this morning is learn as much as we can from the fulfillment of God’s promise to send the Spirit, but also how Word and Spirit are inseparable in their work. God is building the church of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Word and the Spirit. That is how he built it then, and how he continues to build it today. 

I.) The risen Lord Jesus builds his church by the presence of his promised Spirit  (Acts 2:1-13) 

It is not insignificant to identify the time of Pentecost in verse one, When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. (Ac 2:1)

The Feast of Pentecost is the second of three annual Jewish feasts that required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Throughout the Old Testament, it is called the Feast of Weeks (Lev. 23:15-21) and celebrates the provision of God. The word Pentecost comes from the word fiftieth, becasue God’s giving of the law on Mount Sinai occurs fifty days after the Passover. 

The final Passover has taken place, with the sacrificial death of the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ. Now Pentecost can be fulfilled as God gives his greatest provision, himself, by the sending of the Holy Spirit. As they are gathered to remember the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, God pours out his Spirit, so that the law will be written on their hearts. 

The coming of the Spirit is described like a great storm.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. (Ac 2:2–3)

What Luke is describing is nothing other than a supernatural act of God. The source of the sounds comes from heaven, where Jesus has ascended. This is a description of the overwhelming presence of God. It was “like a might rushing wind, and “as of fire.” These small words are important. This isn’t a natural event that can be explained by meteorology. It was a sound from heaven that filled the room, that sounded like a mighty rushing wind. 

In the Bible, wind is representative of the Spirit and the very breath of God (Ezekiel 37:9-10). The clearest New Testament example is given to us by Jesus in his conversation with Nicodemus. 

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:7–8)

They hear the sound of wind, but what they see is tongues of fire. Throughout Scripture, fire is representative of God’s very presence. Moses heard God speak out of the fire of the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-6), and God led Israel with a pillar of fire by night through the wilderness. The difference here is that the fire doesn’t consume them, but rests on each one. In other words, the presence of God is with each person. 

What does all this mean? We are told in verse four that the Holy Spirit filled all those who were in the room. 

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4) 

In Scripture, to be filled with the Spirit is to be empowered and equipped for a particular ministry or responsibility. Jesus has promised that the coming of the Spirit would make them witness from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, and that’s precisely what’s being described here in Acts 2:4. 

Jesus has not left the building of his church in the hands of twelve men who must resource themselves. He has not commissioned witnesses who must then depend on their own strength. 

God himself provides all that the disciples need for the accomplishment of their task, and the power they need for the task is given in the sending of the Spirit. 

The situation is different, and we are at differing points in redemptive history, but God has given us a mission and then left us to ourselves. 

God has empowered us by his Spirit and equipped us with his powerful Word. Let me give you two brief examples. 

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Co 3:4–6)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Ti 3:16–17)

Word and Spirit. This is the great power that God has equipped us with for the accomplishment of His mission. 

One of my favorite childhood films is The Sandlot. It is a delightful movie about Baseball, America’s beloved pastime. This illustration will include spoilers if you haven’t seen the movie. It was released in 1993, so it is your own fault. 

It’s the story of a young man named Smalls who moves to a new neighborhood and makes friends with several boys who regularly play baseball at the local Sandlot. One day, they find themselves in need of a baseball to play with. Hopeing to endear himself to these boys, Smalls steals a ball from his Stepdad’s trophy case, signed by Babe Ruth. He then hits the ball over the fence guarded by a giant dog, named “The Beast.” They have a problem; they need the ball back, but they are terrified of the beast. So they hatch every plan imaginable. They attempted to lower one of the boys using a pulley system, but it failed. They built an elaborate vacuum system, but it failed. They built a catapult out of an Erector Set, and it failed. Over and over, they lean on their own resources and fail time and time again. 

At the end of the movie, after a long battle with the beast, they meet the dog’s owner, who says very simply, “Why didn’t you just knock on the door? I would have gotten it for you.”

When churches depend on themselves for their task, belittling God’s Word and Spirit, they end up looking like children building erector sets when all they had to do was knock on the door. 

God has not left us to ourselves, but has given us his Word and Spirit. 

Verses 5-13 tell us the result of the Spirit’s outpouring. 

The result of the Spirit’s filling is the ability to speak in tongues, which in the context of Pentecost is diverse ethnic dialects or languages.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language (Ac 2:5–6)

And how is it that we hear, each of us, in his own native language? (Ac 2:8)

“…both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. (Ac 2:11)

The details about the diverse people present and their unified experience are important because part of God’s restoration promises concerns the bringing together of all the scattered exiles of Israel and reunifying them into one people. 

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Is 43:5–7)

Pentecost is the fulfillment of the gathering of all the exiles who are scattered among the nations. It’s also a reminder that God’s kingdom will include every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Included in the crowd, according to verse 11, were both Jews and proselytes. 

What are they doing? They are praising the mighty works of God (Acts 2:11) 

In Genesis 11, God confuses the language of the people so they could no longer work together to build the tower of Babel for their own name and glory. At Pentecost, God reverses Babel in a way, so that as the diverse languages are spoken, all can understand the praising of God’s mighty works. 

This is a critical stage in the development of God’s plan to have one people in Christ Jesus from every nation under heaven. In Revelation, the picture we are given is one of a multitude of nations around the throne. 

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Re 7:9–10)

Those around are confused by what is taking place. 

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Ac 2:11–13)

The event has happened, but it required interpretation. Peter steps forward and explains the outpouring of the Spirit as the fulfillment of God’s Word. 

II.) The risen Lord Jesus builds his church by the preaching of His Word (Acts 2:14-21) 

Pentecost shows that the day of the Lord is at hand. 

17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. (Ac 2:17–18)

Cosmic future day of the Lord. 

19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. (Ac 2:19–20)

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (Lk 23:44–45)

The coming day of the Lord is imminent, but Scripture leaves us with hope. 

21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Ac 2:21)