Acts 2:1-13
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”
Sermon Transcript
Good to have you here and getting them, I invite you to go to the book of acts chapter two, we’re going to be reading verses one through 13 of acts, chapter two, a couple of things want to mention, uh, Scott mentioned the men’s retreat and we actually had a waiting list to turn away lists.
This year. We had so many guys want to go. Um, we had a competition among him leaders, and I am sad that we have eight different him, community groups, young married community groups, unfortunately, um, Jim painters group somehow won. However, I did notice that one of the members that was at the men’s retreat is here this morning, cheering for himself.
And so I believe we will take away your vote, your presence. And I’m sure another group one. Okay. Acts chapter two. We’re going to look at in a moment, I think for most of us, um, this has been a week that we have been pretty glued to the international news. Right. And I sent out a musings, uh, as I usually do on Friday, uh, newsletter.
And I have been asking God to know how to pray for Ukraine as Russia as well. Um, and for the people of Ukraine and. I had gone to different sites of ministries that have missionaries in Ukraine to just get a feel of what was going on there. I just doing my own study of the history of Ukraine and the conflict with Russia.
Excuse me. Eventually just put together my own thoughts as to how to pray. And it’s a prayer I’ve been continually praying. It’s a prayer that I put in the, um, in the musings Friday. And even though it’s a written prayer, it has become really my heart’s prayer. And so this morning I’d like to just pray it over us this morning, as we pray for, uh, what’s going on in our world, let’s pray
God, we see a Tyron at work and our hearts cry for you to start. We see innocent people whose countryside and cities are invaded and we cry for their protection. We see war and we cry for peace. We see our Christian brothers and sisters in the eye of the storm, and we cry for you to encourage them, guide them, protect them.
We see world leaders of the free world, and we pray for courage and unity and wisdom and their response and father, we know there is so much more. We do not see so much that you are purposing to do, even in this seemingly tragic thing. So we cry for you to exalt yourself, make your name known, expand your kingdom, proclaim your gospel, build your church.
All this we ask in Jesus name. Amen. Invite you to join me this morning in the book of acts chapter two, I’d like to read it and then we’re going to begin our study this morning. If you are newer here to FCC, um, we are in a series, the early part of our series. Um, the spirit at work to the ends of the earth is the theme we believe is the book of acts we have.
You’ll probably see people around you. They have a little black, skinny looking Bible. It’s it actually is the Bible, but it’s not the whole Bible. Many people are using a scripture journal of the book of acts. It has the scripture on one page and on the opposite page, there is a room for notes. If you are a note taker, invite you to do that, uh, if you’re a doodler and that helps you keep pay attention doodle away.
Okay. Alright, acts chapter two, verses one. And following when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven, a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as a fire, appeared to them and rested on each of them.
And they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues. As the spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude came together and they would be wilted because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
And they were amazed and astonished saying are not all these who are speaking Galileans. And how is it that we hear each of us in our own native. Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Kappa dosha, Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya, belonging to siren and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes credence and Arabians.
We hear them telling in our own tongue, the mighty works of God and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, what does this mean? But others mocking said they’re filled with new wine father. We ask you to speak into our lives truth this morning, Lord, this earth shattering world changing event.
As we begin to reflect on it today, God, I pray that we would. Stunned with the beauty of the gospel, that we’d be drawn again to live our lives in dependence on the one who came among your people centuries ago, to empower us to change us. Uh, your name might be proclaimed throughout all the earth in Jesus name.
Amen. We come today to that event in the book of acts. That really is the central moment and the beginning of everything it is when the explosion of Pentecost took place. Now, there is an event that Jesus had been referring to throughout his ministry. As a matter of fact, before he even began his public ministry, John, the Baptist had talked about this in Luke chapter three, Luke chapter three, verse 16 and 17, John, the Baptist answered them all saying, I baptize you with.
But he was mightier than I is coming. The S the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire in the end of Luke, in the end of his gospel and chapter 24, verse 49. Luke said it this way. Jesus is speaking as he is ascending to heaven and behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
This is the moment. That he is referring to this event that is taking place here in Jerusalem, where the spirit of God is poured out upon the followers. Those that have embraced Christ as Lord and master in those couple of things. Just want to say by way of context, we’re not sure where this happened. It talks about in verse one, the place it talks about in verse two, the house, but the word house actually can, can be used in a variety of ways.
It was either in the upper room where they had been staying or perhaps, and where I tend to think it took place in one of the rooms or hallways of the temple, which were also could be called suddenly place, but also could be called a house, a location. The reason I think it probably took place. There is the fact that as they came out of their meetings, There were all kinds of people around them that had heard the noise that had been going on as the spirit came upon them.
But we’re not sure where it happened, but we are sure when it happened, where it’s described, when the day of Pentecost. Came now there are three religious festivals in Israel’s annual calendar that every male was required to attend. Uh, that’s put back in, in the books of the Torah numbers and Deuteronomy and every Jewish man had to travel, no matter how far he was away, he had to come and to Jerusalem for this festival.
Usually they brought their families, the three events where Passover, which culminated with one day of Passover, then went into the week of the feast of unleavened bread. And that was basically a time usually in April celebrating God’s rescue from the, uh, of the Israel lights from the Egyptians in Egypt, the feast of Pentecost or week.
Took place in may or June. And it was the celebration of God’s giving the law to Moses on the mountain and actually the establishment of Israel. Now as a nation before God, that took place in Martin Mayer, April, may, or June. I mean, then there was the feast of Tabernacles in the fall. Usually October celebrating God’s provision for the nation as they spent 40 years in the wilderness living in tents.
So they celebrate actually made these little tent like, um, tabernacle structures, usually at a branches and stuff. And that’s what they stayed in Jerusalem. This was one of those pilgrimage feast. There are times later in the book of acts will we’ll see Paul saying, I want to get back to Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost.
It was a, it was a. It was one of the annual calendar events. And so there were people from all over the world that have identified with, with, with, uh, Judaism who have become Jews Jewish proselytes they’re called, who have now come to celebrate Pentecost. We’re going to look at this, uh, event with three sermons today.
We’re going to talk about the event itself in verses 14 to 41. Next time, the sermon that Peter presents the first sermon of the, of the new era of the church, and then verse 42 to 46, the impact that it all had upon the believers as the life of the church, this new gathering of people begins to be discussed.
In verse 13 of the passage I read this morning, and this is where I want to land as an, as our emphasis, it says, excuse me, it says, and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, what does this mean? Well, that’s my question this morning. What does this mean? What is this event saying to us? And I would say three things, and this is our outline.
This morning, there is power from the outside. There is power that impacts the inside and there is power available without side. Power from the outside. We read about it in verse one to three, two things that are described here, two descriptions of this power that is being poured out upon the gathering of, of, of, uh, followers of Christ here.
And first of that is there is a rushing, mighty wind. Few years ago, we were up in Northern Michigan where, uh, we go because that’s where Marion is from. And we were there. And there were words that a, basically a tornado had come through violent winds. And so their house is sort of built into the side of a hill a little bit.
So we went down into the bottom floor and you heard this amazing wind, just surging. We came out to find, then it was just fairly localized where we were 60 foot trees were lying. There were some across the driveway of their. A hundred yard driveway up to the house all throughout the area. They had come down.
When we heard that wind, there was one word that goes through your mind, power. This is a sound of power. He then describes the event as one that is tongues of fire. Now the people hear the wind and then they hear the, uh, disciples of Jesus as they come out and speak to them in their own languages. But apparently they don’t see the fire come down.
That happened in the room, wherever that was, whether it was an upper room in Jerusalem somewhere, or it was in the temple. And one of the, one of the, one of the separate rooms, but they come out and a why, why is that? I mean, I wonder if, if the, the symbolism was obviously for the followers of Christ, because fire was, was manifested with the powerful presence of God, his Chicago glory is a pillar of fire at night, and there is this picture of, of a visual that to them must have been very prominent, but, but I wonder why the other people didn’t see it.
I wonder if it would be sort of weird amount. I mean, divided tongues coming down and sheep, a fireman, maybe it’s too distracting. It. Visuals can be distracting. I was thinking about that this morning. Uh, actually earlier in the week, when we found out that virtually everybody that’s a regular announcer was going to be on the men’s reach.
And we sucked Jared into doing the intro. I went to the room where he was actually taping with Ben painter. Ben painter had him on camera and I’m looking in the window and they stopped. And I went out, I was trying to get his attention, mess him up while he was taping. But then I went in and I said, wait, are you taping with that red baseball cap on for Sunday morning?
And he said, yeah. I said, uh, I think it’s going to be, I hope I came across, not worse than this, but, um, I said, I think it’s going to be distracting. And he said, well, let me show you why I’m wearing the red baseball cap. And he took his hat off and he had a hairdo that you can be grateful. You did not see.
And at that moment I said, capitas, Visuals can be distracting. Maybe that’s why he didn’t have the, the, the tongues be seen by the B, but they sure heard it. They sensed the power. What we find in this passage is that there is a power from the out side that is taking place. It is not eternal internal. It came down from heaven.
The whole view of life
that is put forth in this passage puts us on collision course with the view of life of the world. You see the culture says the opposite. It says the power is inside. The problem is out there. This passage reminds us as the new Testament will do a thousand times that the scriptural perspective is this of living the Christian.
The power comes from without, because the problem is in here,
Synagis Austen in the fourth century, a D made a statement, it’s a Latin phrase and Curtis, and say, Martin Luther picked up on the same phrase in his writings. And the phrase actually means to be curved in upon yourself. The idea is we are the ultimate problem. We are the ones that need a power from out side culture tells us the problems out there.
It’s your family background. you’re the wrong people group. It’s you’ve been wrong. You, you haven’t got a fair shake. It’s this? It’s this it’s it’s outside. But we’re always reminded as Pentecost reminds us the power has to come from without, because we are curved in on ourselves. We are by nature because of the fall self-absorbed self-focused, self-centered what comes out of our lives is not an orientation towards a mission to serve and love and to, to, to go towards other nations.
No, our orientation is to protect ourselves, to serve ourselves. We need a power from the outside and this power comes as the new era is introduced to the coming of the spirit at Pentecost. The problem ultimately is not out. The problem is in here years ago, there was a book written called the coral sea.
It was a book, um, that was basically this beautiful story about a guy named Ralph and Jack. They were boys and there were other boys as well. Those were the two primary ones and they were on a deserted island. They’d been shipwrecked. And, and the story is of these young boys growing up and, and this utopian society that developed and really the, uh, they got along, they built a beautiful, uh, community.
And the only problem they really had was actually the, the, the vicious native savages from another island that every now and then they had to watch out for a number of years later in 1954. Another book was written by a man named William Golding. William Golding wrote a book that many of you read that has been called by time magazine.
Recently, one of the top 100 books that have been written since 19, since world war one, basically in 1919, William Golding entitled his book, the Lord of the flies. He took us his two main characters, two young boys that were deserted on an island and their names were Ralph and Jack. It was an anti message of the coral sea.
It was, and the brilliance of the Lord of the rings, even though it’s a, it’s a, it’s a heavy story. It is a brilliant analysis of the heart of people. It’s a picture rather than presenting this wonderful Nirvana utopian society of harmony and. It says the problems are not only with the savages out there.
The problems are in here in the story of Lord of the rings. Ralph and Jack are two strong minded individuals there end up being conflict is all kinds of things that go on. There’s even a boy that’s murdered and in a frenzied nighttime thing. And it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a picture that reminds us that the controlling force in our lives internally in us is we’re curved in we’re S we’re looking for us.
We need power from without, and that’s what happened at Pentecost. It’s interesting. One of the boys, little Simon in Lord of the rings, he’s one of the most reflective, and he’s not a main character, but whenever he talks, he seems a little bit more reflective, a little more sensitive and processing than the other guys.
In one interesting statement of the book, they keep blaming the beast. That’s out there, you know, that’s what we gotta do this. And, and it’s used by the strong minded guys to say, we got to do this. You got to follow us because the beast that’s out there. And in one statement, he actually makes his statement.
Maybe there’s a beast. Maybe it’s only us. Maybe we are the beast there’s power needed from outside. We also find here it is power that impacts the inside verse four says this. They were all filled with the holy spirit and being filled with the spirit is going to be a continual refrain in the book of acts.
It’s going to constantly talk about, they were filled with the spirit and, and many of the times it empowers them to speak boldly for Christ, but there are other passages talking about their field and, and, and, and, and it impacts their lives individually. There’s various things that take place. Uh, so what does it mean to be filled by the spirit?
Because obviously, even though the baptism of the spirit was a one-time event that a person has when they’re placed into the body of Christ, the filling of the spirit is a continually happening events. So what does it mean to be filled by the spirit? What, in Fijian chapter five, Paul tells us, he says, this don’t be filled.
Don’t be drunk by one. But literally, but instead be filled by the spirit. Well, what happens when you’re you’re drunk, you’re brought under the complete influence of alcohol being filled by the spirit means that we are brought under the influence of the spirit of God. It’s striking in this passage, that the overwhelming majority of people down in verse 12 and 13, look on, and they say, this is stunning.
That was amazing. Uh, the word amaze keeps being repeated in this passage. And they said, what does this mean? A handful of characters who didn’t want to have to deal with it? They just basically said, oh, they’re just. They’re under the influence of alcohol, they were under the influence, but not of alcohol.
They’re under the influence of the spirit of God in Ephesians chapter five and Colossians chapter three, it tells us that the three fruits of being filled with the spirit in both passages is always the same. Number one, there is a spirit of gratitude. There is Thanksgiving. There’s, there’s a peace that settles in our heart with a spirit of contentment and, and, and gratefulness.
Secondly, it says there is a joy. It says, they’re, they’re making melody in their hearts. They’re singing this. There’s a joyousness about individuals filled by the spirit and the lasting. It says in both passages that they are, they are yielding or submitting to others. They’re looking out for other peoples there’s love there’s peace and there’s joy.
And there’s love. There is this exuberant joy that is sensed among these people. As the spirit of God is filling them. There is power without, but it is power that influences and impacts within this is the picture of Pentecost for us. But look at what happens here. As we look at this passage, we’re told what changes them in verse 11, we hear them telling in our own tongues, the mighty works of God.
This is a great statement. Why are the mighty works of God? Here’s this here’s a scene, right? And here they are. And they’re all talking in foreign languages and, and all of a sudden I’m talking Arabic or whatever they, whatever they I’m trying to think of what language is actually represented there. And, and so they’re speaking the language.
And so that group of people can say, wait, they’re talking about. They’re talking my language. So they gather there and then there’s others over here and there’s others over here and what are they speak? I mean, what are they talking about? What are they telling people? You know, we’re really grateful you came to our service this morning.
No, that’s not what they’re telling. What are they saying? The mighty works of God. What’s that mean is one of the time that’s used in the new Testament. I believe by intent. It’s used in Luke chapter 19, where Jesus is on his way down the Mount of olives to come for the triumphant entry. And it says here’s the, here’s what it says in chapter 19 verse 37 of Luke on the way down the Mount of olives.
The whole multitude of his disciples, that Jesus began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice. For all the mighty works they had seen, seeing blessing is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest, the Pharisees, then grab Jesus. And they say, tell your disciples to stop saying this stuff.
You remember what he says? If they stopped talking, the very rocks of the ground are going to start talking. They’re going to be proclaiming the mighty works of Jesus. What was the disciples saying here at Pentecost? They’re proclaiming the mighty works of Christ. They’re talking about what he’s done in his life.
They’re talking about the cross that he’s done, the resurrection, the Ascension to heaven. They’re proclaiming the work of Jesus to people. In their own tongues and in their own languages, the new era of the spirit has begun empowering lives from the inside out to proclaim by life and message. The mighty works of Christ.
The old him. This is my story. This is my song, praising my savior all the day long. Bless it. Assurance Jesus is mine filled with his goodness lost in his love. This is my story. This is my. This is what these guys were proclaiming. As they spoke in the languages of the people that had traveled all over the world to come to Pentecost, you need to know my Christ.
You need to know his mighty works. You need to know what he’s willing to do in the lives of people. What we are experiencing peace and joy and love that are flowing out of our lives. If we are brought under the influence of his spirit, founded in the mighty works of Christ Christianity at its very core says the problem is within.
We need a power from without, and when that power from without comes, it brings a power within the changes. It brings us under the influence of Christ’s own spirit, but there’s a third thing. We find this power is available without sides. There’s no walls to it. There’s no restrictions to it. There’s no limitations to where it will go.
And to whom it will speak in verses five through 13, we hear about the people that are there, people from all over the known world, they start first in, in the, in the litany of nations and people groups. They start in the east, it’s out in the Persian empire and that way then it travels. It goes through Judea.
It hits up into what we would call modern day Turkey. Then it goes down to Northern Africa and then eventually goes, as far as the Eastern, the Western borders of the Roman empire and room itself. Many of these people that have come are Gentile, prof proselytes who have entered Judy. The difference that is taking place on the, on the day of Pentecost is, is not that other people could join the people of God.
The differences the people of God are known are now going out to embrace everyone to be a part. There were proselytes that could join Israel, but now they are all going forth in a new enterprise where Jew and Gentile have become one. And there is now one people of God, of every tongue and tribe and people group.
And the fact that they’re speaking to them in their own tongues, can’t be overstated. It’s amazing. If you just listen at the response, verse six, it says the people they were. Because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, verse seven and they were amazed and astonished sing are not all these who are speaking Galileans.
And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language in verse 12 and all were amazed and perplexed, seen to know one another. What does it mean? Virtually all, um, church historians and church, fathers and commentators today, believe that what happened at Pentecost is a look back to the tower of Babel, that there was a day.
If you remember back in the book of Genesis, where people were trying to build a tower to God and everybody on earth spoke the same language at that time, they were all United and rebellion against God. And in pride, we’re saying we’re going to build a building all the way up to the presence of God.
That’s another way of saying we’re going to be like, God, we’ll be where we, where he is. We’ll do what he does. We’ll be our own gods. God then causes the human languages to be confused. And the nations were scattered. Pentecost is a deliberate and dramatic reversal of the curse of Babel they’re human languages, confused in the nation.
Scattered at Pentecost. The language barrier barrier was supernaturally overcome as a sign that the nations would now be gathered together in Christ into a multi-national multi-racial multi-lingual kingdom. There is no language or culture to whom the gospel belongs. None to whom the gospel is given priority.
Tim Keller put me on to, uh, a book. I ha I read it before. And in preparation for this sermon, I got it out again. And the book is written by amendment limits and I, and it is called whose religion is Christianity and in the book. And it’s a fascinating read. It’s basically he’s being questioned by a secular, um, questionnaire, a reporter, and it’s his giving all these, these answers.
And basically what he is saying in the book is he’s comparing Christianity from all other religion, religions. And he, one of the things he talks about, and he’s an African he’s talking about is the different of Christianity from Islam. Muslims, believe that the cran cannot be translated and you might immediately say, well, I’ve seen Koreans that are in English.
And it’s true. I actually have one, but in the cover, there is always, or in the, it, just inside the cover and on the homepage, there is always a statement that says something like this is, um, an English explanation or some word like that. They believe that the Qur’an is always an only in Arabic, Allah speaks in Arabic.
It must be heard in Arabic. Ultimately there is a unified as L’Amic culture and lamin Sanai is talking about there’s a, a unified Islamic culture around the world where we’re all as. Uh, people groups are basically to look like worldwide Islam. Ultimately, the goal is that nationally, the country will look like an as L’Amic country, that it all looks the same.
There are same, the same practices, the same behaviors, the same ways that they operate patterns and external rules, its intention is to say, have the same practice in every part of the culture. It is to be its own culture. Christianity is more culturally diverse than any religion on earth. It honors every culture.
It presents principles of Jesus’ kingdom, but if African you don’t become European in the way you look, and there are principles you follow. If you’re Pakistani, you don’t become an American church in the way you need to look. And the music that you use, the perspectives that your own cultural background is real.
Christianity is a sham. It’s no more viable than any other cultural manifestation. If they are following biblical principles, God allows God affirms God values. The mighty works of God being declared in the online and the, in the language of the people themselves. One of the statements I love that limits.
And I says, in this, he says, Christians may be excused for feeling confused about what language Jesus spoke. How many of you know, what language Jesus. If I said, did he speak Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic? Sorry, this is terrible, dude. Anyway, whether you knew or not now, you know, it was Aramaic. That would have been the normal thing.
But how many of you even know what Aramaic is? Well, he’s saying Chris has maybe excuse or feeling excuse about what language Jesus spoke, because God speaks in all languages and offers to all peoples here in acts two, the mighty works of God. He is offering to all peoples. This reality that the gospel and the work of Pentecost has been made available to all peoples of all nations of all ethnicities of all languages, wherever you are this morning, the same power that descended on power on Pentecost.
That same individual, the spirit of the living God is available to come and speak to the, to the powerlessness within our lives. It is a power from outside. You were never wired to live life on your own sin, displaces God at the control center of your life to shift metaphors, the engine of your life was designed to run on God.
He is the fuel key is the power source. It is a power that impacts the inside God’s spirit is willing to bring you under his influence and control, offering joy, peace, and a capacity of deliver life that is not curved inward. But can be mercifully allowed to, to curve outward towards the others where it isn’t all about us.
It isn’t, it we’re still going to be struggling. We still have the flesh, but there is, there is a curving outward that comes from the power outside coming within. And it is a power without sides to anyone, no matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve come from, the gospel speaks in your language to you for you.
That same power is available to you today. God, we look to you
for honest in ourselves, we can look over the last week and see. The desperate of our need for power from, without or at my heart goes particularly this morning to people online or in this room to whom the gospel has not been personally embraced. We’ve not experienced the influence, the power of the spirit of God in their lives, because they’ve not yet embraced Christ as Lord and savior, Lord speak into their lives, draw them, speak in the language.
They understand Lord be your creative self, to draw them to you in Jesus name. Amen.