Pentecost Sunday

1. The events of Pentecost (Acts 2.1-13)

Let me pray as we stand:

Father, please teach us what happened at Pentecost – and what it means for us today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Please take a seat. We're going to look firstly at the events of Pentecost (Acts 2.1-13).

• God's promise was fulfilled

But before we dive into Acts 2, let's quickly rewind and hear what Jesus said about Pentecost in Acts 1. Turn with me to Acts 1.4-5. Here Luke records an occasion when Jesus spoke to the apostles about Pentecost. This conversation happens after Jesus' resurrection – just before he ascends into heaven. On one occasion, while (Jesus) was eating with them, he gave them this command:

…not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…"

So the apostles are commanded to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit. Why did they need the Holy Spirit? Jump to Acts 1.8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The apostles needed the Holy Spirit to empower them for the mission of telling everyone about Jesus. So the events of Pentecost don't come out of the blue – like a random meteorite whizzing through the earth's atmosphere – they are the fulfilment of God's promise of power from the Holy Spirit for mission… but the apostles had to wait for it!

…and waiting is difficult!

I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you've bought a new electronic advice: maybe a kindle or a phone or a laptop and you just want to open it and start using it straight away, but no the instructions say: please charge fully before use! How frustrating! But wait you must. You need to wait for the device to be powered up before you can use it. It's the same for the apostles before Pentecost. Jesus is saying to them:

"Do you want to go on mission? To take the Gospel to the ends of the earth? Wait for the power you need!" But they didn't need to wait long!

• The apostles were filled with the Spirit

Look at Acts 2.1-4:

When the day of Pentecost arrived [Pentecost was 50 days from the first Sunday after the Passover – so 50 days from the day of Jesus' resurrection] they [the apostles] 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 [Here in Newcastle during winter months, we're used to hearing howling gales on the outside, but here's the noise of a howling gale on the inside of a house]. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them [symbolising the presence of God] and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance".

So here the apostles experienced 3 supernatural phenomena: they heard wind, they saw fire and they spoke in other languages.

Luke singles out the third phenomenon – supernatural speech – and to add further comment on this, the camera lens then zooms out of the house and pans across the city.

• The Jewish crowd was amazed

Acts 2.5-11:

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. [That's not literally the whole world – Luke means the whole Graeco-Roman world around the Mediterranean which represents the whole world]. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, 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 his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, [both Jews and converts to Judaism]; both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.

What's going on here? Answer: the Holy Spirit gave the apostles a supernatural ability to speak in other human languages that they hadn't learnt.

You see, it's not that the Holy Spirit gave the apostles an intensive language booster course to catapult their mediocre Spanish from GCSE grade D level to A* level. No– it's far more miraculous than that. It's like the apostles each started speaking Kurdish, Singhalese, Wolof, Welsh, Zulu, Geordie, Bengali, and Haitian Creole without having ever heard these languages spoken before!

Unsurprisingly the Jewish pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Weeks had absolutely no idea what on earth was going on. In fact, the scene reminds me of international students watching a cricket match for the first time! Some say, as in Acts 2.12: "What does this mean?" Or 'why on earth do they have a tea-break in the middle of the match?' 'Why are they so quiet, but then suddenly shout 'Howzzat' to the umpire?' 'Can you please explain to me the rules of this strange game?'

Others simply say, as in Acts 2.13:

They are filled with new wine".

Cricket - what's going on? What does it mean?

Pentecost – what's going on? What does it mean? Well, there's lots we could say about these events of Pentecost:

Firstly, Pentecost is a reversal of God's judgement at Babel in Genesis 11. At Babel, God confused human language in judgement against human pride. At Pentecost, God uses different human languages to communicate his wonders.

Secondly, Pentecost is a foretaste of the new heavens and the new earth. By the end of chapter 2, we see a multi-racial, multi-national and multi-lingual church family worshipping God. And the scattered universal church today is a multi-racial, multi-national and multi-lingual family – just as the gathered universal church will be in Revelation 7.

Thirdly, Pentecost is a mandate for the translation of the Bible into different languages. William Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, said this:

"The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It never needs a furlough (break) and is never considered a foreigner." (A New Vision for Missions, William Cameron Townsend)

And as a church we support 3 families who do this great work! But I need to stop myself there, because Peter himself gives the main meaning of these events for the watching crowd – and for us – in what follows!

The meaning of Pentecost (2.14-36)

• We are living in the last days

Peter skilfully brushes aside the banter that he and his friends have had too much wine and turns straight to the Old Testament. Acts 2.16 -18:

But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, [on all people means on all Christian believers – no longer is the Holy Spirit just for special people at special moments as was the case in the Old Testament] and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy."

So what's going on here? The logic is this: The apostles speaking in different languages is the sign that the Spirit is now being poured out on all believers and the sign that the Spirit being poured out on all believers is the sign that we're now living in the last days. What are the last days?

The last days are the period of time we live at the moment, between Jesus' first coming in the past to save and his second coming in the future to judge on that final day – which Peter speaks of next (Acts 2.19-21):

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So, in the last days, before that last day, now is the time to call out to the Lord and be saved from his judgement. To which we might think, what's the relevance of this to the Jewish crowd here in Acts 2? Peter has just stretched the timeline of history before their eyes. He's saying to them, like one of those arrows on a tourist map: "You are here! We're living in the last days!"

• Jesus is at centre of God's plan for history

And now his hearers have got their historical bearings, Peter has a message for them and the thrust of his message is all about where these Jewish people stand with Jesus, the one at the centre of God's plan for history. Acts 2.22-23:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Note "You crucified…" Jesus (Acts 2.23)

But "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." (Acts 2.24) and then Peter quotes from Psalm 16 and comments on that. Skip to Acts 2.32:

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses".

You crucified Jesus, but God raised him from the dead. Acts 2:33:

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing".

You crucified Jesus but God raised him from the dead. Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit from heaven. Acts 2:34-35:

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

Jesus, the one you killed, has now become in reality what he was by right. Jesus is at the centre of God's plan for history.

• We need to face up to this reality

I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where the penny has slowly dropped that you've made a really big mistake. Perhaps you threw out a really important letter because you thought it was junk mail and then you realised two weeks later. Oh no! Perhaps you rejected a call from an unknown number, but then as you're driving home one day, you realise that it was actually a call back about a job interview! Oh no! Well, this is an 'Oh no!' of much more epic proportions.

"You crucified Jesus" said Peter – yes, we did but God raised him from the dead – really? This Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit from heaven – oh so he's now in heaven? And God will soon judge the enemies of Jesus. – I guess that's us, because we killed Jesus…

"Oh no'! We have opposed God's purposes in the most serious and personal of ways – we have killed the Messiah!"

In case there was any doubt, Peter's address ends with a direct challenge in Acts 2.36:

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

The ascended Jesus has now become in reality what he was by right – Lord and Messiah. You killed him and he's coming soon to judge his enemies!

2. The impact of Pentecost ( Acts 2.37-41)

What happened next?

•  The Jews were deeply convicted of sin

Firstly, the Jews were deeply convicted of their sin. But credit to them. They didn't bury their heads in the sand. They looked urgently for relief. Acts 2:37:

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?

Maybe that's you here this morning. Sure you weren't actually responsible for crucifying Jesus 2000 years ago but deep down you feel a sense of guilt and shame about the way you've lived life and you can't rationalise these feelings away, they won't go away with endless TV programmes, eating, shopping, and partying. Deep down, you know that none of those solutions will work anyway, because your guilt and shame is all linked up to you ignoring God and rejecting Jesus. And you know that's a big issue, because God made you and he'll judge you, but you have no idea where to turn for help. Day after day you're silently crying out for relief.

"What shall I do?" "What shall I do?"

Well, listen to Peter's words next in Acts 2.38.

• Peter led them to turn to Jesus

And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".

Friend, you need to repent. Repent just means: turn around! Change your mind! Everyone who comes to God for forgiveness must repent. You need to change your mind about Jesus. Jesus was not an evil blasphemer (as the Jewish people thought back then – and crucified him). Jesus is not a dead religious teacher (as many think today and ignore him) Jesus is not just an important prophet (as Muslim people today believe and underestimate him). Jesus is not even just a dead man who rose again (as I used to think).

Jesus is crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, and ready to return and you need to change your mind about him! You need face facts about Jesus and change your mind! Then you can receive forgiveness of sins, then that burden of guilt can be lifted, then you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for yourself (and, sooner or later, you'll need to express this repentance publicly in baptism).

Maybe it's time for you to repent this morning. We're in the last days! It's time to come to God for forgiveness! The door back to God is wide open for you this morning. Jesus has opened it for you. Walk in.

And for those of us who are following Jesus already, speak plainly about repentance in your evangelism, as Peter did. Repentance is not a popular topic. In our politically correct culture, robustly challenging others' deeply held religious (or non-religious) beliefs, is seen as inappropriate, or even offensive. But how can people know God's forgiveness and have the gift of the Holy Spirit if their wrong views about Jesus are not challenged and corrected?

No! They need to repent. They need to change their mind about Jesus!

Now friends, challenging people to repent takes courage! Courage which is often beyond us, but not beyond the help which God has given us in the person of the Holy Spirit who lives in each one of us! Look at the courage which Peter showed as he boldly evangelised the Jews. It's hard to believe that this was the same man who denied Jesus just a few weeks before.

If you lack courage in your evangelism, as we all do, pray for the Holy Spirit to give you boldness to speak.

• The church grew rapidly

What was the result of Peter's preaching and pleading? See Acts 2.41:

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Some Christians today say things like this: "In our postmodern society, words are not important to people. Look at how politicians use words. Words don't mean anything. It's actions that count. It's the same for the church. What we need to do is to show Christ in our lives."

Certainly actions are vital. We can't say we're Christian and not live it out and we have a clear responsibility to love our neighbour in action, but at Pentecost, Peter simply spoke words about Jesus in the Spirit's power and there was revival! Three thousand people believed in Jesus!

And this is how the church in our city and the North-East and around the world is going to grow today as normal Christians like you and I share the amazing Gospel to those around us with our limited skills and the Holy Spirit's unlimited power.

Let's pray.

Father, please help us to grow in confidence and boldness in evangelism and please bring revival in our city – and in our region – which would impact the world. In Jesus' name, Amen.