The First Fruits of the Harvest

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Spirit, the Counselor, and the Gospel of John 15–16

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, chapter 15, verses 26 -27, and then chapter 16, verses 4 -15. When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.

And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. Now I am going to Him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, where are you going? Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.

But I tell you the truth, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.

In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me. In regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer. And in regard to judgment, because the Prince of this world now stands condemned.

I have much to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own. He will speak only what He hears. And He will tell you what is yet to come.

He will bring joy to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

This is the Gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Pentecost. The word itself, pentecost, is derived from the Greek word pentecoste. It means 50th. And it stood for the festival celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover.

So you've got seven weeks. That's 49 plus 1, right? In the Old Testament, this festival called Shavuoth, that's the Feast of Weeks, is referred to in Scripture in Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 16 as that, exactly, the Feast of Weeks, because it occurs seven weeks after the Passover.

Other names include, from Exodus 23, the Feast of Harvest, because of its relationship with the harvest season, and the Day of Firstfruits, in Numbers 28, because two loaves of newly ground grain were presented before the Lord.

This latter name, however, should be distinguished from the offering of the firstfruits at the beginning of the harvest season, as mentioned in Leviticus 23. It seems rather technical, but here's the idea.

When we read the Old Testament, the Old Testament is types and shadows. The fulfillment is Christ in the New Testament. So, think of it this way. The Feast of Weeks, which is the Day of Pentecost, was one of the three Old Testament pilgrimage festivals where individuals were commanded by none other than Yahweh Himself to appear before the Lord with gifts and offerings.

So there's three times you have to appear before the Lord if you were a Jew in the Old Covenant. Passover, Feast of Weeks, and then, of course, the Day of Atonement. The festival was primarily a harvest festival and celebrated the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the winter wheat harvest.

Harvest is a big deal. So as we look at Pentecost, think of its Old Testament significance that what we are seeing on the Day of Pentecost is the first fruits of the harvest. That's what we're seeing.

The Day of Pentecost and the Miraculous Gift of Tongues

And so we return to our text in the book of Acts. Acts 2. It says this, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place, and suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind here comes the Holy Spirit, came from heaven, filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. We've got to be careful. There's a lot of abuse today in Pentecostal churches regarding the gift of tongues.

What passes for the gift of tongues in many churches is not the gift of tongues at all. It's utter gibberish. What this text is saying is that people who had never taken a Berlitz course, never studied the Rosetta Stone software, were able to miraculously be able to speak in languages that they had never studied.

And they were Galilean fishermen to boot. So, we're talking about other languages. Now, the fire of the Holy Spirit comes and fire falls on them. This hearkens back to Moses and the burning bush. When the fire burned, the bush was not consumed by the fire and God spoke.

So, now the burning bush is not a bush. The burning bush literally are human beings. The Spirit coming and consuming them but not consuming them. And so, when they speak, they are not speaking on their own.

The burning bush now is the apostles speaking forth the Word of God, a word of deliverance from slavery, much like Moses gave. And the text then says this. Now that we're staying in Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from every nation, they were commanded by God to be there.

That's why they were there. So this is a good place to kick off the church, if you would. The beginning of the first fruits of the harvest. And when they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

Utterly amazed, they asked, are not these men who are speaking Galileans? You can kind of read the subtext here. These guys are kind of like unschooled, unlettered dudes. They're a bunch of rednecks. How are they able to do this?

Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own language? Parthenians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. They're hearing the Gospel. The wonders of God. They're hearing proclaimed in their ears in their own language that God raised Jesus from the grave.

They're hearing them being called to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah for the forgiveness of their sins. And they're wondering how this is. A bunch of rednecks are the ones preaching it.

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, what does this mean? So on the day of Pentecost, Jesus' apostles, His disciples, and those who were baptized, they were baptized with fire and with power.

And they were not consumed by the fire of God. And God spoke through them in a way kind of reversing the curse of the Tower of Babel. The Spirit speaks to the disciples. The people from around the world gathered in Jerusalem hear the Gospel proclaimed in their own languages.

And this was not meaningless gibberish. These were known human languages. But human beings being what human beings are, whenever we see the miraculous among us, we have to come up with an explanation for it, a reasonable way of kind of brushing it aside.

Clearly what is happening and taking place before their very eyes is a miracle. But human reason being what human reasoning is, we've got to figure out a way to get rid of that. So the plausible explanation was put forward.

Some, however, made fun of them and said they have had too much wine. We've got to find a way to explain this. Clearly these Galileans are drunk. Now, I don't know about you, but if you've had a little bit too much wine, you not only do not learn how to speak fluently other languages, you begin to struggle with the one that you have.

Right? You start to slur your words and things like that. Yeah. Anyway, it's not wine. Okay? This is not a plausible explanation. But notice how our sinful nature is. And this is what our sinful nature does when it comes to things like baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Water can't wash away sins. Of course it can't, silly. It's water and the Word of God. Stop trying to explain it away with your reason. Christ can't truly be up in heaven at the right hand of the Father and truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine when we take communion.

That's not possible. How do you know it's not possible? Who made you God? Jesus said, take, eat. This is my body. Take, drink. This is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. So notice how human reason tries to explain away what God is doing, right?

Peter Explains the Pentecost Miracle with Joel

So Peter, getting control of the situation, stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and he addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Pay attention.

This is an apostolic, inspired by the Holy Spirit, explanation of the events that are taking place. And see, that's the thing, is that when it comes to Scripture, it has a lot of history in it. But if God had not revealed to us the theology of the historical events, how would we know what they mean theologically and doctrinally, right?

So Peter stands up and he's going to explain all this. Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain. Listen carefully to what I say. Very important words. Listen carefully. Pay attention.

God is speaking. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. Let's just get that out of the way. It's only nine in the morning. Even we Galileans don't drink this early in the day. That's kind of what he's saying, right?

He says, no, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel in the last days. God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.

Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days and they will prophesy. I will show you wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Now, lest you forget, here Peter is saying, this is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel.

And you might be tempted to think, well, when was the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood? Wouldn't we have noted that? Were you not paying attention on Holy Week, on Good Friday, when Christ was crucified?

At noon, it says, the sun was darkened and the moon did not give its light. It was an eclipse of all eclipses, even recorded in ancient history in Rome and in China, this event. People noted it. A very dark and terrible day.

And when that happens, is that not a sign of God's judgment? Think of the darkness that befell Egypt and Pharaoh when they refused to let the people of God go. It was a darkness that could be felt, remember?

This is a sign of God's judgment. And truly, Christ was judged. God found Him guilty. Found Him to be the sinner. And you say, how is that possible? He was completely sinless. Oh, it's real simple. God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Each and every one of us, born dead in trespasses and sins. Our sin was put on Christ and was punished. Down to the dregs. And so it was such a terrible and dark event that not even the sun could give its light.

And so all of these people there at the day of Pentecost, just seven weeks ago, they remember that day of utter darkness and the strange things that were taking place. And so here Peter, by the Holy Spirit, with the fire on him that isn't consuming him, and now God is speaking and saying this is what was fulfilled by the prophet Joel.

And you remember when the sun was darkened and the moon was turned to blood. It just happened seven weeks ago. So truly this was fulfilled. The sun will be turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And here's the kicker. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. No one is excluded. Call on the name of the Lord. Today is the day of salvation. Trust in Him. Believe. Repent of your sins and your wickedness.

Put away your idolatry. Put away your adulteries. Put away your lies. Put away your slander. Stop coveting your neighbor's stuff. I don't care if he has a red tractor. Right? Put it all away. Repent. There is forgiveness being offered this day.

The Holy Spirit Convicts the World and Raises the Dead

And this is what Jesus said. The Holy Spirit has come. And remember in our Gospel text, what did Jesus say the Spirit would do? This is important. How do you know the Spirit is working among us? There are churches today, sadly, who think that the Spirit is working when people fall on the ground and writhe looking like they are being electrocuted to death.

Or when supposedly the Spirit comes upon them and they start barking like dogs or laughing uncontrollably. These are not manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said when He, the Spirit, comes, He will convict the world of sin and guilt and unrighteousness and judgment.

How do you know the Spirit is working among us? When God's law convicts us of our sin. When God's Word convicts us of our own unbelief. And when we're comforted with the assurance that Christ has bled and died for our sins and called to repent and believe.

That's how we know the Spirit is working because that's what Jesus said. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe in Me.

In regard to righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe in Me. In regard to righteousness because I'm going to the Father where you can see Me no longer. And in regard to judgment because...

Now pay attention to this. Listen to these words. Because the Prince of this world now stands condemned. Jesus didn't say you stand condemned. He said the Holy Spirit would convict the world of judgment because the Prince of this world now stands condemned.

That's not you and me. That's the devil. The one whom we were born in bondage to. He now stands condemned. He's overthrown. His power has been brought to naught. He can no longer hold you in slavery. Now think back to our Old Testament text.

Two ways to read this. We'll read it both ways. So it's the day of Pentecost. Take what you're listening here and think of now Peter is Ezekiel. The Holy Spirit has come. People can hear it. But you know what?

They're dead in trespasses and sins. They are literally a valley of dry bones. So listen to the preaching. The hand of the Lord was upon me, Ezekiel said, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley.

It was full of bones. That's right. Every single human being descended from Adam and Eve through the natural way is born dead in trespasses and sins. When you go to the store, you are among the walking dead.

Literally. So He set me in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them. And I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley. Bones that were dry. And He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live?

Seems like a difficult question for a human. So Ezekiel cops out. Oh Lord, You know. The answer is yes, by the way. So then the Lord said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.

Yeah, that's right. Dry bones can actually hear God's Word. Did the darkness not hear the Word of the Lord on the first day of creation when God said, let there be light? Does darkness have ears? Not that I'm aware of.

Having an ear doesn't make it possible for you to hear. There are many people who have ears who do not hear. Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones. I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.

I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. And then you will know that I am the Lord. And while He was preaching this, did not God raise to life these dry, dead bones?

The Promise of Resurrection, New Creation, and Salvation for All Who Call on the Lord

Now next week, Trinity Sunday, we'll hear Peter's sermon. And in that sermon, we will see how God raised to life those who were so dead in trespasses and sins, they were the very ones who crucified Christ.

They were the ones shouting, crucify Him, right? They were so dead, they crucified the Lord. And yet, that's the thing. The power of the Word of the Lord is so remarkable. God's Word never returns to Him void.

Never. And so while Peter was preaching to the valley of dry bones, God raised them to life. And we will hear next week that they were brought to penitent faith and they were baptized and their sins were washed away and God made them new.

Fulfilling His promise, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Every one of them. And we are here this morning, hearing the preaching of the Apostle Peter. He's not here physically, but I've taken his words into my mouth and they are the words inspired by God the Holy Spirit.

He spoke by the Lord and so today I'm giving a living voice. Consumed by the Holy Spirit but not destroyed, God is now speaking through me to you to trust, to believe, to have faith. Believe these words.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Me, you, anybody whom Christ would call to Himself. And when that happens, when anybody trusts in Christ, they have been truly brought from death to life.

And that's just the beginning. Because the other way to read Ezekiel is to understand that this also is pointing very realistically, ultimately to our real resurrection. Those of you who are members of Kongsvinger, if you should die before Christ returns and you join us each Sunday from out there, never worry.

There will be a day when Christ returns in glory and He will, with a shout and the trumpet of the angel, declare the end of the age and He will call you from your grave and that grave that had held you for however many years you were there will have no choice but to release you and you will be alive again forever with Him.

This is what it means to be saved. Not facing the penalty of our sins because Christ has bled and died for them and being called from our graves and we will know that the Lord has spoken it. Our eyes, the very eyes that you have today, right now, they will see Jesus and He will not be angry with you and you will rejoice on that great day.

We will hug each other. We will cry tears of joy. We will be gathered together with Him in the clouds. The earth will pass away. This universe will die. And then He will make a new heavens and a new earth.

And God's dwelling place will be with men. This is the promise that the Holy Spirit has told the apostles to proclaim to you that Christ is risen. He is conquered. The ruler of this world. The devil stands condemned.

He's defeated. Come out of slavery. Repent. Believe. Trust. Call on the name of the Lord. There is only mercy and forgiveness. And you will be saved. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax-free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744. And again that address is Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744.

We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again, thank you for listening.