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Sunnyside Baptist Church "Pentacost: Signs of New Wine" Acts 2:1-13
Here to worship together this morning at Sunnyside Baptist Church. We'll start off this morning with a few announcements as you're finding your seats. Come back tonight for our evening service at 5 .30.
Then looking ahead to this Wednesday, we'll have our meal at 5 .45, but it's also going to be our children's summer choir program called Pass the Promise. Mrs. B got with me right before the service and she just wanted to say because it's going to be in the fellowship hall and because of micing issues of the choir, it's not going to be officially live streamed by the church.
But if there's anybody who wants to take that on as their ministry to set something up and maybe do it more professionally so we don't have a dozen tripods in the fellowship hall, get with Mrs. B and they'll try and coordinate that a little bit there.
Looking ahead to this Friday for the young adults in the room, Truth Group is going to be at the Barnett's home, kind of an end of summer celebration that's going to be in the evening this Friday. Looking ahead to next Sunday, the last day of July, we'll have the Lord's Supper in the morning.
Then in the evening service in lieu of being here at the church, it's going to be flock group time. So if you haven't heard from your elder that is over you or your particular small group, get with them or they will seek you out and let you know what the plan for your flock group is going to be.
Also, Saturday, August 6th, as we get into that month, Mugs and Muffins is returning. That's going to be at James and Jana Brown's house in the morning starting at 10 AM. So that's for you ladies to attend and enjoy that time.
One other quick announcement regarding Operation Christmas Child. We're still continuing to collect those things. Now's a good time to look at some sales that might be going on for summer lightweight clothing or flip-flops or other things.
We still have that donation box out in the foyer for you to give to. If you have any questions regarding that, you can speak to Jill Smoot. Any other announcements? Yes, sir. Okay. Next Sunday will be the official ordination of Ryan Mounts as an elder in the body of Sunnyside and we are looking forward to that for sure.
All right. This week's fighter verse comes from the Psalms, Psalm 91. Everybody seeks security in their life, but it matters who we get that from. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
We find security when we trust in the Lord. We're going to prepare our hearts for worship this morning, and then at the conclusion of that, dad will come up and open us in prayer.
Almighty God, gracious Father, we come before you this morning to give you thanks. Thank you for sustaining us through this week. So we look back on all the high temperatures and lack of rain. You continue to provide and to sustain us.
So Lord, we have much in our lives for which we can give you thanks. May we be mindful of all your blessings and give you praise for your goodness. Lord, I'm mindful too the fact that for many of us, we find ourselves at times for various reasons, feeling distress and fear and anxiety and worry.
How grateful we are that in our distress, you give us the blessing of being able to cry out to you and that you hear us and you answer us in our cries for help. Lord, we confess to you this morning that we, in many ways, are a deceitful people.
We deceive others. We speak unfaithfully and untruthfully about you. Lord, I pray that you would pierce our lying tongues, redeem our speech, so that we might this morning, from the fruit of our lips, offer you genuine worship that praises your name and declares your faithfulness.
Lord Jesus, thank you for being to us the Prince of Peace. We look to you and are grateful for your mercy, your grace, the forgiveness that is ours, not because of any goodness in us, but because of your perfect righteousness.
We pray today that you would help us to offer up to you a sacrifice of praise. Encourage our hearts. May we be an encouragement to others today in our worship. Give us ears to hear your word. Strengthen us, Lord, to do your will.
Thank you again for your goodness and mercy. In Jesus' name, amen.
Would you stand with me for our call to worship this morning? We're continuing our reading of Psalms chapter 78. Today we'll be reading verses 59 to 64. Read with me together. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.
He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.
Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage sung. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made lamentation. So if you would, turn to your Psalms for Worship hymnal to page 78i, and we'll be singing the section that follows what we just read.
Verses, in the hymnal, it's verse 25 to 28. Jesus shall reign where 'er the sun.
I'll be reading from Isaiah 29, 17 through 24, out of the ESV version. Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruit fulfilled, and the fruit fulfilled shall be regarded as a forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the ruthless shall come to nothing, and the scoffers cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off. And who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right?
Therefore thus says the Lord, Who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob? Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. For when he sees his children, the work of my hands and his mitts, they will sanctify my name.
They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instructions. Join me in prayer, please.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being the God that you are. Thank you for fulfilling your promises and bringing the ruthless to nothing and bringing us to understanding your instruction and accepting it, Lord.
I pray that today you will bless the reading of the word and that we will understand the instruction and accept it, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
You may be seated. Our next song is on page 291 of our regular hymnal, O Breath of Life. It's really especially speaking to my heart the last few days, and it's called Holy Spirit. I think there might have been a handout in the back.
Each verse of this song is like a sermon preaching from God's word. It called me to think of Apostle Paul in Romans, chapters 7 and 8, where he's talking about the war as a Christian and the war within us.
Each day we're fighting our flesh, our fallen flesh, but yet our spirit has been renewed because of Christ. He says, For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind.
Who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Also, For the law of the spirit, chapter 8, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
And then, verse 6, For to be calmly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Whereas another translation puts it, For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
So sing with us together. We'll sing all three verses of Holy Spirit.
Together in prayer. Father, I thank you for gathering us together today and we praise you for your faithfulness. How you show your faithfulness time and again in new mercies every day. We thank you for hearing our prayers and answering them, for being a Heavenly Father to us as we are adopted in your Son and blessed by your Holy Spirit by whom we know that we are your children and you are our Father.
We ask that you would guide us now through the truth of your word that we would be greatly blessed by its authority and its truth, by the eternal vigor that you have placed here in the very words that you have ordained.
As you instruct us concerning your Son, Jesus Christ, by whom and through whom and for whom are all things. So we ask this morning as we read this text together and as we look to rejoice in Christ that you would shape us by your word, that you would nourish us by your word, that you would lead us in worship, that we would worship you and that in worshiping you that we would be the amen on earth of your will that is declared from heaven.
And we pray all these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, the one in whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. We'll be reading verses 1 through 13 this morning.
Acts chapter 2. And we'll read verses 1 through 13. Beginning the second chapter of the book of Acts, we're going to be looking at the day of Pentecost. What an important day in the history of the world.
What an important day, long promised by the prophets of the old covenant, promised by Christ himself and how it has come about in history, preserved for us here in Acts chapter 2. What it means for us as Christians.
What it means for us as the church. What a vital portion of God's word. So we're going to be looking at Pentecost. Pentecost. In the first 13 verses we're going to see signs of new wine. The signs of new wine on the day of Pentecost.
Now in Acts chapter 1, we've been dealing with the foundational themes of the book of Acts. The gospel of the kingdom. And to understand the good news about the kingdom, all we must do is look at the king.
Who he is.
What has he accomplished. What has he promised.
What he continues to do.
What he will accomplish. So in order to understand the gospel of the kingdom,.
The kingdom of heaven,.
The kingdom of God, we must simply pay attention to the king and see what he does. He has promised his apostles. He has promised his church. The Holy Spirit. Even as he has declared that they will be his witnesses to all men, women and children from every tribe, tongue, people, the nation.
To declare the good news of his authority and his salvation. He's told them to wait. Before you go, wait. They are to wait upon the Lord. And indeed they did. And they prayed. And they prayed for the promise of the Father.
The promise of the Son. Which was no one less than the person of the Holy Spirit. For they needed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit. To do the work of Christ, the anointed one.
And so they prayed and they prepared. And they saw from the scriptures that they had a need. One of the apostles had betrayed Jesus. They were down to 11. And they saw significance in the 12. The number 12 that Christ had appointed.
And they went to the word. And they studied the word in light of who Jesus Christ is. And they applied the word to their situation. And saw that they were to appoint another one to take the office of the betrayer.
And so they followed through.
They've been praying. They've been preparing.
And now the day has come. Pentecost has arrived. And the promised Holy Spirit will come in a special way. Signifying the realities. Indeed the superiority of the new covenant. Let's read the word together.
I invite you to stand with me. I'm going to be reading Acts 2 verses 1 through 13. Here is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his Holy Spirit through his servant Luke. When the day of Pentecost had fully come.
They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven. As of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire.
And one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak with other tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance. And they were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
And when the sound occurred. The multitude came together and were confused. Because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled. Saying to one another. Look are not all these who speak Galileans?
And how is it that we hear each in our own language. In which we were born. Parthians and Medes and Elamites. Those dwelling in Mesopotamia. Judea and Cappadocia. Pontus and Asia. Phrygia and Pamphylia.
Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene. Visitors from Rome. Both Jews and proselytes. Cretans and Arabs. We hear them speaking in our own tongues. The wonderful works of God. So they were all amazed and perplexed.
Saying to one another. Whatever could this mean? Others mocking said. They are full of new wine. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. The waiting has turned to wonder. Children have to wait a lot.
Waiting seems to be the constant theme of their existence. They have to wait for the good thing that was promised. Again and again. Summer has a lot of waiting involved. You have to wait all day long.
Through the heat. For that long summer sun. That stays up far too long. To finally set. To get the dark tapestry you need. For those fireworks. Fourth of July is a long day to wait. For the main event.
Of course there is also. I have a memory in the summer. Of going with my family and folks from the church. To the drive-in theater. And you had to wait. And wait. For the light to finally get dark enough.
So you could see the movie on the screen.
Again.
In summer there is the wait. The wait until finally. The countdown of the months and the weeks and the days. Until finally. Summer vacation arrives. And the family gets to go on their trip. There has been a lot of waiting.
Waiting for the apostles and the disciples of Christ. But it wasn't just them waiting. It was many others who were waiting. You remember folks like Anna and Simeon. Who had been waiting. You think of others who had been waiting.
During the 400 years of silence. When the word of God stopped coming after Malachi. Those who were waiting. Waiting in the post-exile period. For God to keep his promises. All throughout the scriptures.
We keep seeing people waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting for the promises of God to be given to them. Even Abraham waited and waited. And even after he received the promised son Isaac. We find him according to the book of Hebrews. Still waiting and looking for that which God had promised.
When we come to the day of Pentecost. In so many different ways. Especially after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And his ascension to the right hand of the Father. Here at the day of Pentecost.
We have an end to a whole lot of waiting. And the waiting turns to wonder. And Acts chapter 2. And I hope we will appreciate this as we move through the text. But Acts chapter 2 is jam packed full. Of the Old Testament images.
Associated with the promises of the new covenant. There is so much Old Testament freight. Jam packed into Acts chapter 2. The waiting turns to wonder. To wonder. By God's sovereign grace. The prayerful preparation of Christ's followers.
Now turns into powerful proclamation. The advent of the Spirit. Signals the advance of the kingdom. We see this very clearly in Acts 2 verses 1 through 13. The advent of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit showing up in that particularly promised new covenant way.
The Holy Spirit had always existed in eternal fellowship with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit had been active, active throughout the entirety of the old covenant. But now he comes in that promised new covenant way.
And that advent of the Holy Spirit signals the advance of the kingdom. This will not be a showing up that keeps everything the same. This is a showing up that makes everything change. There will be no sitting back, holding fast.
There's going to be a rapid advance outward. Such is the impact of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. This morning we want to look at the manifestations of the Spirit's advent. What are the signs that show he has really arrived?
We also want to look at the marvels of the Spirit's advent. Just why do we read that the crowd was amazed and startled and at their wit's end beholding all of this wonder? And then briefly considering the meaning of the Spirit's advent as Peter will elaborate on that a great deal.
But we will consider in brief the meaning of the Spirit's advent in verses 12 through 13. So first of all, verses 1 through 4, the manifestations of the Spirit's advent. Let's listen to those verses again.
Verse 1 says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
They were all there in one accord, we read. Who are the they? Who is there? Remember that Luke did not neatly divide his writing into different chapters. A later help for readers of the Bible. So just go back to the previous verse.
Verse 26, and they cast their lots. Verse 26, chapter 1, they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Numbered with the 11 apostles. And so we have Matthias and the 11.
We have the 12 apostles. Later on in verse 14, we read, but Peter standing with the 11. So Peter and the 11. And again, the 12, raised his voice and said to them, and begins to explain, Oh, what does this mean that the Holy Spirit has arrived?
A little bit later on in verse 37. Now when they heard this, when the crowd heard the sermon of Peter on Pentecost, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
There is a focus here upon the apostles. Now it is not a focus that is exclusive in the sense that only the apostles received the Holy Spirit. It is not an exclusive focus on the apostles to say that only the apostles received empowering gifts.
We would be remiss to interpret the text in that way, especially when Peter's proclamation of the gospel and the benefits of salvation include receiving the Holy Spirit. But there is a focus upon the 12 apostles in that they are indeed Jesus' authorized ambassadors, the representatives of the kingdom.
And so there is a focus upon the apostles in this text. And so we need to recognize that without making it somehow programmatic that nobody else gets the Holy Spirit. Just as when we read through the rest of the text, we're also going to be carefully reading this baptism of the Holy Spirit in light of the other passages in the Bible, which tell us what it's really about.
Now we have an audible sign in the text, two audible signs. First, the sound of a roaring wind. The second, the utterance of other languages. We also have a visible sign in the text. We have tongues of fire dividing out and being placed upon the heads of the apostles.
So what does this all mean? First of all, wind. In fact, it's actually, you'll notice, there came a sound from heaven. Remember that Christ has ascended to heaven. He has promised to send the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. And so the sound comes from heaven, reminding us the Holy Spirit is sent from heaven as a gift from the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. This is an act in the book of Acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. And so it's the sound of a storm. When the wind blows so hard that it roars. That's the idea here. And we see that it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
And so they were inside of a house and it fills the house. The sound, the sign of the Holy Spirit's arrival, fills the entirety of the house. In other words, if the sound were water, they were underwater.
Hence the language of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire. This is the visible sign. And the idea is that there is fire, which then divides into tongues.
And the tongues of fire point not at their hands or their feet, but upon their heads. Which, of course, throughout the scripture is the sign of anointing. We've already discussed how important it is that the followers of Christ, the anointed one, have his same anointing for the work that he has called for them to do.
Why are these the first two signs, the first two manifestations of the Spirit's advent? The symbol of wind makes a lot of sense. The first time we hear about the Holy Spirit in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
The Hebrew term envisions the kind of action that a large bird would make over its nest as it comes in for a landing, flapping its wings and stirring things up. Imagine dust flying up as the bird comes in for a landing.
It is that Hebrew word that describes the Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the water. So we immediately get the sense of moving air from the very beginning. And then when we hear about the creation of man, how God breathed into man the breath of life, again we are confronted with the power of the Holy Spirit giving life to man in the very first place.
And this is confirmed as we read even in the Psalms, that it is the Spirit of God who gives life, that gives breath to all creatures. So it makes sense that we're looking at wind and breath in Acts 17 .25.
The very same word that we have here for wind is used in Acts 17 for breath. And it is the Creator who gives His Spirit as breath. He's the giver of life. But it also makes sense that the Holy Spirit is manifested in the sign of wind.
And in this case it is the sound of a wind. Now when we go over to John chapter 3, remember that Jesus was proclaiming the gospel to one of the most credentialed stewards of the Old Covenant in His day.
Nicodemus. Nicodemus was one of the most educated, respected men in all of the hierarchy of the Old Covenant. And Jesus speaks to him. And Jesus comes, of course, as the mediator of a new covenant. And He says to Nicodemus, unless you are born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God.
This is news to Nicodemus who thought he grew up in the kingdom. Had all the manifestations around him. The temple, the city, the sacrifices, the priesthood, and so on. And Jesus is saying, unless you're born again, you can't even see the kingdom of God.
And Nicodemus wants to know how this happens. And Jesus simply says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Very important distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
You enter the Old Covenant by being born of the flesh. You enter into the New Covenant by being born of the spirit. And Jesus says that being born of the spirit is not something that you engineer. He says, the wind blows where it wishes, John 3 .8.
And you hear the sound of it. You hear the sound of it. What happens at Pentecost? They heard the sound of the wind. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it. But cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.
So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Meaning the Holy Spirit, He is sovereign. He is active. He is not a formula. He is not a force. He is the third person of the Godhead. And where He wishes, He goes.
And where He goes, it is like you hear the sound of the wind. But you do not control Him. He is sovereign. And by the grace of God, we see people being born of the spirit. And this is the entry into the kingdom.
This is the entry in to the New Covenant. Now why would Jesus use this particular expression? The wind. Being born of the spirit. Well this is rooted in New Covenant passage of Ezekiel 37. In Ezekiel chapter 37, there is a vision.
Where Ezekiel, if you remember, Ezekiel lives during a time when Jerusalem has been overthrown. He was put into exile. And Ezekiel is out in Babylon preaching to the exiles. That Jerusalem will fall and it fell.
And that it will be rebuilt in a special way. He preaches the hopes of the New Covenant. And Ezekiel receives a vision. There is a valley of dry bones. It is a picture of the dead. The dead who died under the judgment of God.
So horrific was their death. That nobody had time to bury them. In fact, their bodies were laid in an open mass grave throughout a valley. And these bodies laid there and they rotted. And they were fed upon by all manner of carrion.
And their bones eventually were picked clean and scattered all over this valley. And it is the most horrific scene. One of the most horrific scenes that we find in the scriptures. And God says to Ezekiel, Son of man, can these bones live?
And Ezekiel wisely, unjobelike, says, Oh Lord, you know. I am not going to speak about this. You are the authority. Oh Lord, you know. And then God tells Ezekiel to preach to the dry bones. To proclaim the truths of God's word to the dry bones.
And Ezekiel preaches and he preaches to these dry bones. And they begin to come back together. The proper bones to their proper connections. And upon them begin to come the ligaments and the sinews, the muscles and the skin.
Until the valley is filled once again yet with dead men. Naked in their shame.
Dead.
And so the question was, Oh son of man, can these bones live? And Ezekiel said, Lord you know. And he was instructed to preach. And he preached. And he preached. And he proclaimed. But you see that all that happened was that the nakedness and the shame and the identities of those under the judgment of God simply became more clear.
By the preaching of God's word, that which was chaos and muddled and confusing. Everyone knows it's bad, a valley full of dry bones. But now, now all the bones are put back together. And now the skin is back on them.
Now you can tell who they were. But they're naked in their shame. The word of God simply made the shamefulness of their judgment more clear. But they're still dead. So now what? Now we come to the passage.
Verse 9 of Ezekiel 37. Also he said to me, prophesy to the breath, to the ruach, to the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me. And breath came into them and they lived. Just like it was Adam when he was created. It was the breath of life that was put in him that made him a living soul. So I prophesied as he commanded me.
And breath came into them and they lived. And they stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army. This is explained. God explains the prophetic metaphor. He explains the vision when he makes this promise.
In verse 14 he says, I will put my spirit in you. And you shall live. And I will place you in your own land. And then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and performed it. So God promises the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Of course it would be most helpful to read Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37 together. To hear that this is indeed the promises of the new covenant. But the promise of the new covenant very much so comes down to this gift of the Holy Spirit.
The critical change between the old covenant and the new. That all that would be a part of the new covenant would be born of the spirit. Not simply of the flesh. And so when we have this metaphor of the wind.
Prophesied to the breath. Prophesied to the winds. That the wind will come and make them live. This is exactly what we have on the day of Pentecost. A sign that clarifies from old covenant promises about the new covenant.
Definitionally when the Holy Spirit arrives it is as the wind. It is as the breath that makes dead men live again. And that's what we're having happen here at Pentecost. It is a sign of the new covenant according to the elements promised in the Old Testament.
That which was to come. But what about the fire? Now the fire was also promised. We have here a symbol of fire divided into tongues. There is a sense that there is a stream of fire, a column of fire coming down.
And then dividing off into individual tongues of fire. Each one pointing down to the head of one of the apostles. We are reminded of the plentitude of the Holy Spirit. The scene of the fire of the Holy Spirit before the throne of God.
And the plentitude of the Holy Spirit for all those who are in Christ. We are reminded of the river of life flowing from the throne. A plentitude for everyone who was born again. We're also reminded from Acts chapter 1 verse 5 that Jesus told his followers specifically.
He told his disciples specifically to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. Which you have heard from me he says in verse 5. He says for John to be baptized with water. But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Not many days from now. He says, remember what John the Baptist said? What did John the Baptist say in Luke 3 verse 16? He said the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. John the Baptist is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.
But one greater than John the Baptist has come. And John promised that Christ would baptize his own people with the Holy Spirit and fire. And the construction in the original Holy Spirit and fire under the same definite article.
They come together. So here it is. On the day of Pentecost. The sign that the Holy Spirit has arrived in the promised way. And the apostles are baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. And we're going to come back to this sound of the wind.
We're going to come back to this emblem of fire in a moment. So don't forget about them. But what's the third sign? The third sign is utterance. The third sign is utterance. We read in verse 4 that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Do you remember Ezekiel proclaiming to the Valley of Dry Bones? What was he told to do? Preach. That's what he was told to do.
Preach.
Preach to the dry bones. Preach to the dead. And watch God make them alive. And so, the disciples, the apostles are given utterance. It's the Spirit who brings the wind and the fire. The breath and the life.
The roar and the heat of preaching. Of proclamation. And this is in accordance with what was anticipated in the Old Testament. In Numbers chapter 11 we find Moses. Verse 24. Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord.
And he gathered the 70 men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. And this is very interesting.
Listen to this.
The Lord took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and placed the same upon the 70 elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them that they prophesied. Meaning they declared the truth of God to the people.
Although they never did so again. But two men had remained in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad and the other name Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed but who had not gone out to the tabernacle.
Yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. So Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men answered and said, Moses, my Lord, forbid them.
And Moses said to him, Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, listen to this. Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and the Lord will put his Spirit upon them. A theme that Joel picks up. And a theme that Peter preaches in the following passage here in the book of Acts.
Well, they were given utterance. And the Spirit shows up, there's wind and fire and the truth of God.
But what is this?
What is this significance? Why these manifestations at this time? What time was it? It was Pentecost. Fifty days after Passover.
Seven weeks.
Seven sets of seven. And then comes a fiftieth day. A kind of jubilee. Wherein a feast called the Feast of the Firstfruits was held. You can read about the Feast of the Firstfruits in the Old Testament.
And this was called the day of Pentecost here in the New Testament. And on this day of firstfruits, the Holy Spirit shows up. Is this not, is this not the people of God beginning to reap exactly what Christ has sown?
And the firstfruits of the new covenant is simply what? Receiving the Holy Spirit. And so on this day of jubilee, of freedom. As we reflect upon what goes on here. Do you know that Pentecost? That the Feast of Firstfruits is the anniversary of God giving the law to Moses?
There at Mount Sinai, what occurred? On Mount Sinai, when the giving of the law. Was there not the roar of wind upon the mountain as the storm came down? Was there not fire upon the mountain at Pentecost?
On the day of the firstfruits. On the giving of the law in the old covenant. And what goes on here at the giving of the law? As God gives to His people from heaven. He gives to His people from heaven via His mediator, the law.
And what happens in the new covenant? At Pentecost, with storm and fire. The Holy Spirit is given by His mediator to the people of the new covenant. That is the significance of the details being preserved here inherently.
By Christ's servant, Luke. This is a signification of the fact that something new has come. And the new covenant is fulfilling the old, but in a superior fashion. Whereas in the old covenant, the Spirit rested upon the elders to prophesy, but only once.
In the new covenant, the Spirit comes and stays and anoints the people of God. So they serve in all the manner of Christ, following after Christ. Including the proclamation of the truth of God continually by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we go back and we read Ezekiel 36 and we read Jeremiah 31. We are told that God comes and makes a new covenant. Will come and make a new covenant with His people. That He will take out the hearts of stone and He will put in a heart of flesh.
And that upon the heart of flesh, God's law will be written. That He will send forth His Spirit to gather in His people and make them new. What's happening here at Pentecost? Is the Holy Spirit arrives by signs that have been established in the old covenant.
As significant of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. And what we have here is Pentecost. On the anniversary of the giving of the law in the old covenant. We have the giving of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant.
What is the contrast that Paul continually deals with in his letters? The liberty that we have in the Spirit over the condemnation that exists in the law. Living by the Spirit now, rather than by the law.
How the law has been fulfilled in Christ. And He has given us of His Holy Spirit. Isn't that not the tension that time and again Paul is talking about, but showing how it's resolved in Christ. The new covenant law, in the new covenant, the law or righteousness or submission to the Lord is written upon new hearts.
Rather than externally in stone. You see the difference, you even see the difference in Ezekiel. In Ezekiel in the story of the dry bones, what goes on there. When Ezekiel preaches and proclaims the truth of God's word to the dry bones, what happens?
They get themselves organized, they get rightly connected, and everybody gets outed for who they really are. But that is the extent of what the old covenant can do. The old covenant can only expose exactly our shame and our need for a Savior.
But what's different in the new covenant is the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the way so that every single member of the new covenant is alive. In the old covenant, you had a remnant who were alive spiritually, but you got in simply by being born of Abraham and being circumcised.
But in the new covenant, every single member of the new covenant is one who's been made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we've talked about, Christ is building something. Christ is building something.
He's building a city. He is building a temple. He is building something. He is working on something. And it is good to remember the words from Zechariah 4 .6. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
A foreshadowing that the work of God must be done according to the provision of God. What Christ builds has to be done by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it's not going to be something where we bring about the realities of the new covenant and advance the kingdom of God simply because we're better organized and we have more resources and we're smarter than everybody else.
We can't bring about the kingdom of God and advance the kingdom of Christ by organizing ourselves really, really well in terms of infrastructure and politics and education. This is not going to achieve the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.
It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the kingdom of Christ advances to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation so that the knowledge of God, the glory of the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Not by our might, not by our power, but by the Holy Spirit. And that is at the very beginning of the church, at the very beginning of how Christ commissions His followers, His apostles, He says, it's got to be by the Holy Spirit.
It's not by the flesh. Now let's consider the marvels of the Spirit's advent. This was very ear-arresting and eye-catching in verses 5 through 7. And they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
The sound, the sound of the roar of the wind arrested everyone's attention. They began to come together around this sound, and then they heard other sounds, the utterances of languages that they had known from their childhood.
And they marveled. They marveled. Look, look at the sounds. These are languages that they can understand. This is why they're marveling. These are languages that they could understand. They're not marveling because there was a cacophony of meaningless sounds.
They're marveling because of the lack of chaos. All their lives, having grown up in these various disparate areas, they had the language that they grew up with in their selective region, the heart language, the tribal language that they knew growing up, the dialect that they knew best from their mom and their grandma.
And then they had to learn the trade language of Koine Greek, of Common Greek, and they'd have to learn some snatches of Aramaic and some snatches of Latin in order to function in the Roman Empire. But now, here they are gathered in Jerusalem, and suddenly, the confusion which always attends trying to listen and talk in a language that is not your native language, gone.
Now, they hear crystal clear the declarations of the marvelous works of God in their own languages that they know best, coming from people that are speaking with a thick Galilean accent. We don't know what the Galilean accent sounded like, but it's probably something akin to the Deep South or Fargo, North Dakota.
It's something very distinct. For even Peter was picked out of the crowd the night of Jesus' trial for having the Galilean accent. It was distinctive. And you know how people feel sometimes when you try to speak their heart language in your accent?
And they could tell that these were Galileans when they were marveling that they were speaking a plethora of languages. Now, note in the text, it was as the Spirit gave them utterance. It wasn't because that they had learned it on their own, but it was only as the Spirit had given them utterance that they speak these languages, they declare the marvelous works of God, and those present were in wonder at this miracle.
When we read about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, we discover that the Holy Spirit has a variety of gifts that He gives to His people. We also discover that He is free and at liberty in His sovereign will to gift according to how He desires.
So any kind of rubric that we would try to impose upon the Holy Spirit and say, well, the Holy Spirit is only present and active when only certain gifts are present, is simply to deny Him the honor of His true personhood and freedom and divinity and authority.
When we read about the different gifts, we see that they're all for the edification of the church to the glory of Christ. And there's a distinctiveness in the way that the gifts operate. They operate primarily for edification.
In 1 Corinthians 14, we hear Paul saying time and again, what is the point in speaking in a language that you've never learned in the presence of people who also have never learned that language? If it's by the Holy Spirit genuinely, you may look cool.
People may say, wow, that's impressive. And thereby you are personally edified.
But that's it.
What's the point in speaking in a language that you've never learned unless there is an interpretation of what is said so that everybody may be edified? He says, what's the point in praying in a language that you've never learned?
That doesn't edify you at all. He says, I want you to pray with the mind and sing with the mind, he says, so that you're conscious of what is going on. Jesus himself forbade praying in meaningless babble.
But we are to pray with the mind. And Paul says to those who were in Corinth, Corinth, the seaport city, two ports in this seatown. And he says to them, when an unbeliever comes into your midst, the gift of languages or the gift of tongues is for a sign to the unbeliever.
But it must be interpreted so that all may be edified to hear what is said. So you envision that in the Corinthian church, people from all over the Roman Empire are gathered there. They have all these various languages that they have learned.
And they're trying to worship the Lord together. And in walks somebody yet who has another dialect that nobody there speaks. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, one of them begins to prophesy in the language of this visitor.
And the visitor hears it. And they hear about the mighty works of God and the glories of Jesus Christ. And then somebody else in the congregation translates for everybody else. Everybody is edified. And the visitor, the non-believer, receives the gospel in their heart language.
Now, isn't that just the way that Christ would equip his church to spread his gospel of the kingdom throughout the Roman Empire in a wildfire manner? But it makes sense. It's cogent. It's clarifying. It is not chaotic.
In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul explicitly says that if somebody is speaking in a tongue, meaning a language, a genuine language, which he says in the text, there are many languages in this world and none of them are without meaning.
He says if somebody is speaking in a language that they have never learned, a gift of tongues from the Holy Spirit, and somebody walks in and nobody interprets, and it's not a tongue that they even know, what do they receive as that?
Then they think you're mad. They think you're crazy. And they leave. And Paul says that is not the gift of tongues. That is not how it's to be administrated. In fact, if anyone does speak in a tongue, let it be two or three, each in order, with interpretation.
Otherwise, keep silent. Now, I believe in the gift of tongues. I believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, gave to his people the ability to speak in languages they had never learned before so that people in their own heart language would hear the gospel of Christ preached to them and that when it was properly done, it was interpreted for all of the believers to hear the old, old story and be edified by the preaching of the gospel.
What a wonderful gift. What a wonderful gift that is so misunderstood in our day. And that's exactly what happens in the book of Acts. Luke, the author of Acts, best friend to the apostle Paul, are talking about the very same thing.
They know what they're talking about, and it is the preaching of the gospel in languages that they had never learned before for a sign to the unbelievers. Now, the sounds, of course, meet exactly with the scope.
We see 17 in this text, verses 9 through 11. We see 17 different cultural groups. 17 different dialects. And yet, they're preaching in all those different languages so they hear the wonderful works of God.
They represent a range 2 ,000 miles east and west across the Mediterranean basin and 1 ,000 miles north to south in this ancient Roman Empire. Gathered here. Why are they gathered there? They're Jews.
They're Jews who were born in all these far-off lands, who grew up learning all these various dialects. Why are they in Jerusalem? It's Pentecost. It's a feast day. They have come together. They're gathering there.
They perhaps have been hanging out there ever since Passover, and they wanted to stay the entire time until Pentecost. They're from all these different areas of the world. Jews born in foreign lands, learning foreign languages.
How in the world did they get there? Well, you see, the stewards of the Old Covenant broke covenant. They were idolatrous and immoral and unjust. And God, in His judgment, scattered His people like chaff to the wind and said that this would be for a sign that He keeps His promises, and He also promises, under the heading of the restoration of Israel time and time again in the Old Testament, that He will gather His people back from the four winds of heaven.
He will gather them back once we're scattered. He will gather them back, and they will be in God's place, and they will serve under God's anointed ruler, and this is all in vain of the promises of the New Covenant.
In our text, in our text, in chapter 1 and verse 6 in the book of Acts, we read,. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
Remember the themes in that question, the bringing in of all of God's people from their scattered locations. And here in verse 5,. There dwelling in Jerusalem Jews devout men from every nation under heaven.
Do you hear it? Verse 36 of Acts 2,. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Why are those phrases important? Because when we go back to Ezekiel chapter 37, in this New Covenant promise where the Spirit shows up, and those who are dead are made alive, verse 11, Ezekiel 37,.
Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Same phrase Peter uses in addressing to the whole house of Israel. They indeed say our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.
But not according to the promises of the New Covenant. They're going to be saved, brought back together again. Ezekiel chapter 21 and 22, Ezekiel 37 verses 21 and 22,. Then He said to them, Thus says the Lord God, Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.
And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all, and they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
And He says,.
David my king shall be king over them. Which is why immediately after this, Peter begins preaching that King David, in the person of Jesus Christ, does indeed rule over the gathered people of God in the New Covenant, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So we see the scope matches the sounds. The sounds go to all these people from all these different areas of the known world, in all these various languages, so they can all be gathered together to hear, and they hear the wondrous works of God.
The same great things He has done for me, Mary said in her Magnificat. Same word. Wonderful works of God. The person and work of Jesus Christ. These marvelous works of His life and death and resurrection and ascension.
His promised gift of the Holy Spirit. His promise of victory. And this is all preached throughout the rest of Acts chapter 2. What we find is that, at Pentecost, we see the empowering for the carrying out of the Great Commission.
The promised restoration of Israel is brought about, it's fulfilled in the New Covenant, in which the Spirit-empowered Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of the Kingdom, is proclaimed and advanced in all languages to all cultures.
How are you going to keep the Great Commission? How are you going to fulfill it, oh apostles? Well, here comes the Holy Spirit and look what happens. Look at the jump start they get. Look at the emphasis of God's provision and the promise of His faithfulness to carry it through.
Now, what we've been talking about so far is a little strange. The sound of wind roaring. Tongues of fire coming down upon men. The speaking in languages they had never learned. The gathering of all these people and they're listening to all of this and what do they say?
They want to know the meaning of it. They say, whatever could this possibly mean? Remember that the speaking of other languages unlearned, it's a sign to the non-believers. And just with these signs that Christ did and all of His healing and all of His powerful deliverances, do you remember how His signs sifted the audience?
And to those who were stunned by His power and leaning towards doing homage to the Son and finding refuge in Him versus those who saw His power, His mighty works, indisputable evidence of God in human flesh and they would find some way to try to reject it.
The signs sifted the kinds of people in the crowd and it happens here. Some are saying, whatever does this mean? I think this is the same group who later on say to Peter, what must we do to be saved? But there's another group who are mocking.
And just like those who accused Jesus of casting out demons by the Lord of the demons, so here they see what happens and they mock them and they say, oh, they're full of new wine. Now, there's a few biblical commentators who I think were born to entomologists who go into all the nitty-gritty details of how this was the wrong season for new wine that would come later.
In fact, it should have been sweet wine. That was the word Luke should have used. You know, you can understand. Luke later on says, I'm summarizing faithfully everything that was said. You can imagine there are many kinds of mockings going on.
Many kinds of theories being attributed to what goes on. But Luke preserves this one for a reason. Full of new wine? You bet. Not the alcohol, as Peter so clearly states, but it is the new covenant. In Luke chapter 5, in verse 37 -39, as Jesus is explaining things to the Pharisees about the new covenant, he uses a little parable.
He says this, Luke 5, 37 -39, and no one puts new wine into old wineskins, else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
Makes all things new. Making us new creatures, new creations. Putting into us His Holy Spirit. New wine into new wineskins. It's a new covenant. And we're not simply going to stuff the new wine, new covenant, into old wineskins.
That's not going to work. They're not compatible in that way. New wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Now, verse 39 is very telling. Remember, this is the same Luke who writes this section in Acts.
Jesus says,. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new, for he says the old is better. As we move forward in the rest of the book of Acts, and this point is a good example, the Jews had drunk the old wine a long time, and they kept saying, The old wine is better.
The old wine is better. The old wine is better.
And Jesus says,.
No, no, we need the new wine in new wineskins. And so, these critics who are mocking the apostles and the arrival of the Holy Spirit, when they mock them and say, Oh, they're full of new wine. Actually, Jesus would say, They're the ones who are drunk, and they're drunk on the old wine, which is why they don't want the new.
But friends, the new is so much greater than the old. Christ has come, and he has given us his Holy Spirit, and the joys of that truly, truly know no bounds, as we'll see here in Acts 2. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the time that you have given us in your word.
We thank you for the hope that you give us. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit just as you promised. We thank you for the reminder that we are indeed in need of your empowerment to do the work you have called us to do.
Help us to trust you and to rejoice in the provision you have made. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Would you stand for our song of benediction? We're going to sing again. Jesus shall reign where 'er the sun. This time we'll just sing verses 3 and 4. He shall reign.
In the grace of the sun and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. We are dismissed.