Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

When I was 7 years old I started an addiction that still regularly comes over me to this day.

The addiction to whistling.

Now, I didn’t come by this addiction on my own.

I had an enabler.

My enabler was my big sister who demonstrated whistling to me and coached my until I finally learned to do it myself.

Without her help I can confidently say that I would not be the whistler that I am today.

According to dictionary.com “enable” means “to make able; give power, means, competence, or ability to; authorize.”

Acts chapter 2 is all about the enabling of the disciples to preach.

Our passage today deals with them being enabled by the Holy Spirit.

They needed enabling.

They needed the ability given by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last time we were together we looked at the first four verses.

In the first four verses of Acts 2 the event that ch. 1 anticipates and builds toward finally takes place!

The disciples are together in unity when the Holy Spirit comes and they are baptized and filled with just as Christ had promised.

There was a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, tongues like fire appeared, and they spoke in other languages through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In many ways Acts chapter 2 is a theologically charged passage.

Because that is true, and because we will be dealing with many of those theological issues, there is a danger of losing sight of the big picture.

The point of this passage is not tongues, spiritual gifts, or spirit filling.

The point of this passage is the coming of the Holy Spirit Who then enables the disciples to preach the gospel!

The point of this passage is the birth of the Church through the coming of the Holy Spirit.

In our outline of the book of Acts I have titled chapter 2 as…

The Enabling Of The Disciples To Preach Ch. 2 The outline shows that there are three ways the disciples are enabled to preach in this chapter.

Here in the first thirteen verses we find that they are…

Enabled By The Holy Spirit 2:1-13

I have two desires that I hope to accomplish in the message this morning.

First, we need to understand the miracle that takes place here.

We need to understand what the miracle is and why it is performed.

Secondly, we need to be reminded of the message we proclaim.

What is preached by the disciples on the day of Pentecost is the same message we preach today.

As we understand the miracle and are reminded of the message we too will be enabled and empowered to preach.

As we discuss how the disciples are enabled by the Holy Spirit, we find that the Holy Spirit’s enabling takes two forms in this passage.

We saw the first last time and it is…

1. Spirit Enabled Language vv.

1-4

I mentioned this before but I need to mention it again.

It is vitally important that we understand two things about this passage and especially about v. 4. First, The miracle that we are about to see is a product of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, The form the miracle takes is that of languages spoken by the people groups present at this event.

A proper understanding of the gift of tongues hinges on these two points.

Last time we noted…

a.

The unity that proceeds the Spirit vv.

1-2

b.

The signs that proclaim the Spirit vv.

3-4

As we get into our study for today I want to restates some of what we discussed in regards to v. 4.

The Spirit has come as promised.

He has indwelt them.

He has filled them.

And to demonstrate the reality of these truths, He has them speak in languages they have never studied!

“Other” is the Greek word ἕτερος (heteros) meaning another, other, or different.

Unlike in nature, quality, form, or degree.

The emphasis here is on them being tongues other than they were normally able to speak.

“Tongues” is the Greek word γλῶσσα (glōssa) meaning tongue or language.

Here it is used to describe a supernatural tongue or language.

It refers to a language one has never studied and a supernatural ability to speak, or be understood, in it.

Today we will consider how Vv. 5-13 demonstrate beyond doubt that the tongues spoken of here were known and recognized languages.

Furthermore, they are languages spoken by those present who hear the disciples.

The supernatural ability to speak in these languages is given by the Spirit.

Notice that they speak “as the Spirit gave them utterance”.

They were not coached, coerced, or taught.

They did not spend time working up to it.

The Spirit gave the ability and they were immediately able to speak.

The first form that Holy Spirit’s enabling takes is that of Spirit enabled language.

The second form is a…

2. Spirit Empowered Message vv.

5-13

As we get into these verses we need to connect them to v. 4.

An awful lot of commentaries launch into error in v. 4 and in these verses because of their commitment to the kinds of tongues seen in churches today.

There are two problems with how they handle the Scripture passages that deal with tongues.

First, they ignore the law of first mention.

How a word is first used is a strong indicator of how it will continue to be used.

The first appearance of the gift of tongues is in our passage.

Secondly, they fail to interpret the unclear by the clear.

It is clear here that the tongues spoken by the disciples are real, intelligible, known, and spoken languages.

This understanding must then be applied to all other appearances of tongues.

We cannot take the tongues used in Corinth and attempt to reinterpret what we see here.

One big thing to always bear in mind is that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to correct their misunderstanding and abuse of tongues.

Tom Constable makes a very important point related to this in his commentary,

It is well known that the terminology of Luke in Acts and of Paul in 1 Corinthians is the same.

In spite of this some have contended for a difference between the gift as it occurred in Acts and as it occurred in Corinth.

This is manifestly impossible from the standpoint of the terminology.

This conclusion is strengthened when we remember that Luke and Paul were constant companions and would have, no doubt, used the same terminology in the same sense. . . .

In other words, it is most likely that the early believers used a fixed terminology in describing this gift, a terminology understood by them all.

If this be so, then the full description of the gift on Pentecost must be allowed to explain the more limited descriptions that occur elsewhere.

What that means is that how tongues is used here in Acts ch. 2 is going to be how it is used throughout Scripture.

Warren Wiersbe writes,

Unless we are instructed otherwise in Scripture, we must assume that when “speaking in tongues” is mentioned elsewhere in Acts, or in 1 Corinthians, it refers to an identical experience: believers praising God in the Spirit in languages that are known.

One final, and very important, note before we get into the passage.

This applies to the entire book of Acts.

The book of Acts is historical narrative.

Therefore it is primarily descriptive not prescriptive.

What do I mean?

Acts is a record of what took place in the early church.

It is a historical account.

Because that is true it would be erroneous for us to take a record of what took place and treat it as if it was a command to the church today.

For example, look down at vv. 44-45.

This is a description of what the early church did.

It is not a prescription for what every body of believers should do.

It is very important that we make that distinction as we go through Acts.

On the other hand, the epistles are are primarily prescriptive and not descriptive.

Therefore we don’t take the commands in the epistles and treat them as just a record of what those churches did.

Make sense?