Back to Babel
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Pray
Introduction
We’re back in our series on the Acts of the Apostles, or, as I said a few weeks ago - the Acts of the Holy Spirit THROUGH the apostles. And today we see the event that kickstarted the growth the church - the coming of the promise Holy Spirit.
But today I want us to look at this event through the lens of the Old Testament…because, don’t forget, the bible is one big story…one BIG story of God working to redeem the world - to FIX the world, and we need the Old Testament to understand a lot of what is in the New Testament.
In fact, the Old Testament is critical in our understanding of the New Testament.
And so we go back to Genesis and chapter 11, which we read earlier…because this story of the tower of Babel is kinda instrumental to our chapter in Acts.
Let’s read the passage again. It’s only 9 verses, but pay attention to verses 4 and 6...
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Now, like I said, look at verse 4...
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
And notice what the text says…these people settle and build a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens.
Now, when I was told this story as a child, I though that they wanted to build a tower TO GET TO heaven. That’s not what the text says, they want to build a BIG tower…but the POINT of this is that they wanted to make a name for themselves.
As if they were building a tower to heaven so that they could Kick God out of heaven and replace God with themselves.
It’s like they were saying, ‘we are GREAT - let’s make this tower to show everyone how GREAT we are so that people worship US for being so great.’
Which is idolatry in the highest degree. It’s not even that they were worshipping another God - they were putting THEMSELVES in the place of God, which is a major no no…and YET it’s done today all the time.
People are under the illusion that they are in control of their lives, that THEY are important, and so people live thinking that THEY are the centre of their lives and in essence say, ‘I want to make a name for myself. I don’t need God.’ That’s what the world thinks.
And so, in the story of Babel, God gives these people different languages so that they can’t understand each other and not only that, he scattered them all over the earth (verse 8) preventing them from doing this blasphemous act.
Pause
But also notice verse 6...
6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
God says that if they are speaking the same language, and therefore working together, on the same page with the same common goal, they will be unstoppable. Nothing they plan will be impossible for them. NOTHING they plan....UNSTOPPABLE.
And so the languages were given to provoke DISUNITY among the people. No longer are they on the same page. No longer are they speaking the same language. No longer can they understand each other. Chaos ensues and the building project stops.
And so the tower fails, and the place is called Babel - the Hebrew word, which everywhere else in the Old Testament is translated Babylon - the great city setting itself in opposition to God, which God eventually wipes out after the exile.
Pause
Now, what has this got to do with our passage in Acts?
Well, we touched on it very briefly in our harvest service last year, but in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promises, comes…and he comes on the day of Pentecost, which is a significant event.
Because Pentecost, meaning fiftieth, was celebrated 50 days after passover. But it was ALSO celebrated as the time, after Passover, when Moses received the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.
If you remember from the story of Moses, which we are covering in our evening services, God sends 10 plagues on Egypt, the last of which is the death of the firstborn son.
And to avoid that plague, the Israelites were to kill a lamb, eat it with unleavened bread and put the blood on the doorposts of their houses. And when the angel of death passed by, if he saw the blood on the doorposts, he would PASS OVER that house and the firstborn son would live…hence the name, Passover.
And that event was what saved the Egyptians from their slavery in Egypt - the passover lamb was their salvation.... And after that event, a handful of days later, Moses meets God on Mount Sinai, and receives the 10 commandments - the COVENANT that God made with his people AFTER he saved them from slavery.
And when Moses is on the mountain, there is fire and smoke and wind - which are symbols of the presence of God. God HIMSELF was on that mountain with Moses making his covenant - his PROMISE to his people.
And on this mountain, a handful of days after the passover, Moses receives the physical manifestation of this covenant - the tablets of stone…the 10 commandments. And Pentecost was often celebrated as the day when Moses received the manifestation of the covenant that God made with his people - the 10 commandments.
Now that was Pentecost.
Pause
But fast forward a few hundred years, and Jesus, before his crucifixion, celebrates the passover with his disciples, saying that ‘this is the new covenant in my blood.’
A NEW covenant - a promise of salvation from slavery…not Egyptian slavery but slavery to sin. A promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. A promise of sins forgive and freedom from sin....FREEDOM from sin through the shed blood of Jesus and our faith in him.
FREEDOM, like the Israelites experienced in Egypt - FREEDOM through the blood of Jesus Christ which he was to shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. Just like the blood from the passover lamb saved the Israelites from their slavery to Egypt, the blood of the lamb of God saves us from our slavery to sin.
And in this passover meal, Jesus inaugurates a NEW covenant, which we celebrated last week when we took communion.
And then 50 days after this passover meal in the upper room, like Moses on Mount Sinai receiving the physical manifestation of the OLD covenant - the disciples of Jesus receive the physical manifestation of this NEW covenant - the Holy Spirit…
...who came with the sound LIKE a rushing wind and tongues LIKE fire. There wasn’t a wind and there wasn’t fire, but it SOUNDED like wind and LOOKED like fire - which are the symbols of the presence of God like Moses experienced on Mount Sinai.
Which means that, just as God was with Moses on the mountain...
God HIMSELF was with the disciples at Pentecost in Acts 2.
And when God manifests himself through the Holy Spirit, the disciples start to speak in different tongues - different languages so that everyone around could hear them speaking in their language.
And Jerusalem would have been bunged at that time, because people flocked to Jerusalem in a pilgrimage for Passover - people from all across the land…people who spoke different languages.
And these people heard these UNEDUCATED Jews from Galilee speaking in THEIR language, speaking of the wonders of the Lord.
And the people were amazed and astounded...
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Pause
And so Peter stands up…Peter, who before this time was a coward, who only a few weeks before, denied Jesus three times. Peter, stands up, filled with the SPIRIT, and addressed the crowd and said this...
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘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. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Now, Peter knew that this day was coming. Joel prophesied it, Jesus told them it was coming…and here it was.
The Holy Spirit is here, and now we start to see some of the evidence of it. The Apostles were speaking in other people’s languages. But not only that - more was to happen…people were to prophecy. Sons and daughters are going to prophecy…young men will see visions, even OLD men will dream dreams.
Men AND WOMEN were going to experience an outpouring of God’s Spirit to enable them to dream and have visions and prophecy into people’s lives...
FOR WHAT? WHY? What is the point of this?
It’s because God had chosen the church to continue the mission that Jesus started when he came to earth - to spread the good news that Jesus brings healing and restoration. That Jesus forgives sins, that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves, that Jesus brings LIFE and life to the full.
…that we find our beginning and end in Jesus. That Jesus is the be-all and end-all.
And all this power and signs and wonders is the evidence that we - that’s right, YOU and ME, have the ability and the empowering to continue what Jesus started… and it’s all done in and through his Holy Spirit.
Let that sink in for a second. You and I have the ability and the empowering to do greater things than Jesus did through his Holy Spirit...
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
And this happens through the Holy Spirit, who came to earth BECAUSE Jesus went to the Father.
Pause
Now, back to Babel...
At Babel, the languages were given to cause DISUNITY, to spread people so that they couldn’t make a name for themselves....so they couldn’t do what they had planned to do.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirt reverses what happened at Babel. People didn’t start speaking the same language, but the church were able to speak in other languages and communicate to them the WONDERS OF GOD...
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Now ask yourselves, who’s name is being glorified here? Not the disciples…it’s God. The disciples are not making a name for themselves. They are not glorifying themselves, but they are telling of the wonders of God - the mighty works of God as the ESV puts it.
God’s name is being glorified here - the opposite of what was planned at Babel.
At Babel they wanted to make a name for THEMSELVES and so God gave them different languages to cause disunity.
At Pentecost, God gave the apostles the ability to speak IN those different languages in order to cause UNITY - to bring the people TOGETHER, and so that they would make a name, not for themselves, but for GOD - in other words, that JESUS would be glorified.
And that is the purpose of the church - to use the gifts and abilities that the Holy Spirit gives us in order to bring people TOGETHER so that God’s name might be glorified and praised.
We go out and tell people the good news about Jesus and how he can change people’s lives, and we bring people together under one common aim - to worship Jesus and learn more about him and serve him. That’s why we’re here.
Pause
Now, before we leave the story of Babel, remember verse 6 in Genesis 11...
6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
At Pentecost, God himself is manifest in the Holy Spirit, giving gifts and enabling people to come together from different lands and places, being able to understand the message of salvation - that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
And when they are able to communicate and work together - when they are on the same page, speaking the same language, so to speak, NOTHING they plan will be impossible for them.
Now let that sink in as we think about ourselves today in Hillhall and in the wider church.
We need to pray that we have the same vision here in Hillhall. That we would be united in heart and vision. That we would be on the same page, speaking the same language, so to speak, because when that happens, NOTHING we plan will be impossible for us.
Why? Because the plans will be directed by the Holy Spirit, and the execution of those plans will also be directed by the Holy Spirit and we will be empowered and equipped to execute those plans.
But because of sin, we are NOT terribly united. Because we are fallen, broken humans we are rarely on the same page. We are often wanting different things for different reasons…we are often speaking to each other in different languages, so to speak…and a lot of times I wonder ig it’s because we have our OWN idea of what church should be rather than seeking God’s vision of what HIS church should be.
So how do we get this unity as a church - as Hillhall Presbyterian Church? As the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? As Church worldwide?
How are we to be united? How are we to be on the same page, speaking the same language, so to speak, so that NOTHING we plan is impossible for us?
Pause
What we need is the same infilling of the Holy Spirit that the apostles received at Pentecost.
We’re NOT a Pentecostal church, but we are trinitarian and we believe in the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is still here with us, dwelling in the church - dwelling in each and every born-again believer.
We are the body of Christ on earth, but without the infilling of the Holy Spirit we will be pulling in every direction, wanting what WE think is right…making a name for OURSELVES.
What we need is to be united…united in Christ, with the same vision and focus. What we need is to be on the same page, speaking the same language, so to speak…because when that happens, NOTHING we plan will be impossible for us…we’ll be unstoppable.
Why? Because we have the Holy Spirit leading, guiding and equipping us to do HIS work - not our work.
So for each and every one of us here who have truly given their lives to Christ, we need to come together under prayer and pray for an anointing of the Holy Spirit - pray for an infilling of the Spirit to make us of ONE mind and ONE vision, speaking the SAME language, so to speak.
Because when we do that, and when we let the Spirit fill us then NOTHING we plan will be impossible for us.
Pause
But We’ve got to let the Holy Spirit in…and that takes humility. It takes us to realise that we aren’t here on earth to make a name for OURSELVES, which many people in the world think. We are here to make a name for GOD. We are here to glorify HIM and enjoy HIM forever…THAT is our chief end.
So it takes us to confess that we aren’t God, and let Jesus be God...
It takes us to confess that we can’t save ourselves and let Jesus save us.
It takes us to come off our own wee pedestals and place Jesus there instead....
Jesus, the passover lamb of God who was slain for the sin of the world.
Jesus, whose blood saved us from death like the blood of the lambs on the doorposts in Egypt saved the Israelites.
Jesus, who made a new covenant - a better covenant than that of Moses and the 10 commandments.
Jesus whose word promises that anyone who humbles themselves and calls on the name of the lord will be saved.
Pause
At Pentecost in Acts 2 Babel was reversed. The disunity of languages was reversed to BRING unity, and God’s name was glorified rather than man’s name.
Let’s use this time to reverse the idolatry that we have in our lives, where we want to make a name for ourselves and instead let Jesus’ name be glorified and praised and let HIM be the one who is worshiped and adored and served.
And let’s pray that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and ask that we receive the SAME vision, the same goal, the same mission, that we speak the SAME language, so to speak, because when that happens, NOTHING we plan will be impossible… this church will be unstoppable.
Let’s pray.