Restart with the Spirit (Acts 2:1-21)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Restart Stories
Restarting can be frustrating: removing the wall to put in the framing I forgot.
Restarting can be reinvigorating: getting excited about having a baby again.
For us, this looks like a restart, and in one sense it is, but for God this was the plan all along. Who will carry out God’s plan of kingdom expansion to the ends of the earth? The Spirit!
Big transition from chapter 1: There is a void left by Judas that is then filled…now what will happen. Will the spirit continue that which Jesus started.
Restoration hinted in …it wont happen over night but rather day by day…
Chapter 1 is repairing the boat and preparing it for the next voyage.
The Spirit Arrives (2:1-4)
The Spirit Astonishes (2:5-13)
The Spirit Announced (2:14-21)
Outline of the Text
The Spirit Arrives ()
Day of the Spirit (v1)
Pentecost in the Bible
Widely a NT thing but is actually routed in the OT. See
“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord. And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
Interesting aspect about this to me is that it, like the firstfruits, are held the day AFTER the Sabbath. So during the feast of unleavened bread, the seven day period following the passover, you would have a Sabbath. You were to count seven full weeks plus one day after the Sabbath during the feast of unleavened bread (or if the Sabbath happened to be on the passover day).
Seven makes sense, we see that in creation and all throughout the bible.
Day after the Sabbath - It points to God’s provision for a crop again this year. It signifies something new…new life.
We see Jesus as our Sabbath rest, our passover lamb. But we don’t talk much of Jesus being the firstfruit. The apostle Paul, in , refers to Jesus, not as the first fruit but the firstborn of the dead. Signifying something new, a new creation.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
First fruits is the sheaf, the feast of weeks is the new grain. Bread is made, sacrifices are made, and waved before for the Lord “for the priests”. A proclamation is made (also by Peter). No ordinary work (extraordinary work is being done). Poor and outsiders are to be beneficiaries of the harvest (same as the Spirit).
Spirit in the Luke/Acts Work
In the wilderness Jesus is filled with the Spirit:
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Jesus ministers in Galilee in the power of the Spirit:
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Jesus ministers on the road to Jerusalem:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Jesus sends out the 72 and they return and he praises the spirit:
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Jesus on the cross, commits his spirit to the father:
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Jesus promises power through the spirit’s baptism of the disciples: , ,
until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
There is a passing of the baton to the Spirit, but really, he’s been there working the entire time. Previously through Jesus but now through his church. It’s not Jesus passing the baton to the Spirit, it is Jesus passing the baton to the church. As Jesus reigns in heaven his church reigns on earth. The gospel, through the power of the spirit, has the power to transform the low and high and everywhere in between of all societies.
Audio of the Spirit (v2)
“Came from heaven”
Like in the creation story, heaven came to earth, in the new creation story heaven again comes to earth.
“sound like a mighty rushing wind”
Not actually windy, but sounds like it.
Wind is emblematic of the spirit
God breaths (wind) the spirit into man,
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Ezekiel sees the breath (wind) into the dry bones,
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; 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 the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
“filled the entire house”
This spirit isn’t a sprinkler…it is an immerser.
The imagery is important because baptism is linked with death, going under the dirt/water/into the abyss, and resurrection. The old is made new.
Visual of the Spirit (v3)
“divided tongues as of fire”
fire is often associated with the Judgement of God. I think this is the means by which we, the people of God will judge the world. We are to communicate the judgment of God, the gospel, the day of the Lord, to where people must choose a side. I’ll tease this hear but more than a quotation of Joel is in view here. This sermon and passage is a meditation on the book of Joel. The “day of the lord” as referenced in the book of Joel is a day where the fire sweeps over people in judgment.
“each one of them”
Spirit’s work is all inclusive! 100% adoption. No classes…the least and the greatest among the people of God are FILLED with the spirit.
This was Moses’ desire in
Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Biblical Theology: Sound and Fire and the Spirit
Don’t have time...
Work of the Spirit (v4)
In verse 2, the spirit fills the house not it fills the believers.
“all filled with the Holy Spirit”
Jesus in 4:18
Marks to beginning of a new era
“speak in other tongues”
Evidence of the Spirit’s work.
“as the Spirit gave the utterance”
This is MORE than a one time event. The filling isn’t the power of the change…it is the the Spirit itself.
Spirit Astonishes ()
New People (v5)
New Clarity and Confusion (v6-12)
A reference back to the tower of babel in .
In the tower of babel, under one language people glorified themselves. Under the new kingdom, we’ll have one language but our glorifying will be of God, not self.
Clarity
People are
Confusion “What does this mean?”
This means there is a new work of the spirit among the people of God.
We should preach to all people of the world the message of repentance and baptism. At the end of the sermon the people ask “What shall we do?”
Same Old Problem (v13)
Hater’s going to hate. The spirit of the mockers provide an excuse for this behavior: booze. But this wasn’t gameday, the people of God didn’t start drinking in the morning the Spirit of God is at work.
It’s likely people were being loud and overly friendly. If you’ve ever been in a situation when you know people don’t speak the same language you need to speak loud. In other words, when people don’t seem to understand the speaker usually turns up the volume. “Maybe they didn’t hear me”
You’ve got a loud room of excited people telling stories of the works of God.
Spirit Announced ()
Not Filled with Wine (v14-15)
The time is 9 am.
Proclamation signaled by the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22)
Filled with the Spirit (v16-21)
Quote of
The Book of Joel
Hard to Date because there are no time references.
Commentaries have a 600 year range on when it was written, from pre-exlic, exlic, and post-exclic literature. (IBID, Joel)
Overview of the Book of Joel
There is a famine in the land due to the sins of the people, specifically for ignoring the grain and drink offerings (Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths), . Therefore you must repent and God will restore to you the harvest and give you an abundance.
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.
Read
Notice what Joel accuses people of being in verse 1:5
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grain and drink offerings were required at the feast of weeks (Pentecost). It is the source of judgement back then and it will be again if you don’t repent.
Read
Day of the Lord…a key theme of the book.
Read
Who knows…God might restore your fortunes so you can now obey what you previously disobeyed.
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Restoration of plenty…then our passage comes. What could be better than a full belly after a period of famine? The SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD!
Peter is telling the mockers…You’re the drunk ones!
“Day of the Lord”
Judgment is coming unless you repent.
God is here and if you don’t repent judgment looms! See the book of Joel if you think I’m crazy. This is new, but what I’m telling you isn’t.
For those who repent, there is a restoration
If you don’t join in with this event, you’re the drunk ones. This is what repentance looks like.
Application
Repent and be baptized is the first step.
Baptism is the next step.
Peter tells us at the end of his sermon in
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I debated making this a two point application but the book of Acts seems to have the two linked. Baptism was linked with repentance and being identified.
Sadly today, I think we’ve cheapened baptism in our day.
Infant baptism for one.
In pursuit of theological precision we’ve created an unnecessary distinction between being saved (justification) and being holy (sanctification). In other words we’ve created a distinction not found in the new testament, an unbaptized Christian.
We ask “can one be saved if not baptized?” when we should say “GET IN THE WATER!”
Sanctification, again, is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration. - J.C. Ryle, Holiness
Sanctification, again, is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation.
Minister to the lowly.
At the heart of Pentecost was the desire to provide to the poor and outsider, .
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
In our culture, we shouldn’t be surprised by sinners doing sinful things. We should minister to the lowly and outsider.
Pray for the lost.
All types of sinners will be composed of the church.
Homosexuals
Transgender
Don’t be grossed out a sinners sin. Be merciful and gracious and plead with them to find their true joy in Christ.