The early church was born on the day of Pentecost. The word Pentecost literally means fifty days. After celebrating Passover, the Jews were commanded to wait seven weeks and hold a Feast. The Feast was called the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, or even the Feast of Weeks. The whole purpose of the feast was to give credit, and express gratitude to God, for the first-fruits of the harvest.
What a fitting moment for the birth of the church to occur. In Acts 2, we see the first-fruits of God’s spiritual harvest occur. After God pours out his Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Church, people from all over the world hear the gospel in their own tongue, accept the gospel message, are baptized, forgiven of their sin, and filled with the Spirit. Some 3000 people were added to the Church in a single day. In this sense, every Christian is “Pentecostal.” We aren’t the “first” fruits of the gospel, but our fruit hangs from the same gospel tree and its branches.
This morning I want to talk about what happened on the Day of Pentecost and explore what it means for us today. First, let’s review what happened. *Acts 2:1-3, “When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them.
The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church audibly and visibly and with physical affect, “filling” the house where they stayed. The Spirit came both personally and corporately. As if all that isn’t enough, a strange sign occurs. *Acts 2:4, “Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.”
Now keep in mind, that at this point the Holy Spirit is being poured out narrowly on the Twelve Apostles, the Women, Mary the mother of Jesus, Jesus’ brothers. These people have been waiting for the Father to pour out his promised Holy Spirit. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he had commanded them to “stay” in Jerusalem and “wait” for God’s gift. In *Acts 1:8 Jesus tells them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
On Pentecost the Church is filled with the Spirit, and supernaturally enabled, to verbally, intelligibly, boldly bear witness to Jesus Christ to people spanning from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth. For the gospel to traverse the world, the gospel would need to transcend one cultural and language barrier after another. On Pentecost, God would enable this by his Spirit.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. We need not go beyond the immediate text to understand what it meant by tongues. The Greek Word for “tongues” is glossalia. You know a great many Bible Dictionaries define tongues as “A spiritual gift that involves ecstatic utterances.” What’s implied by “ecstatic” is something overly emotionally, maybe even uncontrolled. Ecstatic means happy, thrilled, excited, joyous, euphoric, or enthusiams. And what’s implied by “utterances” is sounds, echoes, maybe grunts and groans, who knows.
What happens in Acts 1:8 might certainly be characterized as joyous, but we need to notice what Luke so precisely describes. Somebody keep count.
• First, he tells us in *Acts 1:8, God will pour out his Spirit so the church can witness to the nations.
• Second, in *Acts 2:4 Luke says the Spirit enabled them to speak in different tongues and languages. That’s the Greek word!
• Third, in *Acts 2:5 Luke tells us Jews and devout people from “every nation” under heaven are gathered in Jerusalem.
• Fourth, in *Acts 2:6 the crowd is confused not because of they are hearing odd, unintelligible, ecstatic utterances… they are confused because “each one heard them speaking in his own language.” (i.e. intelligibly, clearly, rationally)
• Fifth, in *Acts 2:7 Luke tells us the crowd is astounded and amazed because the speakers are mere Galileans! They are hardly people of the world.
• Sixth, in *Acts 2:8 the crowds asks, “How is it each one of us can hear them in our own native language.” A tongue is an intelligible, native, human language!
• Seventh, in *Acts 2:9-11 Luke lists all the “tongues” or languages represented in the crowd that day. Look at a world map. The nations are gathered to hear!
• Eight, in *Acts 2:11 the crowd says, “We hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues and languages.” The kind of Speaking in Tongues occurring here is more than ecstatic utterances of non-sensical gibberish. There is real content, real substance, a gospel message, a testimony or witness regarding the magnificent acts of God! These are intelligible tongues, fully understood. I don’t know how anyone can ignore what Luke repeatedly, emphatically, and so specifically describes!
But still, the international crowd is so astounded and perplexed they demand an explanation from Peter. *Acts 2:12, “What does this mean?” What is the significance of this day of Pentecost? Peter is now going to tell them!
Now to appreciate “Pentecost” we need to talk about “Babel.” When I was a child, my parents would always scold me to stop “babbling.” “Will you please shut-up?” they’d say. “Stop running your mouth!” If you’re babbling, your words have no meaning, no redemptive value, or perhaps intelligibility. Blah Blah Blah.
In *Genesis 11:1, we’re told all the world, all the descendants of Noah’s three sons after the Flood, “share the same language and vocabulary.” Our God is among many things, the God of Language. When God created Adam and Eve, they had lingual capability. God himself in the counsel of eternity, had language and endowed man created in his image to also speak. Language is a supernatural endowment given directly from God.
But in Genesis 11 all the people on the earth, with one language, one vocabulary, become of “one mind” and set about making a name for themselves. *Genesis 11:4, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.” This of course alarms God. *Genesis 11:6-9, “The LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So from there the LORD scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it is called Babylon… for there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the LORD scattered them throughout the earth.”
In Genesis 11 God supernaturally intervenes to protect humanity from itself. He confused their languages and vocabulary. God scatters them. They could not be allowed to make a name, and fashion a godless identity for themselves. God reduced them to Babel because their words, plans, designs were corruptive.
In Acts 2 God is supernaturally intervening, and removing the protective language barrier he himself created. Instead of scattering people across the whole face of the earth in Acts 2 they are now regathered. Instead of confusing and exacerbating the language barriers God by his Spirit is removing it. In both Genesis 11 and Acts 2 everyone gathered is one mind, one spirit, and one purpose. But in Genesis 11 they are seeking to “make a name” for themselves whereas in Acts 2 they are being “baptized into the name of Jesus.” In Acts 2 and later Acts 4, they acknowledge there is no other name given among man by which we must be saved than that of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 2 the Church is the speaking, witnessing, God-glorifying New Humanity God desired would have emerged from the flood. In Acts 2, God’s gospel is advancing not through BABBLE but INTELLIGEBLE SPEECH!
There are four places where people see tongues in Bible: (1) Tongues of Men, Cross-Lingual, Acts 2; (2) Prayerful groanings Romans 8:15-16 we cry out Abba, God’s Spirit testifies with our spirit, 8:23-27 we groan with Spirit, (3) Gifts of Tongues coupled with Interpretation,1 Cor 12:30 not all have tongues and desire greater gifts (4) Tongues of men or angels 1 Cor 13:1 but love supreme; 1 Cor 14 real value of tongues is edification of body not just self… speaking intelligibly, prophecy greater, knowledge and revelation, wisdom, edify mind not just spirit, don’t prohibit, orderly, interpreted. Allusion to Acts 2 in 1 Corinthians 14:20-21.
In Acts 2:14-36 Peter intelligibly bears witness to the gospel. John Stott has outlined the framework of Peter’s sermon with four markers.
• First, Peter rehearses the Gospel Witnesses—the Word of God, the Spirit of God was enabling the Apostles, Believers, the Church… to supernaturally bear witness to Christ.
• Second, Peter rehearses the Gospel Events—the tangible, historical acts events that occurred right in the midst of their city and land.
• Third, Peter rehearses the Gospel Promises. In Christ, God would offer repentance and the forgiveness of sin. God would pour out his promised Holy Spirit, as a gift, on all sinful man or flesh.
• Last, Peter rehearses the Gospel Conditions. He answers a very explicit question, namely, “What must we do to be saved?”
Take a listen to Peter’s Sermon. Acts 2:14-37,
[The Gospel Witness and Speech] “Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. 16 On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘17 And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. 19 I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.” The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
[The Gospel Events and Historical Account] “22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.
[The Gospel Promises and Scripture]
25 For David says of him: “I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. 28 You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.”
29 “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.
32 “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’” 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Pentecost is about Intelligible witnesses. Intelligible events. Intelligible promises. The magnificent works of God being preached… that an intelligible response may occur. In this sense, we are as Pentecostal as we are Apostolic.
[The Gospel Conditions] 37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
On Pentecost God transcended all lingual barriers to announce salvation to the nations, starting with Jerusalem. What’s “normative” about Pentecost is the Church is being empowered by the Spirit, to declare Christ to the nations. What’s also normative is Peter’s simple invitation. Repent. Be Baptized. Each one of you. Do it in the name of Christ. Do it to receive forgiveness in Christ. And you “will” receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, children, nations—all who God calls. Be saved!! Those who accepted were baptized, 3000 added.
Next week we’ll unpack the call of salvation and some of the markers of salvation.