This morning is the Day of Pentecost. Now we probably don’t think very much of the Day of Pentecost, we probably know that it was the day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in Jerusalem, but beyond that, you probably don’t know too much about it. So get a cup of coffee, sit back, and we'll explore the Pentecost together.
This message is based on Acts 2:1-21.
This morning is the Day of Pentecost. Now we probably don’t think very much of the Day of Pentecost, we probably know that it was the day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in Jerusalem, but beyond that, you probably don’t know too much about it. The Day of Pentecost was also called The Festival of Weeks, or the Feast of the Harvest, and it was the second of three great festivals when the Israelites were required to go to the temple in Jerusalem to make an offering to the Lord. There were three important festivals that the Israelites celebrated, three holidays, if you will, that had to be recognized. And we see this in Exodus 23:14-17… “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty handed. Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.” One more thing, to appear before the Lord, you had to go to Jerusalem. That’s where the temple was, and the only alter you could offer a sacrifice on was the alter in the temple in Jerusalem. So three times a year you had to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to make the required sacrifice. The first festival we saw was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You could probably guess that was the celebration of the Passover, the annual celebration of the exodus out of Egypt. If you remember, on the night of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn children, they ate the Passover meal. This included unleavened bread, because the people were to eat in a hurry and didn’t have time for the yeast to rise. The next one mentioned was the Feast of the Harvest, or the Festival of Weeks, and that took place on the Day of Pentecost. For more on this, let’s go to Leviticus 23:15-18: “From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” The word Pentecost isn’t mentioned in the Old Testament, but in our reading this morning, we saw that they called it that. In verse 1 we saw, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” We might think it has something to do with the coming of the Holy Spirit, but the word just means 50th. The Greek word for Pentecost (pentekoste) literally means 50th, it falls 50 days after the Passover Sabbath. It was first called Pentecost it the NT, but it referred to the Jewish Festival. Here’s what’s significant about this - and it’s really awesome: remember everyone had to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifices. Why is that great? Because Jerusalem would have been jam packed on these festival days. And God used the fact that the city was so full to make sure everyone saw what He was doing. It was during the Passover, when Jesus was crucified, sacrificed as our Passover lamb. Then He used the Pentecost, the next time the city is filled, to bring the Holy Spirit to the disciples. Because of the timing, during an Old Testament Festival, everybody is required to be there; so all of Israel was a witness to what God was doing. They were there for the crucifixion, and now they are there for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If you were a righteous Jew, you were required to be in the city. You would have seen first-hand what God was doing! Awesome! Now Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, several times. This was one of the last things He said to the disciples before his ascension, in Luke 24:49, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus gives them the command “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” A little later, in verse 8, he continues, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” John 14 contains probably the most well-known promise from Jesus concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit. In verses 15-17, it says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth…” Verses 25-26 read, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” So, we’ve looked at the Jewish Pentecost celebration, the Old Testament feast that was a required sacrifice since the time of Moses. We know that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, and we know of the tremendous power the apostles had after receiving the Spirit. So what’s this mean for us? Let’s look at the disciples and see what we can learn for our life today. I. Wait. One of the first things is that the disciples were told to wait. Jesus was with them on the Mount of Olives and told them they would be his witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, but all over, to the ends of the earth. But first, they would be clothed with the Power of God, Baptized by the Holy Spirit. They had to wait. After his death, they were scared, they were mourning the death of Jesus, in fact we find them hidden away in the upper room, behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They didn’t understand what had happened, but when Jesus appeared to them, and taught them more, He opened their minds, so they understood the scriptures. They could see what had been written about Jesus, and how that was fulfilled. Now they understood why it had to happen, and more importantly, what it all meant. They had great news, and I bet they wanted to share it. I bet they wanted to get out there and tell everybody they saw. But Jesus told them to wait. I bet they didn’t like waiting. We don’t like waiting either, do we? These apostles had a mission, and I imagine they were eager to get started. But they were told to wait. Let’s see how they handled this. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:12-15) In her book, Grapes Of Wrath Or Grace, Barbara Brokhoff wrote, “Remember, these were normal people like you and me. There had been a lot of disagreements among them previously. They had experienced sharp divisions over rank, importance, and who would have the highest seat. They were strong-willed persons with conflicting ideas. But the waiting and the praying began to do something for them, for the scripture says that they (on the tenth day of waiting), when the Spirit came, were of one accord! Imagine that! As they prayed and tarried they became fully open to God and more loving toward each other. Such harmony and peace prepared their hearts to receive the Holy Spirit.” They waited till God made it clear that they should go. So the first thing we should learn from this is: Be patient, and wait on the Lord (Psalm 37:7). But don’t just wait, use that time to prepare yourself, join together constantly in prayer, and when He says go, be ready to go. And understand that you will know when that time comes – He will tell you. You won’t miss it. II Together. Next, I think it’s important to note that the apostles spent this time waiting together. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, there were about 120 believers, and they met together daily. Especially the core group, the eleven disciples, along with the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers, they were together constantly in prayer. This brings up a story…A man tells of being on a bus tour in Rome which was led by a guide who spoke English. Their first stop was at a basilica in a piazza, which was surrounded by several lanes of very heavy Roman traffic. After they were all safely dropped off, the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the church. Then they spread out to board the bus, which was now parked across the street from the church. The frantic guide shouted for the group to stay together. “You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. But if you cross together, they think you will hurt the car!” There is something to be said for unity. They won’t hit you. Stay together – it’s harder to pick you off. A lot of people today think that coming together as believers is not all that important. Many who do attend church, wouldn’t think twice about missing church if something else came up. Coming together as a body of believers is important. Hebrews tells us, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching.” We’re a lot closer to that day now than they were then, our coming together is much more important now. The disciples and the followers at that time, never missed an opportunity to come together, they came daily. Let’s make sure we take advantage of every opportunity to come together as well. Satan will never attack a united church. But if we give him a chance, if we don’t stay faithful to God and to His body, which is the church, he won’t have any trouble picking us off one-by-one. III. Power. Lastly, you will receive power. It’s important for us to realize the incredible power of the Spirit. After this day of Pentecost, the disciples had the same power as Jesus had, they were filled with God’s power. Some of them even raised the dead, they restored sight to the blind, they restored the use of legs to the lame. The same miracles Jesus performed, were later performed by the disciples. But it was through the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter himself performed the first of these miracles. In Acts 3:6-7, Peter comes across a crippled man who was begging in the streets. “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.” Somebody once said that power can be used in a couple of different ways: it can be unleashed wildly, with no plan or purpose, or it can be harnessed for great good. Think about nuclear reactions. If it’s just allowed to go boom, a nuclear bomb could wipe out a region of a good size state. But if that energy is harnessed in a nuclear power plant, it can bring electricity to the region. Here’s another example. My brother in law once wanted to burn a big brush pile – a big brush pile – 10-15 feet across. He took two gallons of gasoline and poured it on the pile to get it lit. The result was an explosion! He came back up to the house with no eyebrows. There was a mushroom cloud! It was huge! The resulting rush of wind was felt by Sandy and her mom at the house, over three-hundred feet away. Talk about a boom! But that same two gallons of gas, channeled through the engine of a small car in a controlled way, could have been used to transport a person over 70-80 miles. It’s the same energy. The same power, used in a controlled way. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, you could say that He exploded on the scene; His presence was like “tongues of fire”. Thousands were affected by this one burst of power. But that same power, in a more controlled way, is available to everyone of us. The Holy Spirit works through us day by day. We can tap into this power. Through the Holy Spirit, we can persevere. We can run our race to the finish. And remember the Spirit is our Counselor, He enables us to love others, and to be of service to others, and that’s what following Christ is all about. So there will times in our Christian faith when we will have to wait on the Lord. Spend that time growing in the Lord – be in prayer, use that time of waiting to prepare yourself, to be strengthened in the Lord. And do it together with other believers. That’s where our growth comes from. We can learn a little reading books and studying scripture, but when we come together, and talk about it as a group, we get a better idea what God is up to, that’s when we can apply what we’ve learned and talk about what we’ve learned, and that’s when growth comes. And finally, serve in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of our strength.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
|