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Why Pentecost Matters to Us
Acts 2:1-21 (Initial reading: vs. 1-4)
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - May 26, 2013
*Some days seem to matter a whole lot more than others:
June 6, 1944 -- The D-Day invasion in Normandy.
Nov. 22, 1963 -- The assassination of JFK.
July 21 1969 -- Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon.
*February 14, 1975 -- Mary and I got married.
What a difference a day makes!
Pentecost in Acts 2 was one of those big, big days.
In fact it was one of the most important days in the history of the world, only surpassed by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
*God paved the way for Pentecost through the coming of Jesus Christ: No Christmas, no cross, no Easter, no Pentecost.
Pentecost also could not happen until the Lord Jesus went home to be glorified in Heaven.
*Paul described this glorification of Jesus in Philippians 2:8-11.
There the Apostle said this about Jesus:
8.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
*The Day of Pentecost matters greatly to God, and it matters to us.
1. Pentecost matters first of all, because it was a new dispensation in God's plan.
*In vs. 1-4, Luke tells us how this new dispensation began:
1.
Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
*The amazing, miraculous events above ushered in a new dispensation in God's plan.
"Dispensation" is not a word we use very often.
In fact, it's not a word I normally use at all.
But the original word simply means the way a household or estate is administered or managed or taken care of.
*So in Ephesians 3:2, Paul talked about "the DISPENSATION of the grace of God which was given to me for you."
And in Eph 1:10, Paul talked about God's purpose "that in the DISPENSATION of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him."
*The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 marked the beginning of a new dispensation:
-A new chapter in the way God would take care of His world.
-A new chapter in the way that God would work with men.
-On that day, God the Holy Spirit came in a way that He had never come before.
*The Lord Jesus told us about this event ahead of time.
Listen to John 7:37-39:
37. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.''
39.
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
*Now in Acts 2, Jesus had already been crucified and was risen from the dead.
Back in Acts 1:4, Jesus had commanded His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which,'' He said, "you have heard from Me."
*Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem, and they did wait.
Then came the Day of Pentecost.
It was ten days after Jesus ascended to Heaven.
It was fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead.
And on this Day of Pentecost, the Lord's promise was fulfilled, as the Holy Spirit came in great power!
*The church was born.
The world moved into the dispensation of grace.
And we are still living in the age of grace today.
Now the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ literally comes to live in everyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior.
*So Romans 8:9-10 says this to Christians:
9. . .
You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
*Pentecost matters to us, because it was a new dispensation in God's plan.
2. But also because it was a great demonstration of God's power.
*Please listen again to vs. 2-3:
2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
*That was a most unusual and great demonstration of God's power!
God's Spirit was at work in an amazing way when the church was born.
We must not lose sight of this truth, as we go through the week-to-week routine of church-life:
-Making coffee for Sunday School.
-Making copies for Children's Church.
-Rehearsing songs on Wednesday night.
-Changing diapers in the Nursery.
*As we go through the week-to-week routine of church-life, we must not forget that God's Spirit was at work in an amazing way when the church was born.
That's why Melvin Newland said this about how the church started: "Sometimes we act as if we think Simon Peter called a meeting of the apostles.
Peter told them, 'We are here today to talk about whether or not we ought to start a church.'
*They discuss that for a while.
And then James makes a motion that they start a church.
John seconds the motion.
And they vote 10 to 2 to start a church.
So they start a church in Jerusalem."
*Of course, it didn't happen that way! Verse 2 says: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind."
Where did the sound come from?
-- From Heaven!
*God gave birth to the church.
But why did He do it like this?
Why did God send rushing, mighty wind and tongues of fire?
(1)
[1] Church: It must have been partly because the Lord wanted us to have signs of the Holy Spirit's coming.
*He wanted His people to have sure evidence that the Holy Spirit had come into the world.
The Lord wanted us to know that the coming of His Holy Spirit was not just some kind of spiritual symbolism or wishful thinking.
*The coming of the Holy Spirit was a profound reality.
And God sent His Holy Spirit with compelling physical evidence on the Day of Pentecost, so that we would know He literally comes to us in a spiritual way when we trust in Jesus Christ.
*Why did the Holy Spirit come with a rushing, mighty wind, and tongues of fire?
-- God wanted us to have signs of His coming.
[2] But He also wanted us to have more symbols of the Holy Spirit's character.
*God has given some symbols to help us know what the Holy Spirit is like.
Of course one of those symbols is a dove.
And we see this symbol in all four Gospels.
For example in John's Gospel, John the Baptist said:
32. . .
"I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33.
I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'"
(John 1:32-33)
*God sent the Holy Spirit as a dove to show us that with all of His strength, He has a gentle, peaceful nature.
The dove is a good symbol of the Holy Spirit, but here God used wind and fire.
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