Sermon Notes for Sunday, August 9, 2020

 

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

August 9, 2020

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21                             

 Series: This Is Church!                                          

Introduction: In the Old Testament, the Feast of Pentecost was an agricultural celebration that marked the conclusion of the harvest season (Lev. 23:9-16). The priest would take a sheaf of barley (first fruits) and wave it in the temple before the Lord as a symbolic offering of praise to God as they celebrated the beginning of the harvest. After this ritual, on the fiftieth day they would observe the Feast of Weeks or as it became referred to by the Hellenistic Jews as Pentecost (meaning 50^th). It was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended upon the church and 3,000 plus persons were born into the kingdom of God (2:41).

 

 

We are asking the same questions that were expressed on the day of Pentecost, “What does this all mean?” (2:12) and “What shall we do?” (2:37).

              “What does this all mean?”

The Day of Pentecost (2:1-13)

*The Day of Pentecost is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus gave to his disciples (1:8).

 

*Answers the question of “how” the Gospel will go out into all the world (1:8). Pentecost is the inauguration of the church with power.

 

*A three-fold miracle – “speaking,” “hearing,” and “saving.”

 

*Some people only heard noise or babble (2:13).

 

*Pentecost as a reversal of “Babble” (see Gen. 11:1-9).

 

*Demonstration of the universal Gospel.

 

*The democratizing of the Holy Spirit, priesthood of the believer.

*The day of Pentecost is an historical account and it is descriptive, not prescriptive. What about the similar types of experiences we see later in the book of Acts (10:44-46; 19:4-7)? These experiences serve to authenticate and connect people on the religious outskirts to what took place first in Jerusalem with the primarily Jewish audience.

 

Peter’s Message (2:14-40)

*A fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32.

 

*The “last days” calendar has begun. God was pouring out his Spirit “on all people,” no distinctions were being made. The spontaneous and Spirit-led preaching that Peter witnessed was foreseen by Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (2:18). And Peter saw this event as an opening for the Gospel, now “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:21).

 

              “What shall we do?”

1. The Holy Spirit is available to all who call upon the name of the Lord.

 

2. Believers filled with the Holy Spirit speak with new tongues (2:11, 18). When you are God-controlled (Spirit-filled), you will speak with new tongues, tongues that are centered in Jesus and the Gospel, tongues that are grace-filled speaking words of compassion and encouragement.

 

A Caution: “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” James 1:26

 

A Command: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

 

Prayer: “God, give us Pentecostal power today so that we may love boldly, speak graciously and compassionately, and share Your Son Jesus who reconciles us, forgives us, and who turns our chaos into calm, replacing our fears with faith. Amen.”