Filled With The Holy Spirit
Acts 2: 1-21
Day of Pentecost
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the Day of Pentecost is the reading from Acts 2. Clear communication is very important. There are so many things in our life where clear communication is vital. Clear Communication is essential in marriage. It is critical for husbands and wives to be able to properly communicate with each other. Many martial problems can be traced back to poor communication. Clear communication is needed in parenting. Parents need to be very clear in speaking with their children. Parents need to be able to communicate with their children if they are to raise them properly. Clear communication is important in many different things from trying to follow a recipe to putting something together. Clear communication is important in many aspects of our lives but it is most important when it comes to the things of God. Clear communication is absolutely essential when it comes to such things as our relationship with God, heaven, hell, sin, repentance, judgment, salvation, death and eternal life. We need absolute clarity when it comes to knowing about the Lord.
Fortunately for us God is a God of communication. He speaks to us plainly. He speaks to us in His Word. We see that in our reading from the book of Acts. Luke records for us how the Holy Spirit came to the apostles on Pentecost to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the whole world in a manner that is clear and direct.
Fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, the followers of Jesus gathered in a house. During that gathering, a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. Tongues of fire rested on their heads. The sound of a great rushing wind drew the people of Jerusalem to that place. The apostles stood up and started to tell the people all that God had done through His Son, Jesus Christ. And miraculously everyone in the crowd heard them speaking in his or her own language. They were hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s important to understand that the tongues or languages spoken in our text were existing human languages. The text is crystal clear on this point and even mentions several of the languages. Each one was hearing them speak in his own language. Remember what was said in our text. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” God is not a God of confusion. He does not want to create chaos. His desire is clear communication. What we see in our text is very different from the speaking in tongues that we see in Pentecostal or charismatic churches. Our text is talking about the apostles speaking existing human languages.
Why is this important? Because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The church is the people of God, those who believe in Jesus Christ. But believers do not exist apart from the hearing of the Word of God. It people are not told about Jesus and what He had done for them, they cannot believe it. So while the church is the people of God, it never exists apart from the marks of the church – The Word of God, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Without the message that Christ died on the cross for our sins, the church does not exist. We see this on Pentecost. The crowd gathered because of the miracles but they don’t come to faith until they hear the Word of God preached to them.
Peter stood up and said these words to the crowd. “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words…. This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”. Peter starts in the Old Testament and applies the Old Testament Scriptures to what Christ had done. When the people understood the magnitude of their sins their consciences were cut to the core. Peter then proclaimed to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are told later in chapter two that many heard the Gospel and believed. Luke records for us that three thousand were baptized that very day.
The Holy Spirit came to the apostles and gave them the ability to speak in different languages so that all the people could clearly and directly hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit continues to work through the church so that the message of Jesus can be heard by all of us. Notice how many languages the Bible has been translated into. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek and yet we have all heard and read the Bible in English. God is a very good communicator. The hand of God moves through all these translations of the Bible so that we can all hear about Jesus in our own language. The church grows and is sustained by the clear and precise Word of God.
Pentecost is all about communication. God communicates to us through His Word that is through Holy Scripture. God speaks to us in human languages. The Bible has been translated into thousands of languages because God wants to clearly speak to all people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to us in the Word of God and clearly communicates the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus came down from heaven and became a man in order to walk among us. He lived a perfect life in our place. He died on the cross to atone for our sins. He rose again from the dead to assure us that His sacrifice on the cross has indeed been accepted by God the Father. He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He is the head of our church, hearing our prayers and answering our prayers. He preserves us now and forever. He will visibly return to judge all people. The Holy Spirit comes to us in the Word and directs our attention to Jesus Christ.
We live in a world of confusion. Husbands and wives often have trouble communicating with each other. Parents don’t always send the right messages to their children. Directions can be confusing. Movies are not always easy to follow. We get all sorts of messages in this world that are unclear, untrue, and misleading.
Not so with God. The Holy Spirit is a great communicator. He speaks the truth. He speaks what we need to hear. He communicates to us through the all-powerful Word of God. He gives us the Law of God. He reveals our sin. He calls us to repentance. He also gives to us the Gospel. He points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ. He gives to us the assurance that our sins have been forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross.
We do indeed hear and receive the Word of God. It is the Word that clearly communicates to us all that God has done for us. It communicates to us that we have a Savior, Christ Jesus. This is what Pentecost is all about. It is about clear communication that in Christ we do indeed have forgiveness, a right relationship with God, life and salvation. Amen.