The Last Pentecost

There came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they were amazed and marveled, saying, Why are not all these who are speaking Galileans? They are so amazed. Why, because these are, as they said, Galileans. What are they doing, speaking fluently in another language? Speaking of the mighty deeds of God.

Imagine, everything from African to Italian dialects are being spoken by these fishermen, these unlearned, uneducated men. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart, featuring the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. One of the most significant days in the history of the church is a day we call Pentecost. It's the day when Jesus kept his promise to send us the Holy Spirit. And when he did, marvelous things happen in the lives of the disciples. In the message you're about to hear, Stephen opens God's Word to the book of Acts and looks at the events surrounding Pentecost. This message is going to help you understand the work of the Holy Spirit. So stay with us.

Here's Stephen. More than three million people are jamming the streets of Jerusalem. Jewish law required that all males living within 20 miles of Jerusalem attend the Passover, the feast of first fruits and Pentecost.

Ordinary labor would be prohibited, the shops would be closed. Josephus, the Jewish historian living in the first century estimated that around three million people would be there and some 250,000 lambs would be slain as they celebrated their exodus from Egypt. Unknown to them, according to the plan of God, this was the last Pentecost. The dawning of a new dispensation was only a few hours away when the third person of the Godhead would make his electrifying descent from the heavens above. Acts chapter 2 is the story of that descent. Now in order to reenter the drama of this and what it means, we need to appreciate the significance of several things related to Pentecost, this last Pentecost.

The first one is this. This last Pentecost is the result of Christ's promise. Now would you take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 1 verse 5 where we can reread his promise? But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Look down at verse 8. But you shall, this is future tense, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses. Now one of the things about the Holy Spirit that is often confused is his role today and much of the third wave movement theology is quick to quote the verse that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. I certainly believe that he is the same yesterday and today and forever but that is a verse related to his essence, his deity, his unchangeableness. It has nothing to do with his function for as you study the scriptures his function changes. And I am so glad the function of the Holy Spirit has changed from the old covenant to the way he operates in the new covenant. Let me clarify a few of those ways he has changed. In your notes you have a little diagram.

Maybe you can fill in the blanks. In the old covenant or the old testament the role of the Holy Spirit in a person's life was temporary. We read in the old testament that the Holy Spirit came upon Saul.

And what happened? Later the Holy Spirit left Saul. We know in the new testament and the new covenant his role is permanent.

John 14, 16 Jesus promised he will dwell with you forever. In the old covenant or under the old testament lifestyle his presence was referred to as an anointing which would come about for special significant tasks. Samson is a good illustration of this. As the Holy Spirit came upon Samson he did certain things. And the Holy Spirit would depart after that task was fulfilled. David the psalmist writes the psalm that would be awfully confusing unless you understand the changing role of the Holy Spirit as he prayed Lord take not thy Holy Spirit away from me. That is not the prayer of a new testament Christian. That is the prayer of an old testament believer who understood that the anointing of the Spirit would allow him to function as king and he didn't want that anointing to be taken away. However in the new testament the Holy Spirit does not temporarily anoint. He permanently indwells a believer. John 14, 17 he is with you but future tense he will be in you.

That's what's about to happen. The Spirit had been with the disciples in the future in just a few days he is going to indwell them not just for special tasks but in the new covenant for every minute of every day. That's why I'm glad his role has changed for us today. In fact I want to make a couple of applications theologically that I want you to tuck into your notes or at least into your minds. The baptism of the Holy Spirit then is not a future blessing for faithful believers. Paul wrote to the most carnal divided church in the new testament record it's the church at least that received an epistle it would be the church in Corinth and he tells them in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13 you were all baptized by means of the Holy Spirit. Those who weren't even faithful had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because at conversion when you received Jesus Christ as your savior that invisible transaction occurs where you received all of the Holy Spirit not a little bit but all of them. Application number two the baptism of the Holy Spirit then is not a special privilege for spiritual people. So often the confusion comes with the words baptism and the word filling.

We are commanded to be filled the word could be rendered dominated or controlled. The baptism is that special invisible occurrence that baptized you in effect into the body of Christ. Did you feel it?

No. You didn't feel about a dozen things that happened when you trusted Christ as savior. In fact according to Paul that moment we were spiritually crucified with him.

I'm glad I didn't feel that. We were buried with him. We were resurrected with him. In fact if you want to experience or feel anything I wouldn't want to experience Pentecost I'd want to refer I want to experience what Paul refers to in Ephesians where he says that you are seated with him spiritually in the heavenlies. We're already there.

That's what I'd like to experience the reality of. He gives the Spirit to us in full measure. Paul wrote to Titus you've been saved not by works or deeds but by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out richly upon us all. Did you ever think about the fact that you and I do not deserve the benefit of the Holy Spirit any more than the benefit of the Lord Jesus? We receive the Lord Jesus not on the basis of our works or deeds whatever they might be. So we receive the Holy Spirit not on the basis of works or deeds whatever they may be. It's part of the gift of salvation. Now there's something else that I want you to know about this last Pentecost.

I think that'll be another point in your notes and it's this. The last Pentecost was the fulfillment of the Jewish celebration and this is so often overlooked. We need to stop just a moment here and and put on our history hats and and understand the chronology of the Jewish calendar because God's message is to the Jewish nation this is a Jewish event a Jewish celebration and what is happening here is a sign as well to the Jewish nation as well as the gospel going to and affect all the world. You remember that Jesus was led as a lamb to die in order to deliver men and women from the bondage of sin and that all happened at the same time that Israel was celebrating what feast? The Passover.

It is during the Passover that the temple shepherds in fact on the day that Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on that colt or that young donkey it is during that same time that the temple shepherds are herding the paschal lambs or the temple owned sheep into the city of Jerusalem where they will be slaughtered and the nation will celebrate their release from Egypt's bondage by the eating of that lamb. It is on that day if you can imagine visually the Lord Jesus entering the city and he is surrounded by the milling about of lambs and shepherds he the lamb of God is surrounded by paschal lambs. It's no coincidence that he was crucified during this time a few days later the Jews would enter another feast called the feast of first fruits where a priest would wave the sheep of grain before the Lord. They celebrated the fact that the seed had gone into the ground it had died but then it had come to life and it had born fruit.

Now what do you think happened on that day? Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He who was dead is now alive and so Paul will talk about Christ being our Passover in first Corinthians fifteen seven and then in verse ten he will say that he is our first fruits from among those who sleep.

This is not a coincidence ladies and gentlemen. This is God's perfect timing as he coincides the events of Christ's passion with the Jewish calendar. All of these Jewish celebrations looked forward to the time when Christ the full filler would make them more meaningful in fact fulfill them. Now a few days after that in fact fifty days after the feast of first fruits there will come that time in which they celebrate Pentecost in fact look at chapter two verse one and when the day of Pentecost had come you could write into the margin of your Bibles it might even be in your cross reference notes was fulfilled. That's why I'm referring to it as the last Pentecost.

That Jewish celebration was looking forward to the day when something else would happen in God's plan that would be fulfilled by Christ and here the Holy Spirit. Now Israel had been celebrating Pentecost for centuries. Pentecost literally means fiftieth.

That's all that word Pentecostas means. It happened fifty days after the feast of first fruits. Now one of the primary functions of Pentecost was to celebrate the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. Now if you remember in your Old Testament memory that at Mount Sinai God moved supernaturally and there was the rumbling of great sounds there was fire and smoke and then God supernaturally communicated the law to his servant. Now here at the last Pentecost guess what you have? Loud sounds, fire and God supernaturally communicating the message of what?

Law? No, grace through his servants. At the first Pentecost and the celebrations for all the centuries up to this point they are celebrating the giving of the law and the law will produce a national conscience. Here at the last Pentecost God will give his Holy Spirit which will produce an international church. To pray for Pentecost to happen again is to ignore the simple fact that it was an historical event prophesied centuries earlier with unrepeatable action. To pray for Pentecost would be like praying for Sinai to occur. We can't duplicate Pentecost any more than we can duplicate Bethlehem or Calvary. To pray for Pentecost to occur would be like Americans praying to receive independence from England. We have it.

Nobody today is praying for the revolution. At least people walking the streets freely. We are experiencing the benefit of that historical event called the American Revolution in which we gained our independence. Likewise the apostles are waiting for the Holy Spirit to descend and dwell them and begin that ministry of baptism into the body of Christ so that today we who are born again, now that the Spirit has come, immediately benefit from that past experience.

So we have them immediately. Now, another point. The last Pentecost marked the creation then of the New Testament church. Paul says, in effect, come on, wake up. Don't you realize that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which you received from him and now you're not your own? Now collectively we, little temples, come together and we form what's called something brand new.

It's an ekklesia. It is a New Testament church, a local body that moves and functions and serves and glorifies and evangelizes. Three things happened as the Holy Spirit descended. Let me have you write these into your notes and then we'll look at the passage. First of all, something audible happened.

Look at Acts chapter 2. Let's look at verse 1 again. And when the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in one place, suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Now you need to understand here.

Look carefully. A mighty rushing wind did not come in. It's the sound. It is as a violent, a noise like a violent rushing wind. Please note it wasn't a rushing wind that came in tearing at their clothes. It had somebody in our church who experienced the tornado of a few years ago.

It came right through his backyard. He said, Stephen, it sounded like a locomotive. It was an incredible noise, like the lag of a jet plane, this noise that fills the room and begins to build.

The word noise is from the original word echo, which gives our word echo. It is resounding in this room. Something audible happened. Then something visible happened. Look at verse 3. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves and they rested on each one of them. Notice again it's not literal fire. It looks like fire. It's the only way he could describe it.

You read in Revelation and John are right over and over again. I saw something like. He's racing through his vocabulary to describe the unexplainable. Well, here's an unexplainable event when all of a sudden this noise begins to build in the room to a crescendo and then suddenly perhaps through the ceiling or through the door.

We don't know. But this this this wisp as if it were a flame comes in and then it separates and goes and rests over the head of each individual. And I don't know what I'd have done, but I might have been ducking.

I'm not sure if I'd want that on me. This would have been frightening. A traumatic event. But as fire was the symbol of the divine presence. So God is making it clear. I'm here in a new way.

You've never seen anything like this before. Now something verbal took place. Look at verse four. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit dominated by the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

By the way to the the neo-Pentecostal or charismatic claim that Pentecost is occurring, I would simply hold them accountable to all three things occurring. Something audible. The sound of a jet plane. Something visible. The flame which appears.

And then something verbal. Now the word tongue in your translation comes from the Greek word which gives us our transliterated word glossary. Later on in this text in verse six and in verse eight the word is changed to the Greek word which gives us our transliterated word dialect. The word dialectus. This was a known language consisting not of babbling.

They're about to preach sermons. A dialect. There is glossary. There is a vocabulary involved here. I had the unique experience of being prayed over by a holiness preacher when I was in college who prayed over me in tongues. And I can repeat to you everything he prayed because it was the simple consonant vowel, consonant vowel, consonant vowel that my little two and a half year old girl used before she learned how to talk. It was babbling. That isn't what you have here.

You have something occurring that is we'll discover in a moment is a known language with all the function and form of a language. Now this this brings me to another critical point. I hate to put it on hold here but we're going to have to because you need to understand this other point about Pentecost. Pentecost is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Let me try to explain to you that what is about to happen here in Acts was prophesied centuries before by the prophet Isaiah. Take your Bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter 28. Look at verse 11. Isaiah is prophesying to the nation Israel indeed he will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue. He who said to them here is rest.

Give rest to the weary and here is repose but what? How did the nation of Israel respond? They would not listen. So because they would not listen he's going to send them the sign. He will speak through this sign.

What is that sign? How will the people know that they rejected the rest giver? Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue. Now this passage is literally fulfilled during the Babylonian captivity where people of a foreign tongue come and carry them away. However in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 Paul quotes this verse in relation to the phenomena of tongues speaking and makes as it were an application to that phenomena, that sign from God that would exist until Jerusalem is destroyed in AD 70.

So get this picture in your mind. When Peter and the others are standing and they begin speaking with this foreign tongue every rabbi who had the book of Isaiah memorized, every religious leader who held in high esteem their great prophet Isaiah as soon as they heard what to them were unintelligible languages every one of them immediately was struck I'm sure with the terror of the thought this was prophesied by our great prophet we have rejected the true Messiah. He who promised rest when Jesus Christ stood and said come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you. What was he talking about a nap?

No. He's talking about a national spiritual rest when they recognize him as Messiah. They rejected the rest giver. Isaiah knew that by way of supernatural inspiration and so Isaiah said guess what we're going to give you a sign Israel that you rejected the Messiah and the sign is going to be the phenomena of language. Now how did the nation respond?

Go back to Acts. As we look at their response I have to ask you the question what is your response been to the truth of the Holy Spirit's descent? What has been your response to the beginning of this dispensation of grace, this new age, this new covenant?

Well maybe you'll see yourself here. Look at verse 5. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation. Notice these are Jews from every nation.

This is a sign to the Jews. And when this sound occurred the multitude came together and were bewildered. Evidently this sound wasn't confined to the room. For all we know it may have filled all of Jerusalem but this sound as of a hurricane or tornado filled the city and when everybody heard it they were bewildered. They came look what happened verse 7. And they were amazed and marveled saying why are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Let me give you for the purpose of your notes the three responses. The first one is amazement.

I wish I could have seen this. They are so amazed why because these are as they said Galileans. What are they doing speaking fluently in another language? They are amazed. We hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.

Imagine everything from African to Italian dialects are being spoken by these fishermen, these unlearned, uneducated men. I have no doubt in my mind that the religious leadership of that nation understood immediately the parallel to this event and the prophecy of Isaiah 28 and that they had indeed rejected the true Messiah. Now there's also great confusion.

Look at verse 12. And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity saying to one another what does this mean? The rank and file were confused. There's amazement. There's confusion. Thirdly there is ridicule or rejection. But others were mocking and saying they are full of sweet wine.

It's a potent concoction about a year old that evidently from what I've read had quite a kick. They are filled with this sweet wine. Well what are they saying? They're saying the temple is filled with drunk men.

Well when do drunk men speak fluently in another language? They simply can't explain it so they try to explain it away. And their explanation is ludicrous. It's like Bob Ingersoll, the agnostic, didn't believe God existed, would gather a crowd nearly a century ago. He never said anything against God, at least not publicly back then. And he would stand on a makeshift stage and he would raise his stopwatch and say if there is a God let him strike me dead in 30 seconds. Men would gasp.

Women would faint. And he would simply count down the seconds. If God truly exists I command him to strike me dead. And he would just count it down.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And he'd say see, God does not exist. I'm still alive.

Since when has God been obligated to obey anyone? There are skeptics today ladies and gentlemen who look at you and what God has done in your life and they can't explain it. You've changed.

Your vocabulary has taken out some words and added new words. When you come into work on Monday morning and they ask you what did you do over the weekend, you've got a totally different answer. They can't believe it.

You went to where? And so they will either be amazed, they may be confused, they may simply ridicule and reject the evidence. Let me just make one more challenge that comes from this passage. Question number one, do you have all of the Holy Spirit? That's another way of saying have you been born again? Because when you received Christ you were born again into a new family and you were placed there by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I'm telling you the truth of scripture that the Holy Spirit has come. Have you received him or are you rejecting him? For those of you that have received him and the gift of eternal life my question to you is this, does the Holy Spirit have all of you? My friend the Holy Spirit was not given to you so that you could have some unusual experience. He was given to you so that you could obey the Lord and his word and stand as a witness and testify before the jury of the world.

He was given to you so that you might know how to walk with distinction and godliness so that you might be able to come to this scripture and understand the truth in order that you might obey the leadership of the living God. I like the funny little story that actually happened in a church in Wisconsin. A fifth grade teacher wrote about it. He was teaching his class and he wanted them to learn a creed and he knew that all the kids wouldn't be able to memorize the whole creed and so he divided it up into little phrases and then he assigned each child the responsibility of learning their particular phrase and when they gathered in the classroom together they would begin the class by reciting the creed only one child after another would stand and put in their little input phrase.

It seemed to be going well. He had hoped that all the children would learn the message of the creed even though they only had to memorize one little phrase. He thought they were learning what it all meant until one day about four months into the experiment they began class the normal way. One little girl stood and said rather flawlessly her phrase I believe in God the Father maker of heaven and earth and then a little boy stood and said I believe in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord and it was real quiet. We kind of looked around and then one of the little fifth grade girls said teacher having figured it out the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit is absent today.

I wonder if the reason we haven't turned our city upside down for Christ I wonder if we are not turning the world upside down for Christ the reason behind that being we really haven't bought into this we'd rather not talk about the Holy Spirit. Every time you say I believe in the Holy Spirit you are making yourself accountable aren't you? Because the Holy Spirit then you declare with your own lips resides within you. Every time you say I believe in Acts chapter two you are saying I believe that God is passionate in his purpose to change you to empower you to take your stand maybe it's safer to not talk about it but for those of us who say we believe he has promised by him to conform us to the likeness of his son. If you're a Christian the Holy Spirit entered your life the very moment you believed and as Stephen just reminded you he's continuing his work in you even today. I'm so glad you joined us here on Wisdom for the Heart.

Stephen is working his way through a series called The Harvest Begins. It comes from the book of Acts and it's part of our vintage wisdom library. Today's message is called The Last Pentecost. If you'd like to go back and listen to this message again visit wisdomonline.org then join us next time for more wisdom for the hearts.