“What meaneth this” to THEM and to ME
Acts 2:1-36
There are roughly three main events in the history of Christianity: Bethlehem, Calvary, and Pentecost. Bethlehem is “God with us.” Calvary is “God for us.” Pentecost is “God in us.”
We understand what Bethlehem means. We understand what Calvary means.
“What meaneth this” in Acts 2. What meaneth this coming of the Holy Sprit to the early church, and what does it mean to the church today.
I. It meant there was a Presence that was Supernatural God’s calendar has in it 2 unforgettable days: the day
when the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world laid down His life as the world’s Savior; and, the day when the ascended Lord bestowed upon the church the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I said a moment ago that Pentecost is "God in us."
Pentecost presents the indwelling of God in the believer by way of the Holy Spirit. God gives the believer an enabling presence. A presence that brings POWER.
The first believers were indwelt with the Spirit at Pentecost. Today believers are indwelt with the Spirit at the moment of conversion.
I love the way Jesus describes this in John 14:16-17 where He says, "I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nether knoweth him: but ye know him: for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Bethlehem was "God with us." Calvary was "God for us." Pentecost was "God in us."
Today, God is in me, dwelling within me, empowering me with His awesome presence. That’s the real truth Acts 2: the supernatural presence of God in the believer.
A. A presence that comforts.
Who can Cheer the heart like Jesus,
By his presence all divine.
B. A presence that confounds (6, 7, 12)
Astonishment filled the air. What has happened to these people.
C. A presence that convicts (37)
The Holy Spirit works through you. He will work
through you as you yield to Him, allowing Him to fill you and control your life. If you want to be an effective Christian, begin where the Bible says to begin: be continually filled with the Spirit. This power is already in you; it just needs to be turned on by yielding to it. Then you’ll see God work through your life in a way that prepares others to receive God.
Without the preparation by the Spirit--without the evidence of God in your life--you won’t earn from others the right to speak about Him. If Peter had spoken without the miracles that preceded his sermon, he would have probably been stoned on the spot.
Let the Spirit control your life so that you live in a way that makes others willing to hear you.
II. It meant there was Preaching that was Scriptural These disciples preached the Bible under the power of
the Holy Spirit to the people who were gathered.
I heard about a preacher the other day that had just finished one of his normal long-winded, dry sermons. He announced that after the service there would be a meeting of the Board.
Following the service, a first-time visitor was the first to meet the pastor. The pastor said, "Sir, you must have misunderstood the announcement. I announced a meeting of the Board."
The visitor replied, "No, I totally understood that this is a meeting of the Board; and, if there is anyone here more BORED than I am, I’d love to meet them."
When the Holy Spirit comes to church it certainly will not be a meeting of the bored. He will take that which is dead and dry and make it divine and dynamic.
A. Here was preaching that pointed to the Scriptures
“This is what which was spoken by the prophet
Joel” (2:16). He quoted from Psalms
Two hundred of the five hundred words that are recorded in Peter’s sermons are words quoted from the Old Testament. This is a convincing method of preaching.
B. Here was preaching that pointed to the Saviour
1. He preached His incarnation.
We get this in verse 22 in the words "Jesus of Nazareth, a man . . ." He was the God-man, for He was the man Who was "approved of God," a phrase which indicates
His deity.
2. He preached His crucifixion.
We get this in verse 23, which declares divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and which tells us that our Lord was born to die, and that His death was
purposeful.
3. He preached His resurrection.
We get this in verses 24 and 32. Peter showed that this was predicted in the Old Testament scriptures, verses 25-28, and this was always the great emphasis of early church’s teaching and preaching.
4. He preached His exaltation.
We get this in verses 33 and 36. What a triumphant conclusion this was to a great sermon!
III. It meant there was People that were Saved
The Holy Spirit equips believers to share the Good News of the Gospel with people so that they might be saved. God gave the apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost so that they can tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ so that they, in turn, will go back to their homes in other countries and spread the Good News they had witnessed and heard in Jerusalem.
There is an evangelistic purpose in mind here in God’s giving the Holy Spirit. God gives an empowering presence for an evangelistic purpose.
You see, these 120 disciples—men and women—began to use their tongues to speak in the exact languages of all the people who had come from nations all over the world to celebrate Pentecost. Unlearned peasants were miraculously able to speak in more languages than you would hear at the Olympics! Verses 9-11 specify which languages were being spoken.
A. There Was Conviction
“When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts … what shall we do?” (2:37)
Peter a few months before used the sword in the wrong way, because he used the wrong sword. When he chopped off the ear of Malchus, he slashed a piece off of the outside. At Pentecost, he used the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and used it to rightly reach the inside.
Conviction is the Holy Spirit’s first work in a human heart. It is doubtful if there is any genuine salvation without genuine conviction.
Until there is conviction of sin, a person feels no need for a Savior. What is there to be saved from? Before the Holy Spirit brings conviction, the sinner thinks, “I’m a pretty decent person. I live a good moral life.” He compares himself with murderers, rapists, child molesters, and the like, and thinks that things must be okay between him and God. But when the Holy Spirit begins to convict the person about sin, righteousness, and judgment, he begins to see that God will judge not only outward actions, but also every evil thought and every careless word, and He judges everyone, not based on a curve of human goodness, but by the perfection of His own holiness. Through God’s Word, the sinner learns that his sin put the sinless Son of God on the cross.
When God reveals such things through His Spirit and His Word, sinners see their desperate situation and cry out, “What shall we do?
B. There Was Conversion
“Repent.”
That day 3,000 souls were saved.
C. There Was Confession
“And be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,” (2:38b)
By their baptism they were personally proclaiming their faith in Christ. Baptism is an open identification with Jesus Christ.
How do you know that Baptismal Regeneration is not being taught here?
1. It contradicts other scriptures (Jn. 1:12, 3:16, Rom. 10:9-10, Gal. 2:16)
2. Paul did not consider baptism as part of the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:17)
3. The preposition “for” can be translated either as “for the purpose of” or “because of.”
4. "Whosever believeth in him shall receive
remission of sin” (Acts 10:43).
Baptism is not the important thing here. It is repentance and belief in His name that obtains remission of sins. It is changing your mind about Jesus Christ that enables God to wipe out all your guilt and all the sins of your past.
When that happens, Peter says, you will receive the Holy Spirit....the third Person will come and live inside you. His work will be to make Jesus Christ visible, real, and close to you--to impart His life to your own. Notice that Peter did not promise these people the gift of tongues, flames of fire, or a sound of rushing wind.
Today the Spirit of God comes into the human heart without any demonstration or sign at all, on the basis of repentance and faith. You receive forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit at the point of repentance.
Conclusion
Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards were both killed in Cameroon several years ago. Ruby was over 80. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon. Their brakes failed and their car went over the cliff. They were both killed instantly.
Was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ—two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.
I tell you what a tragedy is. I’ll read to you from Reader’s Digest (Feb. 2000, p. 98) what a tragedy is: "Bob and Penny... took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59, and she was 51. Now they live in Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells."
The American Dream: come to the end of your life - your one and only life - and let the last great work before you give an account to God, be "I collected shells. See my shells."
THAT is a tragedy, and yet people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream.
Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life. It is so short and so precious.
God’s purpose at Pentecost was to equip His church with the mighty power of the Holy Spirit so that they would be His witnesses to all the nations, resulting in His eternal glory.
I want you to ask yourself these questions as you think about this purpose:
(1) Is your focus on God’s glory in all things?
Did I even think about His golory as I went
through my week? Did His glory determine how I resisted temptation or how I spoke to others?
(2) Is your passion that the world might hear
the gospel of Jesus Christ?
If my heart is not on world missions, it is not in tune with God’s heart.
(3) Is your daily life consciously dependent on
the Holy Spirit?
Would I have missed Him if He had withdrawn from me this past week? Do I lean on Him for purity of life and power to obey God?
(4) Is my daily desire to bear witness of Christ
to those who are lost and perishing?
The Spirit isn’t given just to make us
happy. He is given to make us holy so that our life and our words bring glory to God as I bear witness to His saving grace. That is the meaning of Pentecost for you and me.
