The Story of God: Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4; John 7:37-39
Let’s turn to Acts 2. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Acts 2 is on p. 909 in the Bibles we are passing out. Acts 2 describes the day of Pentecost – when Jesus poured the Holy Spirit out upon the church.
But before we look at that passage, I want to set the stage with two questions. First: Why is the Holy Spirit so important? Here’s why: our highest joy is knowing God, feeling God, experiencing God. We can seek joy in sex, in food, in friends, in work, in entertainment – and those are all good gifts from God; but our infinitely highest joy is knowing God. That’s how we’ve been created. We are all square holes – which can only be filled by a square peg – God.
But how can we know, feel, experience God? In Gen. 2 we read that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. That would have been amazing. But since Adam and Eve’s sin, God has removed himself and the Garden of Eden from earth – so now how can we know, feel, and experience God?
That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is a personal being who thinks, feels, and acts; He’s not an impersonal force or power. And he is fully God – all of who God is, is in the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit’s job is to make God real to us in our experience – so we know Him and feel Him. There’s only one way we now can know, feel, and experience God—and that’s by God giving us the Holy Spirit.
But there’s a problem. Because we’ve all rebelled against God, God has to punish us. It would be unjust for Him to give us something as precious as His Holy Spirit; He has to punish us. But in astonishing love God chose to save a vast number that no one can count from every tribe and nation and language. God the Father was willing to punish His own Son for our sins; and Jesus the Son was willing to be punished in our place for our sins.
So here’s what happens. You’ve been going through life ignoring God, rebelling against God, trying to find your satisfaction in work and HBO and sex and food and exercise. You’re not satisfied, but you’re just not interested in Jesus. But then one day someone tells you about Jesus. And as they tell you about Jesus, your heart changes. You see Jesus as He really is – loving, good, merciful, all-satisfying. And you turn from the other things you trusted to satisfy you, and you turn to trust Jesus to satisfy you – and forgive you and guide you.
And then God does something wonderful: He gives you the gift of the Spirit. He gives you the third person of the Trinity, whose job is to make God real to you. And for the first time you know God, you feel God, you experience God. And for the first time you are completely, overflowingly satisfied.
Here’s a story I’ve told before, and I’ll tell it again. It’s about Blaise Pascal, who lived in France in the 1600’s. At some point in his life someone had told him about Jesus, and he had repented of his sins and trusted Jesus and received the gift of the Spirit. And throughout his life the Spirit enabled Pascal to know God, feel God, experience God.
We know about one of those times because after he died, a small piece of paper was found inside a pocket in his shirt. He had written this one night as he was praying and seeking the Lord. Here’s what he wrote:
This day of Grace 1654;
From about half past ten at night, to about half after midnight, Fire.
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob;
Not of the philosophers and the wise.
Security, security. Feeling, joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ. He can be found only in the ways taught in the Gospel.
O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I know you.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ.
I have separated myself from Him; I have fled, renounced, crucified Him.
May I never be separated from Him again. (Paraphrased, Joy Unspeakable, pp.106f)
That’s what the Holy Spirit does. Now our experience will not necessarily be that intense. But by the Holy Spirit we will know, feel, experience God.
So that’s the first question. Now the second question is: How did people experience the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? That is, before Jesus died and rose again, what did people experience of the Holy Spirit?
People have different answers for this. My opinion is that people had very similar experience of the Spirit in the Old Testament as we do today. The one difference is that they did not experience the Spirit making the crucified and resurrected Jesus real to them – because that had not yet happened. But other than that, Old Testament saints powerfully experienced the Holy Spirit making God real to them so they knew and felt God.
That’s why in Psa 16:11 David can say that in God’s presence He has fullness of joy. That’s why in Psa 51 David prays and asks God not to take the Holy Spirit from him. That’s why Jeremiah can say that God is a fountain of living water. And that’s why John the Baptist’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, are both said to be filled with the Spirit – before Jesus died and rose again, before the Day of Pentecost (Luk 1:41,67).
But all through the Old Testament this only affected a small percentage of Israel, and even fewer Gentiles. Which meant that all through the Old Testament very few people experienced the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was like a few drops of rain sprinkling here and there.
But in the Old Testament God promised something amazing: that that the day would come when He would not just sprinkle a few drops of His Spirit – but He would pour out His Spirit upon the earth – lavishly, broadly – like a torrential downpour of rainfall (Isa 44:3; Joe 2:28-32).
This happened for the first time on the Day of Pentecost, in Acts 2. So what happened at Pentecost? Jesus had died, risen from the dead, and told his apostles to wait in Jerusalem until He poured out His Spirit upon them – which He then did on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost was a Jewish feast day where Jews from all around the Mediterranean came to Jerusalem to celebrate. And God had all the believers gather together in one place. And look at what happened in Acts 2:1-4 –
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they [all the believers] were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
So there was a sound like a wind – loud, like a mighty, rushing wind -- which filled the entire house. Then v.3 --
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
It’s hard to be sure, but I think this was a picture of how the Holy Spirit would set their tongues on fire as witnesses of Jesus. Then read v.4 --
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. God gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and as a result they each felt the truth of Jesus, experienced the truth of Jesus, had a first-hand encounter with the living Jesus. And keep reading in v.4 --
4 .. and [they] began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
As the Holy Spirit enabled them to feel the truth of Jesus, they began to speak out the truth of Jesus. But then another miracle happened. What came out of their mouths was words in languages they had never learned – the exact languages that were spoken by the people who were filling Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost – so they all heard about Jesus in their own languages.
Now at this point a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that the main issue of the Day of Pentecost was the speaking in tongues. That was not the main issue. It’s an amazing miracle, but it’s not the main point. God does still give the gift of tongues – there’s the kind of tongues that happened here, and a different gift that’s described in 1 Corinthians 12. But as we read in 1 Corinthians, God does not give the gift of tongues to everyone, and tongues is not the ultimate spiritual experience. The ultimate spiritual experience is being filled with the Spirit -- because that’s when the Holy Spirit enables you to feel the truth of Jesus.
But it was also amazing that people around heard them speaking of Jesus in their own languages. And some of those listening believed – but some mocked. So Peter stood up and preached – explaining that this was what had been promised in the Old Testament, that Jesus was the Messiah who had poured out the Spirit, that they had killed the Messiah sent from God, but God had raised him from the dead.
When the people heard this, many were convicted of their sin, and asked Peter what they could do to be saved. And look at Peter’s answer in Acts 2:38 –
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; just like we did! And then read v.41 –
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
So it was not just 120 who received the gift of the Spirit; on that same day another 3,000 received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That marked the beginning of a new day in God’s plan for the world. Jesus had died on the Cross to pay for our sins and risen from the dead. Which is why, on this day, the few drops of the Old Testament turned into the torrential downpour of the New Testament – a torrential downpour that has continued ever since.
So who gets to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit? We’ve already seen Peter’s answer – everyone who repents and trusts Jesus. But let me show you one other passage which confirms this same truth – John 7:37-39 (p.893) –
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Here Jesus is talking about receiving the gift of the Spirit; about being filled with the Spirit. And He explains what this means: it means bringing your heart-thirst to Jesus, and believing, trusting in Jesus. When we do that the Holy Spirit will enable you to feel the truth of Jesus, and the result is that your heart-thirst will be so satisfied, that it will be like having rivers of living water pouring from your heart.
Think of this as a before picture and an after picture. Before: if anyone is thirsty. You’re thirsty. Empty. Full of heart-thirst. After: out of His heart will flow rivers of living water. Not a creek, but a river. And not a river, but rivers!
Now notice from this verse who it is that gets to experience this. In v.38 – it’s “whoever believes” in Jesus. In v.39 – it’s “those who believed in him.” So who gets to experience this? Everyone who believes in Jesus!
So – are you experiencing this? Do you regularly have times when your heart thirsts are so satisfied in Jesus that it’s like a river of living water is pouring from your heart? This is God’s gift to you – purchased for you through Jesus’ death on the Cross – if you will trust Jesus. That’s all you need to do – trust Jesus. So let’s talk about what that means:
How can I experience more of this work of the Spirit? The answer is by faith in Jesus, but let me show you three things that this faith involves:
First, faith means repenting – turning from the other things I’ve been trusting to satisfy my heart. You can see that in Acts 2:38 (p.910) –
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It’s impossible to trust Jesus to satisfy your heart, while you’re clinging to other things to satisfy your heart. If your hands are clinging to something over here to satisfy you, then your hands can’t at the same time cling to Jesus to satisfy you. So the first step is to let go of the other things I’ve been trusting to satisfy my heart.
Then second, faith means setting my heart upon the truth of Jesus. So how do we do that? The answer is in Galatians 3:5 (p.973). This is one of the clearest verses showing how we continue to experience the gift of the Spirit. Look at what Paul says –
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith--
Notice the question – how does God supply the Spirit to you? How does God fill us with His Spirit so we feel the truth of Jesus? It’s by hearing with faith.
What the Spirit enables us to feel is the truth of Jesus. So we need to give Him some truth to work with. We do that by opening up God’s Word, and setting our hearts upon Jesus – His love, His wisdom, His forgiveness, His glory.
And then third, faith means asking God to give you more of the Holy Spirit. You can see that in Luke 11:13 (p.869) –
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
To whom? To those who ask Him.
Thursday afternoon I was feeling scattered, not particularly close to Jesus, sad about a certain situation. So I put aside what I was working on, and repented – I turned away from that other thing I was trusting to satisfy me. Then I set my heart on Jesus – by opening up Psa 86:4-5 and talking to Jesus about how He is good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in steadfast love to all who call on Him. And then I prayed, and asked God to give me more of the Spirit, so I would feel this truth about Jesus.
And He did. It was no where near what Pascal experienced. But I met Jesus in Psa 86:4-5.
Lab
Sometimes we open up for questions. But this morning I want us to have a lab – where do actually do this.
So start off with repenting. What, besides Jesus, are you trusting to satisfy you? Look at what’s worrying you; or at what’s distracting you. So ask Jesus to forgive you for trusting something besides him to satisfy you, and turn from whatever that is. Do that right now.
Then set your heart on the truth of Jesus. I’m putting Psa 86:4-5 here on the screen. Talk to Jesus about how He is good, and forgiving, and abundant in steadfast love to all who call on Him. God provides the Spirit as we hear with faith. So hear these truths with faith. Set your heart on them.
And then ask God to give you more of the Holy Spirit. How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. So ask Him. Understand that this is not something you earn or deserve. Jesus purchased this precious gift for you by dying on the Cross. It’s yours – if you will trust Jesus. If you will turn from whatever else you’ve been trusting and trust Him alone to satisfy you.
So take time every day to repent, set your heart on the truth of Jesus, and ask God to give His Spirit to you. From your heart will flow rivers of living water.