Fullness of the Spirit
What is your favorite holiday? Mine is Christmas. I love everything about it. The thing I love more than the feeling of nostalgia and the holiday spirit is the meaning behind it. It reminds us that God came. Emmanuel means God is with us. Christmas and Easter are the main Christian holidays we celebrate. Jesus was born in order to die. And He must die in order to rise from the dead. Christmas and Easter go hand in hand. Now, there are some big Jewish holidays, or feasts/festivals that they celebrated every year. The three major feasts were Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles.
We understand the messianic meaning behind the Passover. The Passover symbolizes and remembers the day God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. The Israelites were told to slaughter a lamb and spread the blood above the doorpost of their home, and they would be spared from the judgment of death. This all points to what Jesus would come to do. When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, do you know what he said? “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[1]
Pentecost comes fifty days after Passover.[2] The Greek word pentecost literally means fiftieth. It was a feast of covenant renewal and also called “Day of First Fruits” or “Feast of Weeks,” because it was essentially 7 weeks following Passover. This festival eventually came to be connected with the giving of the law at Sinai. In a way it symbolizes Israel arriving at Sinai, where God gave the law fifty days after the Passover. At this feast, they would give a grain offering. This was also called the Day of First Fruits, so they would give the first fruits of their spring wheat harvest. The meaning of the festival isn’t the important thing within the context of this passage, though.
Being one of three major feasts in the Jewish tradition, this festival was highly attended, and it was likely because of the good weather. That’s really the main reason it is mentioned here. There was a large crowd of Jews from other nations present. Many would make the pilgrimage for Passover and stay the seven weeks until Pentecost. Jesus had just given his followers the commission to go to all the nations but to wait in Jerusalem for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Now, God’s people from all nations had come to Jerusalem. And what Jesus promised came to pass.
Augustine explained Pentecost like this:
“Fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which, as Moses ordered, was accomplished by slaying the lamb, a type to signify the future passion of the Lord) to the day on which Moses received the law on tablets written by the finger of God. Likewise, when fifty days had passed from the slaying and resurrection of him who was led to the slaughter, the finger of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, filled believers gathered in one place.”[3]
And that’s how we remember Pentecost—not by its Jewish meaning, but because of what it means for the gospel. Here is one thing we see from this Pentecost.
God fulfills His promises. (1-2)
The Holy Spirit came. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit.
“During his ministry Jesus taught about the coming Holy Spirit (e.g. John 14-16) and made the same promise in Acts 1:4-5, 8. Later, Paul referred to “the promised Holy Spirit,” a reminder that he was long anticipated (Gal 3:14; Eph 1:13).”[4]
So it wasn’t just Jesus that promised the Holy Spirit, but the Father long ago promised it. There are many passages that show us this,[5] but I want us to hear from Joel 2, because after Pentecost, Peter gives a powerful sermon (which we’ll look at next week), and this passage from Joel is what he is interpreting the events of Pentecost through.
Joel 2:28-29
28 And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
“Acts 2 is a wonderful reminder of God’s promise-keeping nature.”[6] That means that whatever He promises in the Bible is true. He is certain to do what He says, and you can trust Him.
God is present. Remember the context of our text for today. Jesus just left His disciples. But the last thing He promised them was that He would be with them always.[7]
I want you to dwell on the big-picture implications of this. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, but when they sinned, they ran and hid from God. God still called out to them, though, seeking to draw them near. But He was always at a distance from that point forward because of our sin. In the Old Testament, the dwelling place of God was in the tabernacle or the temple. But once the Holy Spirit was given, made possible by the death of Jesus (when He died, the curtain of the temple was ripped from top to bottom),[8] He resides within the heart of each follower of Christ. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit.[9] Not only that, but in Revelation 21, we are told that in the New Heavens and the New Earth, the “dwelling place” of God will be with man. That word “dwelling place” is literally the word for tabernacle. Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has been seeking to come near. What we see with the giving of the Holy Spirit is that he is near. The different symbols we see give further meaning to this point.
God’s presence is seen through wind. (2) “The Hebrew word for ‘wind,’ ruah, and the Greek word pneuma are both used for the Holy Spirit. This is the same word as when God breathed life into Adam. It is the same word that is used when God breathed life into the bones within the valley of dry bones. So, the word for wind is often synonymous in the Old Testament for the Holy Spirit.
God’s presence is seen through fire. (3) Throughout the Old Testament fire phenomena are used to depict the presence of God.[10] “God’s presence comes with fire in the burning bush of Exod. 3:2 (Acts 7:30), the pillar of the fire in Exod. 13:21 (Deut. 4:33; 5:24-26; 18:16), before Elijah (1 Kings 18:38), and in association with Ezekiel’s call (Ezek. 1:13-14, 17). God is described as a consuming fire in Deut. 4:24 and 9:3 as an image of judgment.”[11]
The way the Spirit spread was like fire, and that’s how God intends to use us as the Spirit works within us and through us.
(story of soybean fire)
Combine wind and fire, and what do you get? A blaze. That’s what God wants to do within us and through us.
Charles Simeon said,
“It is the property of fire to enlighten, to warm, to purify, and such were to be the effects of the Spirit that was poured out upon them, for while by the diversity of tongues in which they spoke they communicated light and understanding to the world, they inflamed them with love to the Lord Jesus Christ and transformed them into the very image of God. And thus was the prophecy of John the Baptist accomplished (cf. Matt. 3:11).”[12]
God’s presence is seen through communication. (4) God is a God of words. Jesus is the Word incarnate. In the beginning, God spoke everything into existence. When someone would have a special relationship with God in the Old Testament, they would speak with God. For example, in Exodus 33:11, it says of Moses, “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
What we see at Pentecost is God speaking through His people. The word translated “tongues” is the Greek word dialektos. It is where we get our word “dialect” or “language.” These were known languages that the people from different nations were hearing the gospel in. And they were perplexed by this. You would be too! But they were more perplexed not that they were hearing their own language, but because of who was speaking those languages—ordinary Galileans. Here’s one thing we see from this.
The Spirit changes believers. (5-8)
Hear what Charles Spurgeon said to show us how why these hearers were so perplexed by hearing from these Galileans.
“The Galilean dialect was a base degradation of the true Jewish tongue, so that the Galileans were always subject of sneers and scoffings on account of their mispronunciation. There are several stories in the old rabbinical writings, all intended to ridicule the Galileans, yet these men had now been taught to speak their own language perfectly, and, what was marvelous still, languages that they had never heard now came pouring forth from their lips with the greatest fluency.”[13]
It would be as if good ‘ol Jim Bob started rattling off perfect Mandarin to a Chinese person. It’s not just that they were speaking the correct language, but they were doing it in the right dialect. People who can’t do the deep guttural sounds of their language were doing it perfectly. It’s like if I spoke Spanish to a Hispanic (and I made an F in Spanish in college…and I can’t roll my r’s), but I not only spoke perfect Spanish, but I pronounced everything in the correct accent, with rolled r’s and everything. It would astonish you if someone did that to you! That’s just one way that the Spirit changes believers…He did so for those at Pentecost on this one occasion. Remember, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things!
Many people, when they hear of the work of the Holy Spirit, think of the visible manifestations we see in this Pentecost narrative. That’s not the common work of the Spirit, though. Pentecost is a one-time event, not a repeatable occurrence. The rest of the New Testament refers to other main visible manifestations of the Spirit, other ways the Spirit changes us. For example, Ephesians 5:18-21.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The Spirit is visibly manifested through the changed life of the believer. The Spirit is seen through communication, worship, joy, thanksgiving, and submission to one another. That’s the Holy Spirit at work within us!
We also see the Spirit visibly manifested through fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 says,
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control…
You know how the inner work of the Holy Spirit is made visible? It’s when grandpa doesn’t cuss anymore and smiles a whole lot more. It’s when mom no longer yells at dad but lovingly serves him. It’s when negative Nancy won’t stop seeing the bright side of life. It’s when Jim doesn’t touch another bottle of alcohol except for when he pours it down the sink. It’s like the end of a Christmas Carol when Ebenezer Scrooge changes from a crotchety old man to a jolly tender-hearted lover of all. The Spirit is most visibly seen when He molds us into the image of Christ. That’s when the world take notice.
Remember the meaning of Pentecost? It has come to celebrate and remember the giving of the law on tablets of stone to Moses. Remember, Moses talked with God face to face, but he still was veiled. God wasn’t completely near. That’s not so anymore because of Christ. Hear how the Apostle Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 3.
Not only does the Spirit mold us into the image of Christ, but He empowers us to bring Christ to the world.
The Spirit empowers believers to fulfill the Great Commission. (9-13)
The Spirit gives believers tools to proclaim the gospel and draws the hearts of unbelievers to believe the gospel.
The crowd gathered because of the noise. Whether it was the noise of the Spirit-filled Christians praising God or the sound of the mighty rushing wind, we don’t know…maybe a mixture of the two…but what we do know is that people were being drawn to listen and respond to the gospel of Jesus through the followers of Jesus.
Who is being drawn to Jesus because of you?
Martin Luther said,
“The Holy Spirit descends and fills the hearts of the disciples sitting in fear and sorrow. He renders their tongues fiery and cloven and inflames them with love unto boldness in preaching Christ—unto free and fearless utterance. He writes in the hearts of men, creating a new heart, so that man may rejoice before God, filled with love for him and ready in consequence to serve his fellows gladly.”[14]
Is this what the Spirit has done in your heart? Will you pray for the Spirit to work within you and through you?
[2] Ex 23:15-17; 34:22; Lev 23:15-21; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-12
[3] Augustine, “On the Spirit and the Letter”
[4] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 23.
[5] Num 11:29; Is 32:15; 44:3; Ezek 36:27
[6] Merida, Acts, 23
[7] Matt 28:20
[8] https://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html
[10] Ex 3:2; 19:18; 1 Kgs 18:38-39; Ezek 1:27
[11] Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 98.
[12] Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae
[13] Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
[14] Martin Luther, “The History of Pentecost”
