Pentecost Sunday 2022
Acts 1.4, 9, 12-14, 2.1-17a
Introduction
Today is Pentecost Sunday, the Sunday that Christians across the world celebrate the
coming of the Holy Spirit to permanently empower believers to live for Christ and the birth
of the church. Like Ascension Sunday, Pentecost is not as well-known or as popular as the
Christmas and Easter but it’s importance should not be neglected.
You should know that Christians did not invent Pentecost. The word “Pentecost” means
“fiftieth day” and we see that Greek speaking Jews used this phrase, Pentecost, to refer to
the Jewish holiday that took place fifty days after Passover known as the Festival of Weeks.
God’s Word reads in the book of Leviticus, “You shall count fifty days to the day after the
seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.” (Lev.23.16)
Festival of Weeks was the second great feast in Israel’s yearly cycle of holy days. So, the
gathering of Jews from all over the world to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost was perfect to
launch the church onto the world stage.
The Promise of the Spirit
The Promise of the Spirit is all over the Gospels. John the Baptist had told his audience, “As
for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier
than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire.” (Mt.3.11) And when Jesus was in the Upper Room with the disciples for the Last
Supper, He prepared them from the coming of the Spirit saying, “And I will ask the Father,
and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth . . . He lives
with you and will be in you.” (Jn.14.16-17)
And now just prior to His ascension Jesus gathered them together, He commanded them not
to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you
heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1.4-5) Therefore, about one hundred and twenty
returned to Jerusalem and gathered in an upper room devoting themselves to prayer. (Acts
1.12-14)
After ten days, on the Day of Pentecost, there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them
tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving
them utterance. (Acts 2.2.4) As this small group of faithful followers of Christ rushed out
into the streets of Jerusalem, they were not speaking some strange gibberish but rather
languages of the many pilgrims that had gathered from various nations to Jerusalem to
celebrate Pentecost. (Acts.2.5-11)
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When the multitude heard these faithful followers of Christ proclaiming the mighty deeds
of God through Christ in languages to which they had not been born or trained, they were
amazed and marveled saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were
mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine?” (Acts 2.12-13) But Peter, taking his stand
with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in
Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk,
as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning; but this is what was spoken of
through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of
My Spirit on all mankind; . . . (Acts 2.14-17a)
This was the day that Moses longed to see when he said to young Joshua, “Would that all the
Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.” (Num.11.29)
This was the day that the Lord told Ezekiel about saying, Moreover, I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and
give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,
and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ez.36.26-27)
Permanent Indwelling
I want to remind you that even though the Holy Spirit played an important role in the Old
Testament, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was selective and
temporary. The Spirit “came upon” Old Testament leaders such as Joshua (Num.27.18),
David (ISam.16.12-13), and even Saul (ISam.10.10). In the book of Judges, we see the Spirit
“coming upon” various Judges whom God raised up to deliver Israel from their oppressors.
You see, the Holy Spirit came upon these individuals for specific tasks. The selective and
temporary indwelling of the Spirit was a sign of God’s favor upon that individual, and if
God’s favor was withdrawn, the Spirit would depart, as we see with King Saul and as we
hear in David’s famous prayer when he said, “Do not cast me away from Your presence and
do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Ps.51.11) In the Old Testament the Spirit came upon
certain individuals for specific tasks or roles. Once the task was completed, the Spirit
presumably departed from that person.
But on this Day of Pentecost the ministry of the Holy Spirit transitioned from temporary
(O/T) to permanent (N/T). We see that the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
believers began on the Day of Pentecost and will continue until the Lord Jesus comes again.
Peter told the crowd, “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far
away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2.39) You see when you accept
Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart, bringing a new life of
love, relationship, and service to the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you
are not your own? For you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
(ICor.6.19-20) Glorifying God in our bodies in thought, word, and deed is the purpose for
God sending the Holy Spirit. “You shall be My witnesses” doesn’t just mean that the Holy
Spirit gives us the power the share the gospel. It means that the Spirit empowers us to live
godly lives for the glory of God. The Spirit enables us to walk in the Lord’s statues, and to
observe His ordinances.
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Initial and Ongoing Change
The evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer in Christ is initial
and ongoing change. Initial change happens at our conversion. As Jesus told Nicodemus,
“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel
that I say to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (Jn.3.6-7) But accompanying this initial change
of salvation is the ongoing and progressive change in sanctification. What I mean by
“ongoing” is that the work of the Spirit in continuous in the life of the believer. There are no
days off. It’s ongoing. What I mean by “progressive” is that I am growing more and more
holy in my conduct each day. This ongoing and progressive change by the Spirit is
illustrated in the book of Isaiah which reads, “the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and
the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.” (Is.32.15) The
Christian life should resemble a barren desert that becomes a fertile field. That’s initial
change. Then field becomes so fertile that it becomes a forest. That’s ongoing and
progressive change.
The Lives of the Apostles
There is no greater evidence of the change a person experiences when the Holy Spirit takes
up residence in a person’s life than what we see in the lives of the Apostles on the Day of
Pentecost. Prior to the outpouring of the Spirit the Apostles lacked spiritual courage, were
full of doubt, and scripturally confused.
Remember on the night when Jesus was arrested in the Garden that all the disciples ran
away and hid themselves in fear of the Jews. But now after the outpouring of the Spirit we
see Peter taking his stand openly on the streets of Jerusalem with the eleven.
Remember how Luke’s Gospel tells us that even after hearing personal testimony from
Mary Magdalene and the two travelers from Emmaus that they had seen the resurrected
Christ the disciple’s hearts were still full of doubt. But now on the Day of Pentecost Peter
tells the crowd, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2.32)
Peter speaks to the crowd with confidence and calls them to faith and repentance.
Remember how after the Lord had spent forty days speaking of the things concerning the
kingdom of God, the disciples were scripturally confused asking Jesus if this was the time,
He was restoring the kingdom of Israel. (Acts 1.6) But now Peter clear in his understanding
of Scripture saying, “this is what was spoken of though the prophet Joel,” and “Brethren, I
may confidently say to you,” and “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that
God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The Spirit Brings Change
Brothers and sisters, the Spirit brings change. Paul tells the believers in Rome and to us by
the providence of God that God predestined us to be conformed into the image of His Son.
(Rom.8.29) Paul writes, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
image of His Son. (Rom.8.29a)
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I want you to see that the overall objective of our salvation under the sovereign hand of
God is to be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus. This is the initial and ongoing change
that I mentioned earlier. And this is what I believe many Christians are missing today. Some
today think that they can continue in sinful behavior because of God’s grace. But we must
understand that the work of the Spirit is to brings change. The Spirit brings change at our
conversion. This is true. But the evidence that our conversion was true is our ongoing and
progressive conformity into the image of Christ. The Spirit’s initially and progressively
conforms our lives into the image of Christ. This is our greatest witness. We should seek the
Spirit to increase our faith and make us fruit bearing. Not that we are perfect, but Christ is,
and we seek the Spirit to conform our lives into the image of Christ because that is what
brings ultimate glory to the Father.
Transition to the Table
As we transition to the Lord’s table this morning, I want us to focus on the change that the
Holy Spirit brings to our lives. If you are here this morning and the Spirit is speaking to
your life to surrender your life the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to encourage you to follow the
Spirit’s leading and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and place your faith in Jesus
Christ. If you are a believer here this morning, I want to ask yourself if that is ongoing and
progressive change in your life. I want to ask you to open your heart to the work of the
Spirit today and ask Him to conform your life into the image of Christ.