ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT PENTECOST

#758                     ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT PENTECOST

Scripture Acts 2:1-13, NIV                                                                                    Orig. 10/4/1979

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 5/25/1990

Passage: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Purpose: On the Sunday before a major anniversary, to remind my people of the true source of tenure for the local church.

Keywords:      Bible Study                 Holy Spirit                 Church, Mission                  

                        Special Day, Anniversary

Timeline/Series:         Acts

Introduction

            You may remember the rather heated discussion between Huck Finn and Jim about why people talk the way they do. Huck asked what Jim would if someone said “Parley voo franzy?”  Jim declared that  he would bust him over the head.  Huck then tried to use the logic that cats and cows don’t talk like men, neither do they sound like each other, therefore Frenchmen and Americans sound different.

            Jim accepted the logic relative to cows and cats but no more.  Jim said, “Is a cat a man? Or a man a cat?”  Huck agreed with this.  Then he asked, “Is a Frenchman a man?”  Huck responded affirmatively.  “Well, den, dad blame it, why don’t he talk like a man?  You answer me dat!”

            Does everyone you talk to understand everything you say?  Do you have a problem communicating certain things to certain people?  In this last decade of the 20th Century there is still a communications gap.  We have all kinds of sophisticated equipment, but the problem persists.  We have electronic typewriters with memory.  We have access to fax machines that will speed the lengthiest of messages anywhere in the world in the briefest of time spans.  We can listen to a thirty minute news program and learn every important thing that has happened  in the world even as recently as two hours prior.  We can read one page in the tabloid, U.S.A. Today, and learn selected news features from every one of our fifty states.

            Yet, the world knows no peace, and families are still in trouble because they fail to communicate one with the other at an acceptable level.  And we Christians are not able to make our beliefs known to others.  Surely, with such a message, there is a means also.

I.          The Question from Pentecost are All about the Holy Spirit.  (Terminology).  V4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

            What means the expression “filled with the Holy Spirit” or “full of the Spirit”?  Luke, who wrote Acts, found this to be a favored way to describe believers.  Chapter 2:1-13 describes Pentecost; 2:14-39, Peter’s sermon to throng, v38 “name of Jesus”; 2:40-47, v47 “the Lord added daily.” 

            But it was not the Holy Spirit, but Jesus who is at the heart of this movement.  Acts 7:55, Stephen faced martyrdom.  “Being full of the Holy Ghost, . . . saw . . . Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” 

            John 16:14, “He shall glorify me.”

            The meaning of the term addresses a yieldedness on the part of believers.  1:8, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you . . . witnesses.”

            The main association of this filling is not ecstatic speech but proclamation.  4:8, “Peter, filled . . . , spoke . . . rulers.”  4:31, “all filled . . . spoke with boldness.”  13:9, “Paul, filled . . . set his eyes on (Elymas).”

            The Holy Spirit is the [energizing] means for us to share the gospel effectively.  That’s what “being filled” means.

            What about the term, “the baptism of the Holy Spirit”?  If we are looking for a generic source we must go back to John the Baptist.  Matthew 3:11/Luke 3:16, “I baptize with water, . . . but one is coming who will baptize with/in the Holy Spirit.”  Note Jesus’ reference to this, 1:5. Peter 11:16 calls it to mind explaining gentile Pentecost, 10:44f.

            It is a reference, not to what the Holy Spirit is doing, but what Christ has done.  I Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body (Jews, gentiles, bond, free) . . . ye are the body  of Christ” (27).

            Then take note of “Gift” and “gifts” of the Holy Spirit.  The Gift of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit Himself.  This is the anointing at Pentecost.  It  happens twice more: Samaria (Acts 8:14f) and Caesarea (10:44f) gentiles.  Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the manifestations for service given believers.  All believers.  Some, many disallow  every manifestation.

            If you are wondering about “second blessing” it is not a Biblical term.

II.         What Does Pentecost Teach Us Then, About the Holy Spirit?  V1, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

            From whence comes concept of Pentecost?  Judaic root from Leviticus 23:15f: Called Feast of Weeks, counted passing of 7 sabbaths. 

            Took place 50 days after Passover.  By implication, a spiritual harvest, a harvest so vast that special harvest equipment was called for.  River rising: 25 combines in field.  Every male Jew within  twenty miles of Jerusalem was required to participate.  Many from far away would make this vigil back home.

            We must also consider their unity.  They waited for they knew not what.  They knew a galvanizing joy when they were together.  Their common and uncommon bond was Christ.  Luke 22:12, Passover/Acts 1:13, Pentecost.  Both involve “upper room.”  The same???  Upper room 1:15 uses number 120 waiting. Streets. 2:14 uses 11, but 2:41, 3000.

            The contemporary church must rediscover this awesome sense of togetherness.  Begins with unbridled love for Jesus.  Awaits the integrating leadership of Holy Spirit.  Recognizes the power comes not to a person, but to the redemptive agency.  John 17:11, that they may be one, as we are one.

            Now, the question is “What happened at Pentecost?”  V2, “Sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.”  Word for “wind” may be “spirit” also.  Derivative here is “breathe” (gentle).  The wind is never seen, only results.  RL Maddox1: “God in the form of the Holy Spirit came upon the people.  Did the curtains sigh  under the weight of the first breath of wind?  Did the lamps flicker?  Did strands of their hair rustle like angel wings?  Who knows, but they would talk about that day for the rest of their lives.”

            Next came “cloven tongues of fire.”  AS it appeared to them.  In actual fact,  we do  not know.  Exodus 13:21, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud; . . . and by night in a pillar of fire.”  A cloud, pushed on by a wisp of wind to lead them by day.  Fire to lead them by night.

            When God does a thing so unique that there is no human valuation, he does not leave its course to chance.  Thus come “filling” and “speaking.”  V4, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues.”  The Lord’s presence is magnified.  The need  of believers to yield to God's will is amplified.  The first function clearly is to free the church to proclaim the gospel.  In response to the “pouring out,” ekcheo.  Same word repeatedly in Revelation 16 “bowls of wrath.”  Instead, it is the proclamation of “good news.”

            A question must remain about this so-called “tongues” manifestation.  The Holy Spirit does  not have its inception at Pentecost.  Nor does “glossolalia.”  For some, ecstatic speech served and serves a useful purpose.  But in no sense is it normative or Biblical.

            Last Sunday was not my first at Charenton, Louisiana. Twenty years ago I went with the Baldwin pastor.  He turned tongues, the church died, resurrected by the mission years later.

Conclusion

            Pentecost happened because God would not leave His people ill-equipped for the most important task in the world.  The Holy Spirit is the loud-speaker that takes every sincere believer’s witness and amplifies it before a lost world.

 Links

Maddox https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Luke-Acts-Robert-Maddox/dp/0567292703

1 Maddox, R. (1985). The Purpose of Luke-Acts, T&T Clark.