Scripture reading: Romans 8:22-27.

Sermon text: Acts 2:1-21.

Pentecost proves we serve a promise-keeping God.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus, had promised the disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). After His resurrection and before His ascension, Jesus promised them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). Today, we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise; we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world.

God had planned all along for His Spirit to come into the world and begin empowering believers to carry out His redemptive plan. Through Moses, God established the festival of Pentecost as a harvest festival (Exodus 23). The Hebrews were to bring the firstfruits of their harvest to the sanctuary as a sacrifice to God. If this sounds strange, remember that the Hebrews at this time lived as nomads in the wilderness around Mt. Sinai. A harvest festival doesn’t apply to nomads, but its institution pointed to the fulfillment of God’s promise that the Hebrews would live in a land of “milk and honey” (Exodus 3). In the eternal plan of God, this harvest festival foretold of the firstfruits of the resurrection, Jesus the Son of God. As St. Paul would later write, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

On Pentecost Day of A.D. 33, the disciples “were all together at one place.” The disciples probably didn’t know what to expect, but as always, God worked a unique way to fulfill His promise. “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” The “tongues of fire” reminded the disciples that God had once sent fire from heaven to light the first sacrifice in the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24). As fire fell from God as a sign of the first covenant, fire now fell from God as a sign of the new covenant Jesus instituted with the institution of Holy Communion (Luke 22:20).

Again, I’m certain the disciples probably didn’t expect the Holy Spirit’s first action after He entered the world. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” What an amazing work of the Spirit! Before His arrival in the world, only those who understood Greek or Aramaic, or possibly Latin, could have understood the gospel. In the list of nationalities of those present at Pentecost, you’ll find 16 different language groups. These languages represented every major language group where the Jews had spread following their exile in 586 B.C.

When the Jews suffered the lost of Jerusalem, they thought God was finished with them. The Jews had broken the covenant, and as He promised, God had exiled them to the nations (Deuteronomy 28). Now, on Pentecost, God used the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples proclaim the gospel to their nations. The Jews who believed in their sermon would then carry the gospel with them back to their nations, where they would in turn tell others of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The Jews who heard the disciples had no idea what had happened. “They are filled with new wine,” some said. When you think about it, this seems a really stupid explanation. I’ve seen drunk people before, and I assure you I’ve never seen an inebriated person manage to learn a foreign language in only a few hours.

St. Peter gave a better explanation. The prophecy to which St. Peter referred comes from the prophet Joel, who wrote his book before the Exile. St. Peter credited the disciples’ proclamation to the Holy Spirit, which God had promised He would “pour out… on all flesh.” St. Peter ended His quote of Joel’s prophecy with a glorious proclamation: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This promise, prophesied by Joel over 600 years before the Holy Spirit’s coming, went far beyond anything the Jews had believed. Only the Jews heard the gospel on Pentecost; only the Jews would have understood the significance of the Holy Spirit’s coming into the world. However, the prophecy of Joel, as with everything God accomplishes in history, stretched far beyond the Jews’ expectation.

We’re here today in our sanctuary because the message of Pentecost has spread beyond its first audience. St. Peter told the Jews, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Holy Spirit’s work, through all believers in Christ, continues today.

The Holy Spirit first calls us to realize our need for salvation. Jesus had said, “when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). We respond to that conviction by confessing Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection (Romans 10:9-10). Everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord is born again (John 3:16) and receives the “Spirit of adoption as sons” (Romans 8:15). The Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us to proclaim the gospel, with our lives and with our testimony as God works within us.

God’s great redemptive plan, fulfilled with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and then empowered by the Holy Spirit, continues today. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved and receive eternal life through Jesus. Everyone who calls on Jesus’ name will receive power to proclaim the name of the Lord. Everyone, regardless of language or nation, needs to hear the gospel. Call on the name of Jesus, and then tell the world of His work in your life.