Holy Spirit At Work! based on Acts 2:37-47 May 31, 1998

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is Pentecost. It is a special celebration or "feast" in the Church year, which is third behind Easter and Christmas. It is somewhat neglected today, but this is a shame. See, Pentecost remembers a historical occasion which was important to the Christian church.

This occasion occurred fifty days after Jesus was resurrected. The chain of events was that forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Then ten days after that, a total of fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, the Holy Spirit was delivered to the apostles in a dramatic fashion. The church grew rapidly. Many came to believe in Jesus and His salvation for them.

These events are reported in Acts chapter 2. In the system of Scripture readings which we use, the readings are divided into three one-year cycles. Acts chapter 2 is divided into the three years to be read on Pentecost, with a portion being read each year. This is the third year, year C, and we end up with the latter third of the chapter. This section does not contain much of the action we typically associate with Pentecost. The actions of Pentecost that you may remember is the violent wind and tongues of fire which appeared over the apostles. Then they spoke and people of foreign countries understood them as speaking in their native languages. This means the apostles thought they were speaking one language, but the people each heard them speaking their own language. One speaker spoke, and many languages were understood by the hearers.

This is a reversal of the Tower of Babel incident as described in our Old Testament reading from Genesis. There God punished man for his self-pride by spreading him around the world and making different groups speak different languages. God confused their language. At Pentecost, God reversed this, and causes all people present there to understand one speaker. The people understood what the apostles had to say and this had an effect on them.

Some church bodies today focus heavily on present day gifts of speaking in tongues. Yet, they have distorted what this means, for they have people who only speak gibberish, supposing to be speaking in a foreign language. Further, there is no one present who can understand what these people are saying. This is supposed to be a present-day gift of the Holy Spirit and a sign that one has faith. Some churches will even require speaking in tongues. You must prove your faith by speaking gibberish. This, we can say clearly is not the work of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures warn against such speaking without one to interpret what is spoken. In addition, this type of self-centered action is not what the Holy Spirit is about. Rather, the Holy Spirit will always direct us to Jesus Christ and to our salvation from Him.

After the dramatic events at the beginning of Acts 2, the rest of the chapter includes a sermon and then the people's response to that sermon. The portion we read this year is the people's response to the sermon. Maybe you think this part is the boring part. It seems like the real action is in the first third of Acts 2. I encourage you to think again. Look at our reading from Acts once more. In it more than 3000 people are converted to be believers in Jesus Christ. In our reading we have the work of the Holy Spirit to create faith in these people. We get to see up-close how it happens.

What we have in our reading is something which is probably much more common to you. By this I mean, all true believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit at work creating faith in them. I can't speak about the personal experiences of each of you, but I would imagine that few of you have had tongues of fire appear over your heads, or spoken in such a way that foreigners could understand you. Yet, each of you as Christians have been called to faith by the Spirit. Thus, we can more closely associate with the events in our reading from Acts. By studying it, we can learn some important lessons about the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our text picks up right after Peter is finished with his sermon. That sermon makes clear to the people their guilt because they crucified Jesus. They killed the one God had made Lord and Christ. This was Peter's message of Law to the people. Their response was to be "cut to the heart." They were painfully aware of their guilt. The text says "they were stabbed to their heart, their will or their desire." In the Jewish way of speaking, the heart is spoken of as the location of the will, desire, and intention. For us in English, the heart is the location of the emotions. A lost love brings a "broken heart." We might instead locate the will, desire and intention in the mind. For example, we say that a person has "made up his mind," when he has firm intentions. We might then say these people heard Peter's sermon and were stabbed in the minds. The message really got through to what they were thinking and desiring and intending.

In this state of full guilt, these people were lost. They didn't know where to turn. "Brothers, what shall we do?" they said. You may think of guilt as a terrible thing. I would challenge you to see it here as a wonderful thing. The Holy Spirit worked in these people, convicting them of their sins and this helped them see their lost state. This is a good thing for the person is ready to hear of Jesus Christ. They know their need for a savior. They know their lost state. They are ready to be found.

Such a response as the people in our text had is rare today. We in our culture of high self-esteem, and where everyone is a victim do not want to hear of our guilt. We will listen to the pastor tell us about other people's sins, but seldom our own.

Maybe you've heard the one about the church member who liked to gossip. He listened to the pastor preach against abortion and was the first in line after the service to congratulate the pastor. "You really let them have it!" he said. Next Sunday the pastor preached against homosexuality. The member was right there praising the sermon again. The same continued with other sins being the subject for several Sundays. Finally, the pastor preached on the subject of gossiping. The particular member met the pastor after the service poking his finger at the pastor and said, "Now you're meddling."

People tend to reject the message about their own guilt. They don't want to hear of their own sins. Pastors are human too, and they don't like to tell people of their sins.

I just gave a comic to our secretary JoAnne which portrays a pastor shaking hands of the people after the service and saying to each one "Nothing personal."

Yet, what is the point of the sermon if it is not about us personally. If it does not convict us personally of our guilt, then all we can do is sit back and say, "Yeah, pastor, let them have it!"

Peter's sermon, by the work of the Holy Spirit, really struck the minds of his hearers. They were lost and asked for help. What is Peter's response? "Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Repent means to have a change of heart and turn from your sins. This is a response of those who are sanctified or made holy by the Holy Spirit. We do not repent on our own, but only by the power of God working in us.

What about being baptized, is that an action we take? Certainly some people would define baptism as their action and they would also suggest that infants should not be baptized because they are not old enough to make that choice. We can see from the English, however, that baptism is something that is done to us. "Be baptized," said Peter. It is a passive verb, meaning the action is not done by you, but is done on you. Baptism is done on you by the Holy Spirit. We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here the special value of the name of Jesus Christ is emphasized, where the name brings with it the forgiveness of sins. To be baptized as a Christian means we come to know the forgiveness of sins.

This knowledge of the forgiveness of sins is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us that certain assurance that Christ did die for our sins upon the cross. This knowledge is the same as faith in Christ. The promise of this gift through baptism, by the work of the Holy Spirit is a promise for adults, for children, and for people no matter where they are located.

Peter's sermon must have gone on more. Our text says, "With many other words he warned them and pleaded with them." In the NIV Bible translation we read in our services and which is printed on the back of your bulletins, the next phrase Peter says is: "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." This statement would lead us to believe we are to take action to save ourselves. It is unfortunate that this is how the NIV translates this verse from the Greek in which the New Testament is written. That is not what the Greek says. The original has, "Be saved from this corrupt generation." The Bible has a passive verb. This means we don't do the saving, but someone else is saving us. There are other English translations which have this expressed as a passive verb. The passive verb is the way it does work, doesn't it. We don't save ourselves. God saves us. Christ died for our sins and the Holy Spirit gives us faith to believe that. Nothing in this process involves our actions to save ourselves.

The next verse I also would translate differently, in this way: "Then, as a result, after welcoming his words they were baptized." This does not bring attention to our efforts to "accept" the message. Rather, as a result Peter's message which the people welcomed, the Holy Spirit worked in these people through the means of baptism. These people welcomed the message, rather than slamming the door on it and rejecting it.

And what a baptism that was, with about 3000 people added to the believers that day. The Holy Spirit continued to work in these people. They didn't give up gathering together, but they continued to be devoted to the teaching of the apostles. They also participated in the fellowship of breaking bread. This is another way of saying they received Communion together. They also prayed together. They didn't give up on these gifts of the Holy Spirit. They continued to hear and study the teaching of the apostles, which was and is God's Word. They continued to receive the Lord's body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins. They continued to present their requests and petitions before the Lord with thanksgiving.

These new Christians took advantage of the means the Holy Spirit provides for the preservation of our faith. Yes, the Holy Spirit also preserves our faith. We cannot take credit for that either. Some people do choose to reject the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They may turn away from Jesus, or His Word, or preaching, or His body and blood, or the opportunity to pray to God. They then lose the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.

We can see even further evidence in our text of the work of the Holy Spirit among the new believers following the day of Pentecost. These people began to share possessions and help each other financially. They were united in the faith and continued to worship together and share meals together. They praised God and they had kindness toward other people. And finally, the Holy Spirit continued to add to the group of those being saved.

Yes, the Holy Spirit was powerfully at work at the first Pentecost. Yet this same Holy Spirit is at work in your life. He is leading you in the way of truth and light. He is teaching you. He is ever directing you toward your Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.