Empowered by the Spirit: The Promise of Pentecost

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Shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven and left this world in terms of His physical presence, a very important redemptive historical event took place that was inseparably related to that ascension, and that was the Day of Pentecost. One of the historic creeds of Protestantism says this: "Touching His human nature, Jesus is no longer present with us; but touching His divine nature, He is never absent from us." [00:00:12]

And when He told His disciples that He was going to leave, and they were sorrowful at that news, we remember that one of the things that changed their appreciation for the significance of His departure was the promise that He would not leave them comfortless, but that He would send His Spirit to be with them, so that He could say, on the one hand, He was leaving them, and yet at the same time, say, "Nevertheless, I am with you always, even until the end of the age." [00:00:66]

Now we know something about what happened on the Day of Pentecost, but I am not sure we have a full understanding of its significance in terms of the whole scope of redemptive history. So let's look for a moment at the record of that event that we find in the second chapter of the book of Acts: "Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. [00:01:33]

And then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. [00:02:29]

And then they were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all of these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language?" And then it mentions the various parts of the land from which these visitors had gathered. And the people were perplexed about what is going on here, and in verse twelve we read, "They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'" [00:02:57]

Now that's important for us here because they're asking the question, "What does this mean?" They heard this mighty rushing wind, they saw visually the sight of these tongues of fire coming down and hovering above the individuals who were gathered, and then this strange phenomenon called glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, occurred, where people heard everyone speaking in their own language. [00:03:16]

And so the question that comes out of this perplexity that Luke himself addresses is, "What does this mean?" "Now others mocking said, 'They are full of new wine -- that's what it means.'" They just assumed that this was a manifestation of some kind of drunken behavior. "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. [00:03:33]

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the last day, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh."'" Then Peter launches into a magnificent sermon, giving an exposition of that text from Joel, and applying it to what the people who were gathered there on that occasion were experiencing. [00:04:22]

Now I think for us to get a deeper understanding of what is going on here, we have to go back even earlier in the Old Testament to that prophesy of Joel's to which Peter alludes, and go back to the Pentateuch, to the book of Numbers, to the eleventh chapter of Numbers, which I think is a fascinating chapter in the Old Testament, even though it contains what I regard to be a certain level of humor contained with it. [00:04:53]

Now when Moses, who is uniquely gifted by the Holy Ghost as the mediator here in the wilderness, complains to God that the burden of ministering to this vast multitude of people is too much, God says to Moses, "All right, call together seventy men that you know to be elders over the people, and what I will do is that I will take from the Spirit that is upon you, and I will diffuse it or disperse it to include this group of seventy elders, so that they may bear the burden of ministry with you." [00:14:54]

So we see an expansion here of the charismata, an expansion of the charismatic gift of the Holy Ghost from one man to seventy, so that now the community or the Old Testament church has seventy -- in this case, seventy-one -- people who have been empowered by the Holy Ghost for ministry. Now keep that in mind, because we remember before the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were looking up at the ascending Jesus, they had been told by God that they would receive power -- after that, what? [00:15:46]

The Holy Ghost came upon them. And so what is happening on the Day of Pentecost is the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the whole gathered believing community. It's very similar to the record of what happens here in Numbers eleven. Let's continue with that record. God said that He would take of the Spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon them, and then He said, "Then you shall say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; and for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? [00:16:27]

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