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Pentecost Acts 2:1-21

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Well, this morning we are not going to be in the Gospel lesson. I'm actually going to be preaching from Acts chapter two. What is the big deal about Pentecost? Why are we robed and adorned with red? Why did we spend time blowing up balloons with little doves descending from them?
Why? And what is Pentecost? What is the big to do? And just like reading Acts 2:12, when the crowd was observing all that was going on on the day of Pentecost, and they said, what does this mean? That's the question we seek to answer this morning.
What does all this mean? And so in order for me to answer this question by the scriptures, I need to tell you the full story of all of the scriptures. And so I need to begin at the very beginning. So let me read for you the story that God wants us to know that led up to Pentecost. In the beginning, as you know, God created the heavens and the earth.
And upon the earth he built a garden. And he placed in that garden a man. This garden was where man and God walked together, talked together, dwell together. It was filled with all sorts of beautiful furniture. The sun to light the day, the moon and the stars to light the night.
God's presence filled the garden and could be felt as he and man walked under the canopy of trees which he provided for their food. Together they enjoyed the company of animals. It was a place of both where God and man, when together, could call home. And it was all good. But it wasn't long before sin entered the story.
Man disobeyed and as a result was thrown out of that home, was thrown out of the garden. God and man no longer to dwell together. But God had a plan and he gave a promise that he and them would dwell together. One day. And not soon after that, God revealed himself to a man, a man named Abraham.
Abraham placed his faith in God and in that promise that he would become a great nation. And so he did. Abraham had a son, Isaac. That son Isaac had another son named Jacob. And Jacob had 12 sons.
Those 12 sons multiplied into a great nation. But that nation became enslaved to the Egyptians for over 400 years. Long enough to forget those promises that God had spoken to them, and to not remember that God used to once walk with them. Then one day God raised up a leader, Moses, and through Moses, performed the greatest act of rescuing Israel or anyone had ever seen. God brought them out under the tyrannical hand of Pharaoh and delivered them into the wilderness.
And there is where they encamped together. God provided food and water and Shelter for them. He guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He gave them his word to guide their new lives of freedom. And he pitched his tent at the center of their camp to keep them company.
Inside this tent, called the Tabernacle, were rooms within rooms. Each was separated by beautiful curtains that imaged the old garden story. In the old garden home, a light stood just before the most holiest of rooms, where the presence of God dwelled, called the Holy of Holies. And when this light was lit, it meant that God was home, there in that tent. And so God camped with his people in the wilderness.
But this was not a final home. It wasn't a final solution. It was not a forever place to dwell with his people. God had better plans and a better house in mind. So God moved his people from the wilderness into the land that he promised to Abraham.
After conquering their enemies, Israel divided the land and began to build and expand. Eventually, they asked for a king. And God granted their request. And he raised up yet another leader, King David. A man after God's own heart.
David loved the Lord and wanted to build a house for him, a temple where God could dwell in his kingdom. Though David had the building plans, it would be his son Solomon who would build it. And it was a temple. It was a glorious temple beyond all compare. The timber was shipped from all across the land and overlaid with gold.
Fine linen curtains dyed with precious purples and blues were hung on the walls which separated the rooms. The foundations were built in such a way that the further in you went to the temple, the higher up you felt like going, as if you were ascending a mountain. And just outside the private chambers of God's presence, the Holy of Holies was a lampstand. And when it was lit, it signaled that God's presence filled the room wall to wall, that God was home, that he was present. But the kingdom would not last.
God's people turned away. The house of God was destroyed. The people were exiled again, back into slavery.
And they were left to wonder, will we ever be able to dwell with God again?
And years passed. And at the right time, God didn't raise another man up from the earth to lead his people. Instead, he sent his son to descend onto the earth and to do something which had never been done before. The greatest act of salvation the world has ever known. Jesus came full of the Holy Spirit and accomplished our salvation through his death and resurrection.
He spoke to his disciples and he promised them that he would abide in them and they in Him. He assured them that they would not be left as orphans. He promised that the same spirit he lived with would also come to live with them and with all who believed in him through their word. Jesus said he had dealt with sin that separated us from God and. And that we would be able to dwell with God again.
And while this sounded like really, really good news, the disciples didn't know just how good of a news this was. As they watched their Lord and Savior ascend to the right hand of the Father, only left with these promises and these words from Jesus that the spirit would come, that God would dwell with them again. And they did not know what that would look like, what that would feel like, and how that would be. But seven weeks after his resurrection, something happened that would change the whole entire world, the whole human experience. While they were gathered together in Jerusalem near an unfinished temple building, the disciples celebrated the festival of Pentecost.
The festival of Pentecost is a festival of first fruits. It was the first of the harvest where they offered the first fruits of their harvest to God and then celebrated with the leftovers with their friends and their family. And at the third hour of the day, a time when the temple service would begin, a mighty wind began to blow in the place where they were sitting. Then something like tongues of fire appeared to rest on them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
And they began to speak in the languages of all the other nations that had gathered around for this festival. And in their own language, in all these various languages, they spoke the mighty deeds of God. And many came to believe that day. And God Almighty. It was such a strange sight that the onlookers mocked them, saying that they were full of sweet wine.
Because they couldn't reconcile what they were perceiving, what they were seeing the disciples doing. The crowd was perplexed, as we are told. And they said, what does this mean? What does it mean? What happened that day of Pentecost?
The wind blew. Flaming tongues rested upon their heads. What was that a symbol of? They were speaking in languages that they were uneducated in. And they were speaking the great works and deeds of God.
So that all the nations that were gathered around them could hear in their own language all the wondrous things that God had done, specifically in Jesus Christ. So what is happening? What's the promise that Jesus said would happen? That God. That he has done everything.
So that there's no longer a need for separation between God and his people. And so the day of Pentecost celebrates this great moving Day where God, who had dwelled in a garden with his people, who had dwelled in a tent with his people, who then dwelled in a mansion of. Of gold with his people, now moves from the temple and moves in to his people. God's presence was relocating not to a garden, not to a tent, not to a temple. Somewhere better than Eden, somewhere better than a tabernacle, somewhere better than the temple, the glorious temple.
God wasn't just among his people, he was now in his people. The tongues of fire resting on their heads symbolized his indwelling presence. Like a porch light turned on to let the passersby know that someone is home. The flame meant that God finds his rest and home here. You ever think about that imagery?
You ever think about what it looks like from. For a person to have a flame on its head? Wouldn't it represent a candle to say, I'm home. My presence is in here. Just like the tabernacle and the temple had that lampstand out in front, and behind it was the presence of God in his chambers.
So now tongues of fire were upon the people to signify, the porch light is on and my chamber is here, and his people. And that's what happens. The Spirit filled their bodies. And from that moment on, God's forever home was not a building, but it was his church. And immediately they began to do things that astonished the world.
These people, the disciples and all those who believed in God began to perform signs, wonders and miracles. Even by the casting of their own shadows, people were getting healed. But all that paled in comparison to the words that they spoke. The word of God went out from them in every language. People from all nations began to believe.
And on that day of Pentecost, the church was born and God moved in to his forever home. So that's the idea of Pentecost, is that you and I here gathered together, called the church, is the very abode, is the very home of God. God is a homebody. He has come to reside in each and every one of us. His spirit is in us, guiding us and directing us.
His presence is filled in us. And so when we extend our hands and say, peace be with you, it is God Himself extending peace and love to each other through his people. There's also a story within the story that I just want to tell you. One, just one more story about this day of Pentecost. Something else besides God relocating into his people as taking place something very amazing, something very wonderful.
But you would miss it unless you had been reading the scriptures and you Understood this country song that comes from the Old Testament. You see, this week at youth camp, the theme was Abide, right? And we're very familiar with the language of Jesus saying, I am the vine and you are the branches. You abide in me and I in you. You will produce good fruit.
And I had the privilege to lead my my cabin of men because all the evangelists or the guest speakers stayed in John chapter 15. That's where Jesus says, I'm the vine and my father's the vine dresser and I got to share with my cabin. I said, you know, this is actually Jesus offering a refrain or another chorus to an old style country, very sad country song that comes from the Old Testament. And they're like, oh, do tell. And I said, okay, let's open up to Isaiah chapter 5.
And I sat there in my cabin with my guys and I got to unfold and to sing this song to them from Isaiah chapter 5. And here's how the song goes. Don't worry, I'm not going to sing, I'm just going to say it. In Isaiah chapter 5, it says that there is this vinedresser, and he comes to this fertile hill and he begins to plant himself a vineyard. And he pulls up the stones and he causes to grow a hedge around his vineyard.
And he places a watchtower in the middle of it. And. And he has a wine vat on the side. And he plants a choice vine in it. And he stands back and he's excited for he has done everything this vineyard needs to produce fruit.
And he's excited to be able to make wine with the fruit in his wine vat. So the story goes that when it came time for the harvest, the fruit was bitter and sour. And so the vinedresser laid waste to his own vineyard. He tore down the hedges, destroyed the tower, and he welcomed the wild beasts to feast upon it. And he stood back.
And then the song ends and you're left wondering, will the vinedresser ever get his fruit? Will he ever get to drink his wine? So then you do go to John 15. And now you understand why Jesus isn't just pulling some kind of random analogy of a vineyard. He's completing the song, that sad country song, because it's very sad.
Sounds like a country song. It leaves you being like, oh wow, the guy destroyed his own vineyard. That's cool. Jesus comes and says, I'm the vine, my father's the vinedresser, and those who abide in me will produce fruit. So you carry this psalm and you carry those words of Jesus.
And then you come to the last thing I want to point out in that Acts Chapter two is the mockery of the crowd observing what is going on. They say something very interesting, and I don't think it's an accident. Do you remember when they crucified Jesus, that the crowd mocked Jesus as King of the Jews? Matter of fact, he had a sign that was meant for mockery, but God used for reality Jesus, King of the Jews. Well, here as a sign of mockery, the people said, oh, these people are full of sweet wine.
And what they meant for mockery, God meant for reality. Because finally, because of the work of Jesus Christ his Son. And now, having received the spirit and God's presence in themselves, they are now the good fruit that Christ that comes from the vine of Christ. And what do the crowds say? They are drunk with sweet wine.
So another thing that happens at Pentecost is not just that God relocates, but that God also, when he's at home with his people, comes to rest and drinks from the fruit of the vine. And it's sweet to his taste. And this vineyard is going to be successful. And that's who we are church. That is the big to do.
And why we should celebrate and why people shouldn't miss this day. Because of all days, this is a day we remember. We were born, this church and all churches around the world were born. For this purpose is to be the indwelling of God where God and man reunite again, where he drinks and feasts upon the work of his Son that is produced in each and every one of our lives. That it is a sweet drink for him.
And so just a couple things that I'll leave you with. Some admonishment of how to apply this to your life comes from the Apostle Paul himself. When he says this in first Corinthians, chapter three, he says, do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
He is God is. Or Paul is admonishing us to live into our templeness that we are the house of God. And so what we do in life and what we act out in life matters. For his house is a holy house, and we must be busy being holy. He would go on to say, or 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 have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. And see, we're not just a body where God resides, we're his body. He's purchased us. This is his house.
It's not ours. It's His. And I don't think I would if. I don't think any of us. If I were to come into your house, I would never dictate on you how your house ought to be adorned, how your house ought to be lived in.
Right? That would make no sense. This is God's house. We make up God's house. So you don't get to do with your own life what you see fit.
It is not your house. God has purchased you. You are his. And you must live your life like you belong to Him. And he moves you into the life you ought to live.
And then lastly, he says this in Ephesians chapter two. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. We are not to remain just a one room house of God. We are meant to grow and grow his chambers and his house and his presence in the world. If we start here, the presence of God with us is supposed to add rooms and grow and grow.
We are all being built up into a greater temple of more people, of a greater church, of a beautiful bride from all tongues and tribes and nations over all the world waiting for the return of her groom? That's what we are to be. So some questions is the porch light of your life on to signify that the presence of God is at home in you? Does this church shine in our community like a city on a hill where all who seek God will find him here among us. Does this church feel like home where after a long hard day's work or at the end of a very long week, you can't wait to rest in the comforts of this house with God and His people?
If home is where the heart is, then is your heart in the place where God calls home? Let's pray.