The Lesson of Pentecost, Law and Gospel

Play Audio
MP3 Download (18 mb)

Pentecost Sunday
The Lesson of Pentecost, Law and Gospel
May 23, 2010

TEXT:  (Acts 2:1-13 NKJ)  When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10  "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13  Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."
 
Last week we discussed the Ascension of our Lord into heaven—and how Jesus asked the disciples and all believers to wait for the Holy Spirit to come to them in Jerusalem
 
(Luke 24:44-53 NKJ)  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 "And you are witnesses of these things. 49  "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
 
Jesus told us that He came to fulfill the Law
 
(Matthew 5:17-20 NKJ)  "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
 
And through Jesus the Law was fulfilled—and through Jesus and the Holy Spirit He sent us—we can fulfill the Law
 
(Galatians 5:14 NKJ)  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
 
Before our Lord ascended into heaven—He gathered the believers together and instructed them to wait for the sending of the Holy Spirit
 
(Acts 1:4-5 NKJ)  And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
 
On Pentecost Day—50 days after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus—the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled—and that is what our text is about today—the coming of the Holy Spirit
 
It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit was sent on the Day of Pentecost—the day was recognized by the children of Israel as the day the law was given to them on the mountain—Pentecost gets its name from the Greek for fifty days—in the Old Testament our Lord God gave the law to His people 50 days after He saved them from the Egyptians—that is, 50 days after Passover—in the New Testament Pentecost is 50 days after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus—the giving of the Holy Spirit to the believers
 
Consider the differences in the two events—in the Old Testament—God asked Moses to assemble the Israelites at the base of the mountain so He could speak with them—but the people feared God—they didn’t want God to speak to them anymore—they wanted Moses to speak to God and tell the what God said—the thunder—the lightning—the booming voice of God from the top of the mountain—these were more than the children of God could handle—God made them afraid
 
(Exodus 19:16-19 NKJ)  Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.
 
This was so frightening that the people begged Moses to ask God not to do it again—you see, God spoke the Law to the people—and even without the lightning and thunder and the booming voice from the mountain top—the Law is frightening—do this or you die—that’s the Law!
 
(Exodus 20:18-19 NKJ)  Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."
 
The Old Testament Law brings fear to men—when God reminds us of what we have to do to be presentable to Him—we all fall short of God’s glory—none of us can go to heaven based on what we do—or how we act—as a Pharisee, Paul knew that
 
(Romans 3:23 NKJ)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
 
The giving of the Law on that first Pentecost Day brought fear of God’s awesome power—but that is quite different than the lesson for today—the New Testament Pentecost—when God “baptized” His people with the Holy Spirit—and instead of being afraid of the power of God—these men were made fearless before men—and preached to all who would listen—consider Peter’s sermon to those gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of the Old Testament Pentecost
 
(Acts 2:22 NKJ) " Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know -- 23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it....38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
 
This is Peter speaking—the same Peter who cowered in front of a servant girl—denying that he ever Knew Jesus—now he has the courage to stand before the very same men who screamed “crucify Him” to the Roman governor—the very men who killed Jesus—Peter stands in their faces and preaches that they should repent—where did Peter get this courage—it is a gift—a gift of the Holy Spirit
 
Scripture tells us that when Jesus ascended into heaven there were 120 believers remaining on this earth—and those 120 believers each received the Holy Spirit and the power to stand confidently before men and preach like Peter—they had the gift of speaking in tongues—they could preach to men in that man’s native language—even though the believer had never been trained in that language
 
(Acts 1:15 NKJ) And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty)
 
Reflect for a moment on a few of these details in this lesson—Just 7 weeks prior Jesus was crucified as a criminal by these people—now Peter is telling them to be baptized in the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness and salvation—Peter stands openly in the city of Jerusalem defiantly preaching to Romans and Jews—demonstrating extreme courage such as we would not even expect from the man who jumped out of the boat to walk on the stormy waters after his Savior and Lord, Jesus
 
Reflect further on the numbers—Jesus preached to huge crowds for 3 years—He fed 5,000—He fed 4,000—He healed—He raised from the dead—and when He ascended there were 120 believers—Peter the fisherman preached one sermon in the faces of Jesus persecutors and 3,000 were added to the church in that one day—do you realize how loud you would have to preach in the streets of Jerusalem to be heard by 3,000 people?—that in itself is a miracle—just as Jesus told the disciples—they would do greater works than He—because He sent the Holy Spirit
 
(John 14:12 NKJ)  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
 
Just as God wanted His people to know that Gideon’s victory over the Midianites was a God-given miracle—how else could 300 unarmed men defeat an army of 135,000?—God wanted all Christians for all time to understand that He alone determines the increase in number of the church on earth—God alone has the power to conquer large armies with unarmed men—and God alone has the power to convert men’s hearts
 
(1 Corinthians 3:7 NKJ) So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
 
(1 Corinthians 12:3 NKJ)  …no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
 
The two men considered the leaders of the Apostles were Peter and Paul—they each preached the Gospel message in their own styles—but their message was the same—listen to each summarize their message—Peter says
 
(Acts 2:36 NKJ) "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
 
And Paul says
 
(Acts 13:26 NKJ) "Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.
 
As we consider this message of the Old Testament Pentecost—and the New Testament Pentecost—the giving of the Law to God’s people—and the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s people—we must remind ourselves to maintain the courage to stand up for Jesus—and God will give us the strength to speak and the words to say
 
(1 Thessalonians 1:5 NKJ) For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
 
(Luke 12:12 NKJ) "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
 
We thank God for this gift of the Holy Spirit to His Church—it gives us faith—understanding—and our hope of salvation  ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!