The Power of the Promise

Text: Acts 2:1-13

Focus: Pentecost

Function: Worship, to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit

Form: Bible Study

Intro:

Happy Birthday to the Church!

Throughout the Scriptures there are stories of great miracles that happen when people felt they were out of options and it literally would take a miracle to move forward.

Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Pharaoh, Moses and the Red Sea, Gideon and his 300 soldiers.

In all these stories, we see God doing things in the ways that only God can do them.

And time and again we learn the lesson that God is in control, so trust Him.

With Gideon, God kept telling to reduce the size of his army, it went from 30,000 to 300. God said it this way: “I don't want people to think their success was due to their ability. I want my people to know that I am faithful to them.”

What do we learn from this passage?

God is in control, not us.

So, first and foremost, the Power of the Promise is much more than we can imagine or think of.

This was no planned event except:

They were together:

• They were praying
• They were in unity

The power of the promise is much more than anything human, God wants us to know that He is working. God builds His Church.

• This is a completely supernatural event.
  • And, it happens AFTER Jesus' ascension
  • They would have thought that now that Jesus was physically gone from them that His merciful power was over.
  • But no, God is and will always be with His people!
  • It happened to people just like you and me.

What miracles happened?

• They heard the sound of a mighty wind.
  • At some point, the 120 moved from the meeting room into the streets of Jerusalem.
  • A crowd comes running.
  • God gets the attention of the entire city with this sound.
  • This wind is a direct link to the Holy Spirit.
  • The Word Spirit means wind.
  • And the symbol is the Holy Spirit has come, and in a mighty way. The great noise, loud enough to attract a crowd of thousands in a crowded city without electronic amplification is proof to the crowd that God is at work in their midst.
  • The first miracle: God got the people's attention and called people to Him.
    • I had a customer last night tell me the story of a bitter divorce, bankruptcy, loss of mother. I don't know why she opened up to me. But I got to pray with her. God sends people to the Church for the Church to be Jesus to them.
• They saw tongues of fire.
  • I like the banner, tongues of fire, and at the same time, they look like doves, the symbol of the Holy Spirit.
  • But the disciples, and the crowd around them saw these tongues.
  • I can picture them all together in this room and the noise starts, they move outside and then outside, more and more these tongues of fire descend from heaven.
  • I wonder if the tongues all fell at once?
    • I doubt it, otherwise it might have looked like a fire was burning them.
    • No, I get the image that they fell gently, without fear.
    • I can picture the 120 anticipating what would happen when a tongue touched them.
    • I can picture their reaction when it hit someone next to them.
      • There is this anticipation.
      • But there is also something deeply personal. 1 Corinthians 12 lists several of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
      • They are given individually.
      • They are different for each person
      • Each person has their place.
      • Each and every one of us is significant.
    • Fire is another symbol. It is the symbol of the cleansing power.
    • I remember my own conversion, the preacher said to come forward and my sins would be forgiven.
    • I did, and they were. I felt it.
    • And with deliberation, we started this worship service with a prayer of cleansing in preparation from Psalm 51.
    • God cleans us up, and then He uses us.

God calls the crowd to the 120 with a mighty wind. God cleanses them with tongues of fire. And then, God uses them to proclaim the gospel.

The third miracle, unknown tongues and understanding of tongues.

• The apostles spoke in several unknown languages.
• And the audience heard their own language.
• People have argued over the gift of tongues.
• 1 Corinthians 13:1 speaks of the gift, and it is called “The tongues of men and of angels.”
• Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 12 and then 14 also refer to the gift of tongues as well as several other places in the book of Acts.
• Sometimes it is a prayer language that God gives to a person to pray for certain issues. These people also have the Spiritual gift of intercessory prayer.
• Other times, it is the gift to either speak or hear a human tongues.
• I have a Lutheran Pastor friend who was taught that this gift either was an exaggeration, or the gift died with the apostles.
• But his first pastoral placement was overseas.
• He didn't know the language yet, but at a prayer meeting, he heard someone pray a very powerful prayer in English, and it seemed to have something to do with him.
• He asked the pastor to introduce him to his “English speaking parishioner.” The Pastor then told him that no one spoke English in the worship service.
• But my friend heard it.
• The pastor explained to him that the Bible wasn't exaggerating when this miracle occurred.
• I had a friend once tell me that it isn't speaking in an unknown language, it is hearing in an unknown language.
• Who cares?
• The point is this: God had a message to get out. And God wanted it to go out to the entire world.
• So, when all these people were there, worshiping during this national Jewish Holiday, Pentecost, a miracle happened.
• The point was that God got His message out in spite of language barriers.
• God builds the Church!

What did the 120 learn?

God could reach people in ways they had not imagined!

God could overcome language barriers to get the good news out!

God cares about preaching the good news!

What do we learn?

God still wants people to hear the good news.

And, God's primary plan has not changed.

It is still through us, the Church.

But what else does the passage tell us?

They left the meeting house and went into the streets to preach the gospel.

• This sanctuary is wonderful
• I always love the way it is decorated.
• And I love the significance of these decorations.
• Two weeks ago, when we had funeral services for Ray Jackson, this place was like a womb of healing. It was so comforting to be here, in a familiar place where we worship God.
• Last week, when Rosalie sang, I thought of what people who are driving by were missing.
• Today, there is an exciting atmosphere.
• And I am sure that when those 120 believers were together and praying, when they were sensing the comfort, strength and support of each other now that Jesus was not physically in their presence that the meaning of what it means to be the church meant a lot to them.
• What goes on in here is significant.
• But, when the Holy Spirit was leading them, when the Holy Spirit came down upon them, He compelled them to leave the building.
• The revival took place in the streets of Jerusalem.
• The text says that the sound of the wind was so loud, and apparently it was coming from one specific place, that a large crowd from throughout the city of Jerusalem came running.
• God nurtures us in here and then sends us out there.
• The ministry is there, not here.

So, God called a crowd to hear them.

God sent tongues of fire to cleanse them.

And God used them beyond any human ability to reach them.

That same God is still at work today.

How many people are nervous about sharing their faith?

It isn't up to you.

Every one of you has a story to tell of how God called you to himself.

For some, it made sense, in a logical way, it made so much sense that you were willing to let the preacher dunk you in the water.

For others, there was a burning inside of your heart that was irresistable. You couldn't explain it, but you knew it was true.

For others, a miracle happened and you knew that God cared for you.

There is no set way for a person to become one of God's own.

Except, just as the Holy Spirit preached the message in all the languages around, God knows what it takes to reach inside the heart of every single person.

Let God use you.