God and the Nations

Pentecost: God Gathers the Nations

Acts 2.1-13

Introduction

God did not immediately send the Savior into the world but took many years of preparation for this event. The first thing God did was to create His own nation of people, the Jews, and teach them about Himself. The Savior of the world would be born into this nation that was already familiar with the true God. And while salvation was offered to the Jews first, God had always intended to bless the rest of the world through the Seed of Abraham. But first, the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. When His earthly work was accomplished He then ascended into heaven and began to reign over the world. At this time the message of salvation could then be announced to all the nations of the world, beginning in the city of Jerusalem.

When Luke picks up the story of Jesus in his second volume, Jesus is preparing to ascend into heaven and He is preparing His disciples for the next phase in God’s plan. Jesus would no longer be with them physically because He was ascending bodily into heaven. But this did not mean the disciples would be alone. Another Divine Helper would come to be with them. In the first chapter of Acts Jesus reminds them that the Spirit is coming to be with them, even as He is going away. The disciples had some work to do as the next phase of God’s plan would begin and the empowerment of the Spirit was absolutely essential to this mission. On the Jewish feast called Pentecost the Spirit of God would fill the disciples with a fresh power that would enable them to continue the work of God that Jesus Himself had begun. 

The Day of Pentecost is significant for many reasons. But most people remember it for the miraculous gift of tongues. This has created much controversy in the modern Church. Did God mean for all Christians throughout the centuries to speak in tongues? Or was this just something that happened once on the Day of Pentecost? Unfortunately, this controversy may have caused the Church to miss the true significance of what happened when the Spirit came at Pentecost. The miraculous gift of tongues was actually a sign of what God was about to do in the world. What happened at Pentecost has continued to surge with power right up to the present day! The Day of Pentecost has not really ended and we need to understand what that means so that we can continue to be a part of what God is doing in the world.

Luke is a first-rate historian who is always giving us the facts. The Christian faith is based on facts. That is, these things really happened and God Himself was the great Mover of these events. But facts and events must also be interpreted. We must understand the ultimate significance of what happened. What is the meaning of the events on Pentecost? Luke invites us to reflect on this. Even the people who witnessed Pentecost asked what these things meant. (And for some of the witnesses it was dismissed as the result of intoxication!) There are several clues in Luke’s account that help us interpret the meaning of Pentecost. The first clues appear in the chapter preceding the account of Pentecost and then there are several signs on the Day of Pentecost that help us understand the event. Pentecost is crucial to understanding what God is doing in the world today.

Divine Preparation for Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost could not happen until Jesus had successfully put away sin by His death on the cross. God’s intention was to pour out His Spirit in a way that had never been experienced before. But the Spirit is holy and cannot dwell in unclean vessels. The blood of Christ cleanses people so that the Holy Spirit can dwell in them. This outpouring of the Spirit would not be like the former times when the Spirit would come upon someone for a short period of time. God’s intention was to actually dwell with His people on a permanent basis and live in them. This is pictured under the Old Covenant in the Tabernacle. God wanted to dwell with the people but there had to be a holy place. The Tabernacle was that holy place that had to be purified with the blood of sacrifices. In the New Covenant the Tabernacle is actually the people themselves, who have been purified and sanctified by the blood of Christ. Because the people have been made holy by the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit can move in and take up permanent residence.

The removal of sin was actually the means to an end, not the end itself. Jesus died for sins so that the Spirit of God could dwell in God’s people. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the point, not just the removal of sin. Being forgiven actually prepares us for the real work of God that will take place in our hearts and minds when we are united with the Spirit of God. Any view of salvation that involves the remission of sins and nothing more is an incomplete view. Christ did not die just so we would not have to suffer the wrath of God. Getting rid of sin enables the Spirit of God to do His work of regeneration and sanctification which prepares us for service in this world and glory in the world to come.

The work of the atonement would not really be complete until Jesus rose from the dead. Death was the curse of sin. Remember that Jesus defeated death as a man. Jesus has become the firstborn from the dead and the first in a whole new race of men over whom death has no ultimate power. When Jesus rose from the dead He appeared to His disciples, who were His chosen witnesses. But Jesus appeared to them to make it plain that He would no longer remain physically in the world. The plan of salvation could not be completely implemented as long as Jesus remained in the world. In one sense, Jesus no longer belonged in the world because He had a resurrection body that really belongs to the heavenly order and the world to come. Jesus’ intention was not to stay in this world and set up some kind of earthly kingdom. When Jesus left the world the Holy Spirit could come to be with the disciples and they would actually be more advantaged than they were even when Jesus was with them in the flesh.

When Jesus went back to heaven to the presence of God, He sat down on the throne of God and began to reign over the world. He has been given charge of the purpose of God and is administering the Kingdom of God from heaven. Heaven is the control room for the earth and Christ is seated there in heaven, which is good news for His people on the earth. The fact that Christ is reigning in heaven means that He is Lord of all. His exalted position enables Him to save people. Jesus’ exalted position will result in a world-wide Kingdom in which men from every nation on the earth will come to know and acknowledge Christ as Lord. Jesus will not be a provincial Lord but will rule a world-wide Kingdom. The book of Acts will show us how the spread of Christ’s Kingdom on earth was made possible by His reign from heaven. Jesus power and influence will only continue to spread throughout the world. Pentecost was just the beginning of Christ’s Kingdom!

Human Preparation for Pentecost

The first job Jesus had after rising from the dead was to strengthen and prepare His disciples for the next phase in God’s plan. The disciples would become the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection who would preach the message to the rest of the world. This means that they had to be assured and confident that Jesus was alive. This was more difficult than we might think. Luke says that Jesus appeared to them over a period of 40 days and gave them proofs that He was alive. These disciples became so convinced that Jesus was alive they were willing to put their lives on the line and preach publicly that Jesus is Lord in the same city and to the same people who had killed Jesus! This is a significant fact about Christianity. We must believe these witnesses or we must ignore them either as liars or as people who had been horribly deceived. We believe through the witness of these chosen messengers. We have not seen the resurrected Christ for ourselves. We believe through the testimony of eyewitnesses of these events. The Apostle Paul reveals that there were more than 500 disciples who saw the resurrected Christ, which probably happened when He ascended into heaven (See 1 Cor. 15.6). But the emphasis is placed on those men who had been designated Apostles and were sent by Jesus to preach the Gospel to the world.

The mission that Jesus had for them is staggering. They had previously been too afraid to even meet publicly for fear of the Jewish leaders who had put Jesus to death. And even if they became confident enough that Jesus was really alive, how could they hope to have any success when they preached? Who would believe them? What would come from their efforts? Jesus was not sending them out in to the world simply hoping that they would be clever enough to find a way to be successful.

They would be given Divine power to accomplish a Divine purpose. The Spirit will fill the disciples with Divine power just like an ocean breeze fills the outstretched sails of a ship and carries it along. Their success would not be left up to them and their ingenuity, but would depend on the power of God. The Holy Spirit converts people who hear the message. The Apostles would preach the message. Without this Divine power they were doomed to failure. This is why Jesus forbade them to do anything until the Spirit came upon them on Pentecost. They were to wait for the power they needed to begin their work, which was really God’s work. If we want to do God’s work, we must also be empowered by His Spirit. We cannot be successful on our own. The work of God is done through the Gospel of Christ and the power of the Spirit.

One of the things Jesus wanted to make clear to His disciples is that they were supposed to follow His instructions and not do their own thing. They were getting their marching orders from the King Himself. They were part of the Kingdom of God and were not free to do as they thought best. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy where we get to vote on various options or plans. The King has already given His orders and we are to follow Him. We are either with Him or we are against Him. The Lord invites us to be a part of His Kingdom where He is King. Jesus is not waiting to make our dreams comes true or underwrite our little kingdoms.

But I am always amazed at how patient Jesus was with His disciples! They still seemed to be slow in their understanding. They still had much to learn about the Kingdom of God. And Jesus warns them not to become distracted from their true mission. There were competing agendas and plans that came from men and not from God. This meant that they had to trust that God’s agenda was the best plan and that He would take care of everything else that was needed.

Jesus was going to return to the earth just as He ascended into heaven. But in the meantime, there is work to be done in the world. The disciples were not to become a band of escapists or starry-eyed mystics who were just sitting around staring at the sky and awaiting the Master’s return. They were to put their hands to the plow, as their Master had done while He was in the world, and do the work they were given to do. When the Master does return we want to be found faithfully doing the work He gave us to do!

Wind: The Power of God

Pentecost began when the disciples heard the sound of a blowing wind. Anyone who is familiar with the Scriptures knows that the wind or breath is a symbol for the spirit of God. In fact, in both Hebrew and Greek the word for spirit is actually the same as the word for wind or breath. When God created the world the Spirit was there, blowing across the waters of chaos and darkness. It is the Spirit that brings life to the world and to mankind. When God created man from the dust of the ground he was a lifeless form until God breathed into him and he became a living soul. In speaking to Nicodemus Jesus said that the work of the Spirit is like the blowing of the wind (John 3.3-5). And when we read about the wind on Pentecost it is difficult not to remember Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones and how God promised to breathe new life into His people (See Ezekiel 37). This is exactly what happened on the Day of Pentecost!

The actual working of the Spirit is just as mysterious as the wind itself, which is something else Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (John 3.8). The Holy Spirit is perhaps the most mysterious of the three members of the Godhead and this may be by design. We are meant to see the effects of the Spirit, or the evidence of His work, but He does not mean to draw attention to Himself. The Holy Spirit really wants to draw our attention to Christ. There is no Gospel of the Spirit. But without the work of the Spirit the Gospel of Christ would not have the power to save and regenerate those who hear it.

The Holy Spirit does the work of God in perfect harmony with the Father and the Son. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit just as God the Father had sent the Son into the world. Each member of the Godhead has a unique role in the plan of salvation, yet each Divine personality is working together in perfect harmony.

Men cannot control the natural winds of the world and they certainly cannot control the moving of the Spirit of God. Rather, we must submit ourselves to the movement of the Spirit. It is a dangerous thing to fight against the Spirit of God and fail to yield to His will when He moves upon us. Men who continually resist the Holy Spirit cannot be saved. Resisting the Spirit is the same as resisting God Himself. All men must either bend before the will of the Spirit or find themselves enemies of God.

The wind of the Spirit that started blowing on Pentecost would continue to blow through the world to bring forth a new creation, just as the Spirit had once brooded over the original creation at the beginning. People who were dead in sin would be regenerated and raised to life through the work of the Spirit. This powerful wind would not be a destructive force but the agent of a new creation. People from every nation would be born again and become new creatures in Christ through the agency of the Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost alone the Spirit would give birth to 3,000 New Creations! This new movement was the result of the power of God. Without the Spirit coming on Pentecost there would have been no such thing as Christianity.

Fire: The Presence of God

The presence of the God was also manifested on Pentecost as fire. This fire separated and came to rest of the disciples as little tongues of flame. Anyone who is familiar with the Scriptures recognizes that the presence of God at Sinai looked like a consuming fire. God’s presence was awesome and frightening and the people had to stay back from the mountain, lest they be consumed by God’s burning holiness. God’s nature is so pure that He will consume anyone that does not conform to His nature. Being in the presence of a holy God is not to be approached in a casual manner. God wanted to dwell with the people of Israel, but special precautions had to be made so that He did not completely consume them. The people had to be purified so that God’s wrath did not break out against them. This is one of the great lessons of the Old Testament. God is holy and men are not. This means that we are not acceptable in His presence unless there is some kind of purification. This is why God established the priesthood and all of the blood sacrifices. God was showing that only He could provide a way for men to stand in His presence and not be consumed by His holy wrath. God wants to dwell with His people. But sin has been the barrier separating men from a holy God.

So it is significant that on the Day of Pentecost, when the fires of God’s presence came down, the disciples were not consumed by it. Instead, the fire came to rest and to stay on them. The Spirit would never leave the disciples but would stay to dwell in them permanently. This was something never seen under the Old Covenant dispensation. There had been times when the Spirit of God fell on someone. But He had never stayed for long. Pentecost marked the point in time when the Spirit could dwell in people and take up permanent residence. Each person in the New Covenant era is baptized in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit. This is not just a gift that is only for the Apostles or for the first-century Church but for all believers in Christ everywhere and at all times in history.

When a fire is lit it gives light. In the same way, the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost was going to bring light to a world that had before been enveloped in centuries of darkness. In Scripture light and darkness are significant symbols. God is always associated with light. To be ignorant of God or alienated from Him is to reside in the darkness. Most of the world up to this point had been ignorant of the true God and had been worshiping idols. The disciples of Jesus immediately received a new illumination brought by the presence of the Spirit at Pentecost, which is evidences by Peter’s insightful sermon. Never again were the disciples without understanding of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. The fire of the Spirit enlightens the minds of believers.

And fire also provides heat and warmth. The Spirit would melt men’s hearts and give a new passion and zeal for God. The disciples were going to be known for their great enthusiasm, even to the point of death. Christianity is no cold, heartless religion. The Holy Spirit would touch men at the deepest level. This fire would spread throughout the world and cause men to love God with all their hearts and minds. The warmth of the Spirit would also cause the Christians to love each other. A passionate love for God and for men is a sign that the Holy Spirit is there and is at work. This warmth of love is what adorns the doctrine of the Gospel and makes the Church so compelling to the world.

Tongues: The Message of God

At the beginning of this series we considered the account of the Tower of Babel. When the nations came together in rebellion against God, He responded with a judgement. This judgement was the confusion of their single language so that they could not understand one another and the work had to stop. Without understanding each other we are alienated from one another. Mankind is made in the image of God and we alone possess the gift of intelligent speech and communication. God Himself is a communicator. God makes a point of mocking all the idols and false gods for being unable to speak to their worshipers! Communication is the basis of fellowship. At Babel there was confusion and the result was division. This was a judgement brought by God for their disobedience. But on the Day of Pentecost the curse of Babel is being reversed! The disciples were given the ability to speak in other languages so that all the people heard the Gospel in their native languages. The gift of tongues was a sign that God wanted the Gospel preached to all the nations of the world. God has something to say to the world. God wants to bless the world, as He revealed to Abraham. And this blessing promised to Abraham will come to the world through the preaching of the Gospel. The main point of the gift of tongues is the communication of the Gospel to the world. This gift was the ability to speak in another language. We know that is the case because of what the people said in response to what they heard that day.

And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language” (Acts 2:6-8)?

Just to be clear, the disciples did not need to speak in other languages that day to be understood. The people there all spoke Hebrew, or Aramaic, and probably Greek too. The other languages were the native languages of those parts of the world where they had been born, though they were Jews. In other words, what God had to say was for the whole world. Language is not a barrier. God was speaking the languages of all the nations because it was His desire to gather people from every nation.

The important thing is not simply that the disciples were speaking in other tongues, but what they were saying. The people said “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” The disciples were preaching the Gospel, which is really just a report of what God has done through Christ. The whole purpose of the Church is the world is to declare the mighty works of God to all the nations. This message is the power of God unto salvation. There is no other message that has the power to save.

Gathering: The Mission of God

We see on Pentecost that God was reversing the curse of Babel. At Babel men were scattered by God as a judgement for their rebellion. At Pentecost the purpose of God was to begin to gather men together from all the nations that He had previously scattered at Babel. The book of Acts records the beginning of God’s mission to the nations where He intends to gather out of every nation a holy nation for Himself. The Church is itself a holy nation that consists of people gathered from out of all the other nations. This is God’s mission in the world!

God was very intentional and purposeful about where this enterprise would begin. It had to begin in Jerusalem. This was the city of God and the Jews were God’s special, covenant people who had been chosen by God and set apart from every other nation. The message of salvation through Christ was the fulfillment of everything God had promised the Jews, beginning with the promise given to Abraham. So it was fitting and proper that the Gospel should first be preached to Jews in Jerusalem. As Paul later wrote, the Gospel is first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (Rom 1.16-17). All the men there in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost were Jews or converts to Judaism. God developed this nation and spoken directly to them, preparing them for this Day. Jesus was the Messiah that they had been waiting for all those long years. The Messiah has come and the Jews needed to believe in Jesus and receive Him. Jesus Himself had come to the Jewish people and spent all of His time among them. The Scriptures that Jesus had fulfilled were the Scriptures that had been given to the Jews. The Gospel was going to go out to the rest of the nations, but it would be preached first to the people of Israel.

Now that the Christ had come it was essential that all people, beginning with the Jewish people, believe in Him. This was the message that was preached on Pentecost. There is no allowance made for indifference toward Christ. Repentance is the order of the day. The very people who had recently rejected Christ must now receive Him as Lord and Christ. To reject Christ is to reject what God was doing in the world among the nations.

It was not enough to be a Jew. One must also receive Jesus as the Christ. Those who receive Christ and believe in Him are the people God accepts. Those who reject Christ are rejected by God because they have refused to recognize what God is doing in the world. The Day of Pentecost was the beginning of a crucial division and distinction among the people of the world. There are those who have become the people of God, both Jew and Gentile, and there are those who are not recognized by God. The truth of the Gospel creates division among people as well as bringing people together. Anyone may come to Christ and be a part of what God is doing. But to reject Christ is to be alienated from God and His purpose for the nations.

The feast of Pentecost was one of the Old Testament feasts that God commanded the Jews to observe each year. It was the feast where the first-fruits of the harvest were brought in and offered to God. So it is no accident that it was on the Day of Pentecost that the first Christian converts were made. The 3,000 believers on Pentecost were the first-fruits of a greater harvest from out of every nation on earth. God was just getting started on the Day of Pentecost! God would continue to gather people from out of every nation. We are still living in the time of this great gathering and we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today are part of the harvest that started on Pentecost.

Conclusion

The Day of Pentecost is crucial to our understanding of the Church. There would have been no Church without the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was coming to equip and empower the Church for a mission in the world. The purpose is God’s, yet the work will be done by people in the world. Having been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church is being sent out into all the world to be witnesses of the resurrected, exalted Christ. All nations must hear this message about Jesus. The main work of the Church in the world is Gospel witness. This witness is only legitimate and effective when it is empowered by the Spirit of God.

To have true converts there must be the preaching of the Gospel. Those who are converted are then joined to a community of believers. We have an example of what Gospel preaching should be in Peter’s sermon that converted 3,000 people to Christ. These individuals then formed a new community. There had never been a fellowship like that which was formed on Pentecost and they went on to turn their world upside down. It all began there in Jerusalem, but eventually the fires of Pentecost would spread throughout the world and have never been extinguished.