For those who proclaim Christ, it is important to remember that in spite of many of our current theological differences, we have a common origin that occurred almost 2,000 years ago on Sivan 6 (according to the Jewish calendar), which will fall this year on June 12, 2024: Pentecost. The Hebrews call it Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, and for them it commemorates the giving of God’s law on Mt. Sinai. But for Christians, Pentecost commemorates the giving of God’s Spirit in Jerusalem.

Isn’t that a beautiful connection? At Mt. Sinai, God manifested his power with the sound of trumpets, the mystery of smoke, and the purity of fire (Exodus 19:16-20), but now God’s purity–his holiness–was being manifested as an unquenchable fire at the birth of his Church. At Mt. Sinai, God wrote his law on tablets of stone, but now in Jerusalem he was writing his law on the tablets of our hearts. 

As we unfold the events of Pentecost, I hope we will rediscover what God has done for us, and I hope we can rediscover the heart of Christianity.

Fear and Doubt

As I noted in my last post on the Ascension, after the resurrection, Jesus encouraged and strengthened his disciples for forty days. They didn’t quite understand what had happened, and Jesus knew they would be skeptical (It’s one thing to believe it is possible to raise someone from the dead; it’s another thing to see it). He also knew how violently skeptical the world was going to be to the message of his birth, ministry, and resurrection, and that the world would soon be persecuting them as they had him. His disciples needed all the courage they could muster to stay locked in on the primary message: Christ is risen. 

But after those forty days of encouragement, Christ ascended and he commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for whatever was going to happen next. Jesus had made some obscure promise about the arrival of a “Helper” who was going to be better for them than even Jesus had been, but none of them understood what that meant. To their limited understanding, what could be better than having the physical presence of Jesus in their lives? What could be better than him walking with them, leading them, healing the sick, and teaching the masses? He was the king, the Messiah, the living breathing Word of God. I’m sure they had a hard time believing that they would be better off without him, but that is what Jesus had told them (John 16:7-11), and so they prayed and waited. 

The Helper

We are all familiar with the events at Pentecost, but let’s take a moment to read it again:

Acts 2:1-4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come [the fiftieth day after the resurrection], 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. 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.”

Wow! Divided tongues of fire, the presence of God, and the spontaneous ability to preach the wonderful works of God in any language. The gift of the Holy Spirit gave these cowering disciples the confidence they needed to boldly proclaim the good news to anyone and everyone. God’s promise of a Helper came true, but what exactly changed?

• God infused his Spirit into theirs, and renewed their hearts.
• He etched his law onto their hearts and minds.
• He overrode their cultural programming and helped them to see God’s plan of salvation. 
• He gave them the courage to proclaim that truth.

God had promised in Ezekiel 36:23-32 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Throughout 2 Corinthians 3:4-18, Paul tells us that, the Spirit gives life and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

In Hebrews 10:11-25, it is stated again, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” And now we will be able to “Draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

God fulfilled these and so many other promises on Pentecost. The gift of languages caught the attention of the crowds in Jerusalem, but it was only to set up the opportunity to explain what was really going on.  

Peter’s First Sermon

When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, he taught his disciples, 

John 16:8-11 “And when He has come [the Holy Spirit], He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

And that is exactly what happened during Peter’s first sermon. He stood up to explain what was going on, and at the end of his sermon about three thousand people repented (Acts 2:41). Just as Jesus had taught, they were convicted of their sin, convicted of righteousness (meaning they knew they should be behaving better), and of judgment.

Have you ever been there?

Conviction of Sin

The first role of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, that is, a remorse for sin that leads to repentance. Holiness is the supreme characteristic of God, and as R. C. Sproul explains,

“Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love; or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, that the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Sproul, R. C.. The Holiness of God (p. 26). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.)

This is why Peter’s sermon had power. It wasn’t because he was a magnificent speaker or a trained orator, it was because the Helper was now present in his heart and he spoke in line with the character and heart of God. Jesus had prayed for this during the Last Supper:

John 17:20-23 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

How is this unity to be achieved? Through the indwelling, transformative power of the Holy Spirit who knows and teaches us the will of God in righteousness through Christ. Peter’s particular audience consisted of Jews who had come to Jerusalem from all over the world, and many of them likely had been in Jerusalem since Passover. But his truth was never to be limited only to the Jews. It was meant for people from all nations, tribes, and languages (Acts 1:8; Revelation 7:9-10). Here’s a map to show you where these first believers were from (Acts 2:5-13):

Peter’s sermon was heard by those who were not only born Jews, but also those who had chosen to be Jews, and Peter had to explain to them that they were filled with the Holy Spirit in order to proclaim the glorious works of God. And the Holy Spirit used his sermon to convict them of their sin, to remind them of God’s righteousness, and to fear judgment so that they would repent (Acts 2:14-47):

• We’re not drunk, God’s Spirit has been poured out on us.
• You are seeing the prophecies of Joel being fulfilled.
• You are hearing the wonderful news that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
• King David foresaw this day of the Lord, “Nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
• David wasn’t talking about himself, but the coming Messiah.
• Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
• Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And so the heart of Christianity–the very core of our being–is the Holy Spirit, who was sent to declare the truth to the world so that non-believers would repent of their sins and be filled with the Holy Spirit. He first helps us to see our sin in light of God’s righteousness and our need for repentance, but once we do, he then fills us and transforms our hearts and minds. Pentecost can happen right now for anyone.

Repentance

The holiness of God is a terrifying reality to our sinful nature, but if we repent, then God’s holiness is nothing less than our salvation. In other words, his gift to us is his holiness. We need his perfection because none of us can achieve his perfection on our own, and we must be perfect in order to enter into the presence of the Father and to eternal glory. But God solves this dilemma (our inability to make ourselves perfect even if we really, really want to be), by giving us his Holiness. He bestows it upon us via the Holy Spirit when we believe, and the presence of the Spirit manifests itself in love, joy, peace, self-control, hope, compassion and righteousness. No longer are we to hide in fear, anxiety, and guilt, but now we can live an abundant life of courage and endurance. Even when we sin as believers and we grieve the Holy Spirit, he is ready and eager to forgive us our transgressions. The gift of the Holy Spirit also means that we have been given the words to proclaim the wonderful works of God to a lost world. This is still the role of the Holy Spirit and it has never changed throughout history, in spite of all the ways in which we messed things up.

But what specifically was the sin that the audience needed to repent of?

The initial click bait moment was hearing native Galileans speaking different languages, but then Peter draws all of their attention away from that sign and back toward Jesus. He wants them to realize that the one who had had been crucified almost two months earlier–the one they had crucified–was the promised Messiah.

This must have been an uncomfortable moment for everyone. Many in that crowd had likely been there when Jesus had been crucified. Many of them may have even seen his miracles, heard him preach, and then participated in shouting for his execution. They had become the unruly mob, stirred on by the false shepherds, the lying, manipulative leaders. Maybe even some of those leaders–the Sanhedrin–were in that audience listening to Peter preach. Imagine hearing what he said if you were one of those who had thought of yourself as a hero for what you had done to Jesus.

So the picture as portrayed by Acts 1 & 2, is that while the disciples had been immersed in their encounters with the resurrected Jesus, gaining encouragement and hope, the rest of the world had gone back to business as usual.

Until Pentecost.

A New Heart

When the Holy Spirit comes into one’s heart, there is a desire for holiness, that is to say, one wants to walk more closely with God in one’s personal life and in how we interact with others. God first convicts us of our sins, but he simultaneously convicts us of righteousness, meaning that he creates in us a desire for righteousness. It’s like two sides of the same coin. On one side I know I fall short of the glory of God (nothing is easier to prove in this world), but on the other side I know I desire to partake of his holiness. To be holy myself even though I know I struggle.

As David sang in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” David was repenting for the sins of adultery and murder, but God doesn’t leave us in our despair. He gives us a new heart, a new spirit–God’s spirit–that longs for righteousness. 

Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.” And in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

None of these things can be achieved by our own efforts. In my natural self I can know that I have done things that are wrong and even feel bad about them. And in my natural self I can know that I should be living a better life than I am. But I do not in my natural self have the capability of achieving those goals to their highest levels. I can improve, but I cannot make myself perfect. Only God can achieve that for me, and when I believe in the resurrection of his Son, God’s Spirit comes into me and I am sealed for the day of redemption.  I am secure within his presence, because his presence is no longer outside of me, but within me. Not as some vague spiritual feeling of unity with the universe, but as a very specific realization that I am a child of God, forgiven and emboldened to proclaim the good news until Jesus returns. 

Judgment

Jesus taught us not to judge one another, and yet one of the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to keep us mindful of the judgment of God. One of the reasons Jesus taught that we are not supposed to walk around judging each other, is because we have such a limited perspective. We are limited by our personal and cultural biases, and we are limited in personal knowledge. We simply don’t know all that is going on in another person’s life, so we should back off of jumping to conclusions about them and the things they do. God is working in everyone’s heart to draw them to himself, so don’t be a Jerk for Jesus who points out everything that is wrong with everyone else all the time. It’s annoying.

And yet God will judge the world in righteousness. He is our judge and he does have a moral standard to which we will be held accountable. Punishment is awaiting all of us when we play games with his moral code, and one of the works of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of that, and to bring that back to our attention. We all have a very well-paid defense lawyer in our souls who will defend us even when our guilt is obvious, but when the Holy Spirit exposes our sin, instead of making false and empty excuses, he helps us to own up to our failings. But then the good news is that after we accept our blame, Christ is right there saying, “I already paid your penalty on the cross. Welcome to your new life!” And then the Holy Spirit enters us through his mercy and grace–his pardon and his generous gift of eternal life.

And when I respond in faith–total confidence–that Christ is my only means of salvation (I cannot do it myself) then his Holy Spirit is given to me and my world changes. 

May the gift of the Holy Spirit be opened in your heart on this day–the day of your salvation.

500 Year Journey

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God be with you.