Pentecost + Acts 2:1-13

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

For several weeks our Lord has been teaching us about the Holy Spirit. Today, ten days after Christ ascended into heaven and fifty days after our Lord rose alive from the dead, He fulfills His promise. The apostles were in one place when “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” It’s appropriate that the Spirit make such a sound at His arrival. The word “spirit” means breath or wind. He rushes upon the apostles with the audible sound of a mighty rushing wind. “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” The Spirit arrives in fire just as John the Baptist had foretold in Matthew 3:11, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Jesus said in Luke 12:49, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Today that fire is kindled. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Tongues of fire over their heads and new, foreign tongues on their lips. Not angelic languages that are beyond human comprehension, but tongues as in human languages, the very languages of those Jews and proselytes gathered in Jerusalem for the Old Testament feast of Pentecost.

And what do they proclaim in these new tongues? “The wonderful works of God.” This isn’t the result of drinking wine that’s still green. It is the fulfillment of prophesy. “It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh” says the prophet (Acts 2:17). It is the long-promised gift, which God the Father now pours out so that the gospel might be preached to all men so that they may repent of their sins, believe the gospel, and confess Christ for their salvation. Peter proclaims that God has sent His Messiah in Jesus Christ. Israel rejected God’s salvation but He raised Christ from the dead and now ascended, He is the one who has sent the Holy Spirit. This Jesus, whom they crucified just fifty days ago, God has made Him Lord and Christ. This cuts the hearers to the heart so that they ask “What shall we do?” To which Peter replies, “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.  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” (Acts 2:38-39). Those who gladly received Peter’s words were baptized and they remained steadfast “in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Thousands of those who heard the apostle’s preaching, repented, and were baptized and in that baptism they received the gift of the Holy Spirit as well. But they didn’t receive the Spirit in the same manner which the apostles had. With each penitent heart, confessing mouth, and believing soul there wasn’t the sound of a mighty, rushing wind. With each baptism of water combined with God’s Word there weren’t tongues of fire over their heads or new tongues upon their lips. God gave those outward signs so that all would know to whom they were to listen. Just as Christ’s miracles during His ministry were to show people that they should listen to His teaching, so these miraculous deeds showed the men gathered in Jerusalem that they should listen to these men who preached in the stead and by the command of the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. Those that repented, believed, and were baptized didn’t get the flashy gifts of the Spirit. It wasn’t God’s will that they receive them. But they still received the same Holy Spirit as God gave to the apostles.

How do we know? Look what they did with the apostles’ teaching. They heard it so that it sank into their hearts, even to the point of the Law condemning them for crucifying Christ. Through the Law the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin, their unrighteousness, and of the coming judgment. If you crucify God’s promised Messiah who now lives and will return to judge the world, to where can you flee? Where can you hide when the one you rejected is the one who will be your final judge? Peter’s answer, the gospel’s answer, is that you flee back to Christ you killed. This is the reason He suffered and died, to atone for the sins of the world. This is the reason He lives, to justify those who believe in Him, forgiving their sins and cancelling their judgment because He bore it for them. They were to flee to Him in repentance, sorrowing over their sins. They were to flee for refuge to Holy Baptism which Peter says is “for the remission of sins” and gives the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Gospel, that all who believe in Christ will not perish but have eternal life, is for all people, even these men who crucified Christ and rejected His ministry. It is for all men and their children, as many as God will call through the Word.

You have received the same Holy Spirit as those present that day. No mighty, rushing wind. No tongues of fire over your head. No new tongues which you’ve never studied before. But none of that was promised to you. What was promised to you was that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16) just as these men at Pentecost had that same promise of Christ. In Holy Baptism God the Father has given you the Holy Spirit, just as He gave Him to these men, because baptism is “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Because you have been baptized into the name of the Triune God you have the forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life. Because you are baptized you confess that Christ Jesus is Lord, because no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). To have a lord is not just to have a master, it is to have a redeemer who has purchased you with His own precious blood, to free you from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Because you have the Holy Spirit, you are here. Those who gladly heard the apostle’s word, believed, and were baptized “continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). You’re here to continually learn the apostle’s doctrine, which is Christ’s doctrine, and have fellowship in their teaching. You’re here for the Lord’s Supper so that you may continually receive Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. You’re here to join in the prayers of church for yourself, your family, for the church, and for the world.

This is what the faithful baptized do. They live each day in the promises God made to them in their baptism. They live in day by faith, repenting of their sins and trusting Christ to cover their sins with His blood and cover them with His robe of righteousness. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit which God sends through the preaching of His Word, through the absolution and sacraments. The faith in your hearts is even a work of the Holy Spirit, so that no one may boast that He’s contributed anything to his salvation. All this is worked in you by the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Comforter who is God Himself, the third person of the Blessed Holy Trinity. Rejoice, dear saints of God. You have the Holy Spirit. Don’t drive Him out through deliberate sinning. Don’t chase Him away by willfully doing the things God forbids. But continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, in the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. This is where Christ daily and richly forgives all your sins and gives you the Holy Spirit, so that you might confess each that Jesus is Lord. Amen.