The Signs of Pentecost
Tucked away in a remote folder on my desktop today, I found a couple of files I’d forgotten about. Back on Pentecost Sunday, I did a joint Sunday School lesson on the Trinity, and preached a sermon on the Signs of Pentecost. Here’s the sermon – a bit late, and more in note form than in prose. But hopefully it might still be of some help!
What was Pentecost? You’ll get a different answer for nearly every person you ask. But to me, it seems that Pentecost is one of the most underrated celebrations for Protestants – especially for Baptists. Maybe we’re afraid we’ll become “charismatic” or Pentecostal if we look too closely at Pentecost?
No matter what your understanding of what happened that day, you can’t deny that it was something special. God was doing a mighty work – a work on par with many of his other activities in the Bible, the culmination and re-launch of Jesus’ ministry on earth.
There are lots of arguments about whether the signs of Pentecost were only for those first-century Christians. While we don’t see any tongues of fire today, and I haven’t heard any winds or heard anyone talking in other languages, I think that it’s possible to “translate” these signs and see if Pentecost is still happening today. And it SHOULD be happening today. The events of Pentecost were not just a culmination – they were a BEGINNING of something that will not end until Jesus comes back.
So let’s look closely for a few moments at these signs of Pentecost, and see whether they are present among us today.
- A Mighty rushing wind – The wind in the OT and NT = pneuma or ruach. The words mean “wind,” “spirit” and “breath” at the same time. When the wind or breath of God is heard, seen or given, it is a sign of new life. When we think of what separates the living and the dead, we probably think of a heartbeat. But in ancient though thought, breath was what separated the living from the dead.
- At the beginning of Creation, the ruach of God moved over the face of the waters… and creation began to erupt (Genesis 1:2).
- How did God give life to Adam? Breathed into his nostrils (Genesis 2:7).
- God sent a wind to separate the Red Sea for the people of Israel to walk across (Exodus 14:21).
- God sent a wind to bring food to the people in the wilderness (Numbers 11:31).
- After the long drought prophesied by Elijah, the new rain was brought by a wind from heaven (1 Kings 18:45).
- In Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37), God’s wind/breath entered the dry bones and gave them life.
- The “spirit of the LORD” rested upon individuals throughout the Old Testament to give them new life, power, and purpose.
- Tongues of fire – In the OT, a fire was a symbol of the presence of God.
- Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3).
- Spontaneous fires that come to light certain sacrifices. Specifically see Abraham (Genesis 15), David (1 Chronicles 21:26), Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:1), Elijah (1 Kings 18),
- Fire on Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19,
- Elijah was taken up by chariots of fire (2 Kings 2).
- The armies of God were said to be “chariots and horses of fire (2 Kings 6:17).
- Column of fire that led the Hebrews (Exodus 13).
- Because of the important symbol of fire, candles were kept constantly burning in the tabernacle and temple.
- Speaking other languages is a sign of God working inside his people to do his work.
- This gift did not come until the Holy Spirit had come.
- God gave them the ability to speak to each person there – with what they needed.
- The followers didn’t stop to think about what these people might need – they simply started talking and the Spirit “translated.”
- It wasn’t just a matter of speaking – Acts says that everyone in the street understood in their own languages. The Spirit was also at work in the ears of those who were listening.
- Proclamation – There is another sign of the Spirit at Pentecost that might be overlooked. The first three signs were gifts from God. The last sign was the response prompted in God’s people.
- These followers, gathered in the room to pray, had been hiding and living in fear for several weeks.
- Suddenly, they have the courage to rush out into the street and proclaim.
- It’s almost as if they have been driven out – the news they have, the Spirit’s power, is so overwhelming that they can’t NOT tell.
So how will we know if the Spirit is present with us today, then, by translating these signs? We have to see if the signs are present with us today.
- We don’t hear a mighty rushing wind. But have we experienced new life?
- We may not see fires from heaven. But do we have the presence of God with us?
- We may not break into other languages we’ve never learned. But do we have the ability to speak the truth into other people’s lives? You bet. If we go, God will give us the words and actions.
That leaves one more sign. Are we telling the good news? Are we so full of God’s Spirit that we can’t NOT tell?
