So, the Spirit has come on the Day of Pentecost. Heaven has broken in a fresh way into life on earth. 120 Jesus-followers are out on the streets, talking in languages they don't understand, and many of the bystanders, foreign visitors to Jerusalem, hear God's praises in their mother tongues. They're amazed. But some make joke: “Look at that bunch of alkies!” That gives Peter his lead-in.
The Promise and Word of the Father.
Speaking as a good Jew to his fellow Jews, he says, “These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it's only nine o'clock in the morning.”(v15) Good Jews only drank wine at the end of the day. It's not just a matter of their not having had the time to get properly drunk – they were stone cold sober. Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel (v 16) Peter relates the Presence of the Spirit to the Promise and Word of the Father. Basically, this is what God said would happen.
“I will pour my Spirit over all flesh.” Peter has affirmed the Disciples' well-behaved Jewishness; he speaks to his fellow Israelites. But the coming of the Spirit is bigger than Israel. His coming – indeed the plan of God – enfolds the whole world, every tribe, every race, every age, every class, male and female This is a world-touching event that is immediately bigger than Judaism.
And when the Spirit comes on all these people he will bring revelation: “Sons and daughters shall prophecy; old and young shall dream dreams.” The Father always wants to speak to his people – and to the nations. Hence the Presence of the Spirit always brings revelation.
The prophecy Peter quotes is that of Joel, where God speaks through the horrible experience of a locust plague, to warn of an invasion by an army that will swarm like locusts... there is judgement as well as blessing in the book of Joel. It is in that warning that the promise comes, that the Spirit will be poured out. John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptise with the Spirit and with fire. The Spirit is the “Eschatological” Spirit. He is given in the last days. The last days will and do involve God's judgement on the sin and evil that are present all around us. Greed, Hatred, Idolatry, Injustice, Racism, Sexual immorality, Terrorism, Thieving, Violence, these things we see around us in a broken world – will stand under god's judgement. But they will not be eradicated until Jesus comes back. We are living in the last days and have been since Jesus announced God's Kingdom. When Peter preached at Pentecost, it was only seven weeks since the sun had been darkened (while Jesus died on the Cross – see Lk 23. 44). It's part of the Father's plan.
And everyone who calls on the name of the lord shall be saved. Joel says in his next chapter, Multitudes, in the valley of decision! (Joel 3. 14) Can we see that, with prophetic imagination?
The Presence of the Spirit, comes in fulfilment of the Promise of the Father... and that promise enfolds the world, includes judgement, and beckons us, in the power of the Spirit, to see the multitudes in the valley of decision.
The Person and Work of the Son.
The promises of God, the salvation God for all who call, the Kingdom, he wants to establish; these things are brought in by Jesus... So Peter starts again, a second point: “Fellow Israelites, Jesus of Nazareth...(v22)” ...has poured out what you are seeing and hearing.(v33) Peter relates the Presence of the Spirit to the Person and works of Jesus.,.,.
Jesus was attested to you my many works and miracles. The early Church's Message began with the truth that the time of fulfilment had arrived. So does the Message of Jesus, in Mk 1. 15. And the signs that the Kingdom had come, were the healing that he did. (Lk 7, 19; Lk 9. 11) Jesus brings the promised Kingdom
“You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death” Peter says it twice, in verse 23 and 36. “You did it!” Those three words are part of my story of finding faith in Jesus. It was when I realised that the wrong stuff in my life had contributed to the death of Jesus, that I knew I really had to hand my life over to god in repentance and faith. The Cross was God's way of dealing with the sin of the world. Jesus brings salvation by his death.
“But God raised him..” (v 24) t Peter doesn't dwell on the crucifixion but sees it as one piece with the resurrection... He quotes Psalm 16. 8-11 and Psalm 110. 1 to show that the death, resurrection and ascending of Jesus to heaven, were part of God's plan. David's ancient words have to point to someone more important than old, dead-and-buried King David. Jesus today is seated at his Father's right hand in glory. (Eph 1. 20; Col 3. 1; Heb 1. 3) Jesus is the Victor.
All he did – his teaching, healing, compassionate and challenging service; his sacrificial death, and his resurrection – they all lead to this: triumph; victory; glory, seated at the right hand of the Father.
And it is from there, from Father's right hand, that Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit. Tee Presence and wonders of the Spirit, flow from the risen Jesus. They flow from the Person and Work of Jesus.
The response: “Brothers, what should we do?” (v. 37)
The trinitarian message, the presence of the Spirit, rooted in the promise of the Father and the Person of the Son, demands of us that we ask “What should we do?” Now sometimes, just occasionally, I muff things up a bit. Isn't that right? We have this discussion about how to encourage response to the word; how to encourage everyone to receive from God and to commit to following Jesus. Why do I keep saying “If you want prayer, go to the front, wait behind after the service” or whatever...? Simply this: because we need to do something. God gave us bodies, voices, minds. We need to respond. We need to take clear steps.
The steps Peter calls for are:
- “Repent” (Μετανοήσατε) means “all of you (it's plural) once and for all, undergo a change in frame of mind and feeling, of principle and practise.” It involves a total turnaround in a person's life. A change in the principles we live by; a change in how we think and feel, leading to a change in how we behave.
- “Be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” βαπτισθήτω means (let each one of you be baptised). One at a time, we need to come to Jesus and admit to him that we need the forgiveness of sins. No-one else can do that for you.
Do you need to be baptised in order to become a follower of Jesus, to have everlasting life? No, you need to repent and trust. That's the plain teaching of the New Testament. But if you are not prepared to obey the clear instructions of the Lord Jesus, the thing to do, what does that say about our repentance and our faith? Are we trying to get salvation on the cheap?
And as a result, people received forgiveness of their sins; they received the Holy Spirit; they were added to the Church. The three belong together. You can’t really pick and choose which bits you want and which you don't want. Repentance, faith, baptism, lead to forgiveness of sins, the power of the Spirit, and being part of the body.
Now, that word is for all of us. If you have never really had a relationship with God, you need to come to Jesus today in repentance and faith and obedience. Then you will receive forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit as a gift. If you are thirsty for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life, - and even if you're not – you need to come to Jesus in repentance and faith.
© Gilmour Lilly May 2013
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