Introduction

“If you’re able, please stand.” Reading Acts 2:1–13. “Thanks be to God.”

We’re approaching the 250^th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. It contains these famous words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

And here we are, 250 years later. Trying to figure out what it means for “all men” to have a right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—all men, “born and unborn.” What it means for “Government” to be in the business of “securing” these rights.

But it’s undeniable that something began 250 years ago. A new people was formed with important ideas.

This morning our text is telling the story of the founding of a new people, and we’re approaching the anniversary of it, too. Soon we’ll be able to mark the 2000^th anniversary of the founding of the church on the Day of Pentecost. Already the articles have started to appear about the exact dating of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus—and Pentecost. The year 2,033 is the choice of some scholarly Evangelicals.[1]

Today is Pentecost Sunday, 7 weeks and 1 day after the Passover when Jesus was crucified. That 7 weeks + 1 or 7x7+1 is 50 days. Word “Pentecost” is basically the Greek word for “50^th.” We’re going to look at Acts 2, the Pentecost Sunday when the church was born.

This is the last sermon in our church series. We’ve looked at the church from a lot of different angles. This morning, we’re looking at the birthday of the church, Pentecost: What kind of church was born on that first Day of Pentecost? The reason to think about what kind of church was planted is that it’s directly related to what kind of church we are to be.

If you’re not a Christian, then I hope you learn something you didn’t know about the church. You might have some impression about churches—maybe positive, maybe really negative, based on your experience. But I hope you see this morning some things about the church you never knew before.

What kind of church was born at Pentecost?

Sermon: (1) The Church of the Last Days; (2) The Church of the Spirit; (3) The Church of Christ; (4) The Church of Believers.

Prayer

I. The Church of the Last Days (2:1–17)

When this Pentecost happened, the international Jews gathered there in Jerusalem asked a good question, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12). What does this mean that the Holy Spirit has fallen on these 120 people and they are now speaking “the might works of God” in our own languages?

One answer to that question is this, the last days have arrived.

Luke gives us a subtle sense of the historical significance in Acts 2:1. He writes, “When the day of Pentecost arrived.” The word he uses for “arrived” has this sense of “fulfilled.”[2] This “day of Pentecost” is the fulfillment of something.

And then he gives a clue that isn’t subtle at all. It’s in Peter’s opening words.

“And in the last days it shall be…” (Acts 2:17)—Peter slightly modifies the Joel prophecy by adding a snippet of another prophecy, Isaiah 2:2.

Let me read Acts 2:14–21.

What will happen “in the last days”? God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh! What do we know when God pours out his Spirit? “The last days” are here.

Since “the last days” are here, we know “the last day” is coming! The Joel prophecy speaks of signs and wonders “before the Day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day” (Acts 2:20).

The church isn’t the beginning of the people of God. The people of God go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. We are the spiritual children of Abraham:

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:29)

That’s why Peter will speak of the church with similar words and phrases that were used at Mt. Sinai to speak of Israel gathered there:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. (1 Peter 2:9a)

We’re not the beginning of the people of God. But we mark when the people of God also become the Church of the Last Days.

We are the people of God “in the last days.”

Application

These verses teach us that the church is to be a people AWARE OF THE TIME. It’s always good to know what time it is. It’s the last days—awaiting the last day.

The church is a continuation of God’s people throughout the Old Testament, dating back to the Garden and especially the promises made to Abraham.

And yet, the church is also a “Last Days” people, connected to the “last days” in a special way. When the Spirit comes and the church is born formally, we’ll know: This is the last days!

Christianity is not floating in a pool, coming from nowhere, going nowhere. It’s jumping into a river and being carried along, racing toward our final destination.

II. The Church of the Spirit (2:17–21)

The event itself we heard described in Acts 2:1–13. The Spirit falls in a visible and audible manner. The 120 gathered HEAR “a sound like a mighty rushing wind” and hear the disciples speaking “in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:2, 4). They see “divided tongues as of fire” resting on each of them (Acts 2:3).

The international gathering of Jews at Pentecost hear these disciples in their own languages speaking “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11).

And they ask, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12).

Read Acts 2:17–18.

Numbers 11 and God’s people as prophets:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ¹⁷ And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. (Num 11:16–17) 
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. (Num 11:25)
But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Num 11:29)

Isaiah 32:15:

For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; ¹⁵ until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. 17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isa 32:14–17)

Then hundreds of years later, we read prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28–32). We don’t have an exact dating for Joel, but it’s centuries after Moses’ prayer.

Peter speaking this prophecy here is Peter telling us that a mark of the church of the last days is this super-abundance of the works of the Spirit.

The Joel prophecy helps us see some of the abundance in the DIVERSITY of activities of the Spirit:

• Prophecy – Huge emphasis in Acts. 35 times words related to prophets and prophecy are used.
• Visions
• Dreams
• “Wonders…and signs” – Jesus in Acts 2:22; apostles in Acts 2:43; Stephen in Acts 6:8.

The abundance in the DIVERSITY of people:

• “All flesh”! (Acts 2:17).
• “sons…daughters” (Acts 2:17)—gender barrier broken!
• “Young men…old men” (Acts 2:17)—age barrier broken!
• “Male servants…female servants” (Acts 2:17)—class barrier broken!
• Later the ethnic barrier will be clearly broken—Acts 10–11 with Cornelius.

This is the great difference with the Church in contrast with the Old Testament people of God.

• Before Christ, the Spirit came on only certain individuals in only occasional ways.
• But the Joel prophecy is God saying that one day the prayer of Moses will be answered: “Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Num 11:29)
• The Joel prophecy and the fulfillment at Pentecost tells us that “all flesh” who belong to Christ can receive the power of the Spirit to operate in spiritual gifts.

Application

No one is a Christian without the work of the Spirit. Philip will be looking at that issue next week when we get back to Romans 8.

But Pentecost reminds us that we’re a people also longing for more of the POURING OUT OF THE SPIRIT. Pentecost is historically unique. There’s no other way to see it.

And yet, it’s not to be experientially unique. God sometimes does pour out his Spirit on his people in such dramatic ways. We pray for it! We long for it!

John Wesley and George Whitefield, two giants of church history had an experience of the Spirit about 9 mos. after Wesley converted:

Monday, January 1, 1739. Mr. Hall, Hinching, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutching and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning as we were continuing instant in prayer the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exulting joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from the awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise Thee O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord!” 
Reverend John Wesley’s Journal[3]

III. The Church of Christ (2:22–36)

Peter explains the Holy Spirit miracle. But with this audience in front of him, he seizes an opportunity. He begins to preach Christ! Peter wants his audience to be very clear about something: FIRST the gospel, THEN the work of the Spirit.

Before you can experience life in the Spirit, you have to experience life in Christ. There’s no true experience of the power of God without conversion to Christ.

So, he preaches Christ. Let’s listen in. Read Acts 2:22–36.

Notice the fullness of the presentation of Christ we’re given:

• Incarnation (2:22) – “Jesus of Nazareth…”
• Crucifixion (2:23) – Notice the double-cause of the cross. It happened “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” Yet, “you crucified.”
• Resurrection (2:24–32) – By far the longest section. And throughout the book of Acts there will be a significant emphasis on Christ’s resurrection. Fulfills Psalm 16:8–11. Proves he is the Christ.
• Ascension (2:33–36) – A full gospel presentation. Christ fulfills Ps 110:1.
• Christ Pouring Out the Spirit (2:33) – Just as Jesus prophesied in the Upper Room in John 14–16, he sends the Spirit to his people!

This full gospel message pierces the heart of his audience. They know it’s true, and they’ll ask what to do about it.

Application

This is what you must believe to be saved.

If you’re not a Christian, this part of the passage is the most important part for you. Study the “Jesus of Nazareth” revealed here. Figure out what he did, who he is. Go back to the four Gospels and see the longhand version of what Peter’s saying. If you need help, ask me or one of the pastors. Send a note to the office.

And then trust in him! Follow him as your King, too! This Jesus who is “Lord and Christ” at the right hand of God the Father!

Christ died for sinners! And if you believe in him, his death can cover your sins, bring total forgiveness, connect you to God forever.

IV. The Church of Believers (2:37–47)

This great Pentecost miracle culminates in a church plant. The chapter starts with 120 “brothers” (Acts 1:15) and it ends with thousands of believers devoted to one another and to Christ.

Now the word “church” is never used here. Not until chapter 5. But this is the founding of the church in Jerusalem.

In this fourth point we realize that the church born at Pentecost is the church of believers living a certain kind of life together.

Read Acts 2:37–47.

Who should be “added” to the church in Jerusalem? (Acts 2:41, 47). This last section makes it clear that being added requires an internal transformation. That comes across in a lot of ways in this final section.

• “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38)
• “Those who received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41)
• “All who believed were together” (Acts 2:44)

But this is internal transformation doesn’t start with us. It is God’s power at works in us first. It is GOD WHO ADDS people to his church.

• “The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
• The promises wrapped up in the gospel and the Holy Spirit are for “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39).

This internal transformation leads us to get involved in God’s new society at a very deep level:

• Time – “devoted to” (v. 42, 46), “day by day” (v. 46)
• Relationships – “the fellowship” (v. 42), “were together and had all things in common” (v. 44), “breaking bread in their homes” with “glad and generous hearts” (v. 46).
• Worship – “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (v. 42), “breaking of bread and the prayers” (v. 42), “devoting themselves to meeting in the temple” (v. 46), “praising God” (v. 47)
• Material goods – “had all things in common” (v. 44), “selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (v. 45).
• Power of the Spirit – “wonders and signs” (v. 43)

This is a covenant community. A community of believers devoted to Christ but also devoted to one another. Covenanting to live a certain kind of life together.

A vivid expression of all the “one anothers” in the New Testament. Throughout the New Testament, just over 50 times we’re given commands about how we are to treat “one another.”

Some examples:

• Love one another (John 13:34);
• Serve one another (Gal 5:13);
• Bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2);
• Encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11);
• Exhort one another so that no one may be hardened by sin (Heb 3:13);
• Teach one another (Rom 15:14);
• Etc.

And that’s what we’re seeing here in this early foundation of the church at Jerusalem.

Conclusion

What kind of people are we to be, what kind of church do we want to be when we grow up?

What does Acts 2 say about that?

• A people who knows what time it is: we’re living in the last days.
• A church empowered by the Spirit.
• A church who knows the true gospel and believes it.
• A church who walks in true repentance. Not just a subtle shift in our lifestyle. It’s embracing a new life and embracing a new community of people.

Just like America today has some clear ways that what happened 250 years is still in our DNA, may the church today have some clear ways that what happened 2,000 years in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost still be in our DNA.

May this church have those markers!

A vision like this is ASPIRATIONAL—so we must be a people of prayer! 

But there are also PRACTICAL steps to take—the picnic today, New Members class next month, personally seeking Christ. 

I’ll close this series on the church with a quote from John Stott that I read in the first sermon:

If the church is central to God’s purpose, as seen in both history and the gospel, it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the center? No, we shall seek to become responsible church members, active in some local manifestation of the universal church. We shall not be able to acquiesce in low standards which fall far short of the New Testament ideals for God’s new society….If instead we keep before us the vision of God’s new society as his family, his dwelling place and his instrument in the world, then we shall constantly be seeking to make our church’s worship more authentic, its fellowship more caring and its outreach more compassionate. In other words, we shall be ready to pray, to work and if necessary to suffer in order to turn the vision into a reality.
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians[4]

Prayer and closing song (“The Church’s One Foundation”)

[1] See https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/when-did-jesus-die/ and one from a few years ago: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/1981-years-ago-today-why-we-believe-we-can-know-the-exact-date-jesus-died/.

[2] Same expression used in Luke 9:51, “Luke 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

[3]The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, A. M., Vol 3, 117. Obtained at www.books.google.com. 

[4] Stott, The Message of Ephesians, BST (IVP Academic, 2021), 129–30.