Sermon in Minneapolis 27.05.2015

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our service this evening with opening prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for your presence this evening. We ask that you would bless our service so that every hearer of the word could be comforted and uplifted on their walk in faith. And that you would guide us along the narrow way of life and nourish us with your everlasting gospel word. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday in an Old Testament text. For this time of the year, Pentecost is from the prophet Joel, chapter 2, verses 28 through 32. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. And the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood. And therefore the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. As the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Amen.

As I mentioned, last Sunday was Pentecost. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word meaning five or fifty. We know there is the shape of a pentagon when you study trigonometry. And the Department of Defense there in Washington, D.C. If you fly over it in a plane and look down, you can see that the building is in the shape of a pentagon. And it has five sides. So, referring to that name, the Greek name, pente, which means five.

Originally, this is one of the two Old Testament feasts that transferred over into the New Testament. There was the Old Testament Passover. And also we have a New Testament Passover, which changed into Easter. But also there was an Old Testament Passover. And the Apostle Paul, when he's on his last leg of his mission trip, coming back to Jerusalem, and he knows that he's going to be captured once he enters that city. In one of the localities on his return trip, it said that he commemorated or celebrated Pentecost in that locality. At that point in time, there was no such thing yet as the New Testament Pentecost. Well, I guess the events had occurred already that we associate with the first Pentecost. But I'm sure they weren't yet written in Scripture, I'm assuming.

But anyways, in the Old Testament time, there was a Pentecost celebration. There was actually a harvest festival. And it lasted for a long period of time, so sometimes they called it the Feast of Weeks. And since it was the beginning of harvest, they also called it the day of the first fruits of the harvest that were gathered. But then, as time went on, it took on a new tradition during the Old Testament time. And it came to remind us, and they commemorated it, to remember the giving of the law on Mount Sinai.

So tradition relates that when Moses left from Egypt, the bondage of Egypt, and began traveling toward the Promised Land, and entered into the wilderness. And of course, they traveled for 40 years eventually. But after departing from Egypt, going through the Red Sea, and when 50 days had transpired or passed by, Moses then went to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the law of the Ten Commandments. So, already in the Old Testament time, the celebration of Pentecost was associated, at least in tradition, with the number 50. 50 days from leaving Egypt to the time when God gave the law on Mount Sinai.

So, now we come to the New Testament era. And Jesus rose from the grave, and he was here on earth for 40 days and 40 nights. And about a week and a half ago, we commemorated on Thursday evening a day called Ascension Day or Ascension Thursday, when Jesus was taken up by a cloud into heaven and gave that promise to his disciples that as you see me departing, I will again return in like manner. Don't be downcast and don't be dejected, but go into Jerusalem and wait there until you are dressed with power from on high.

So, the disciples went into the city of Jerusalem and began to wait. And I'm assuming they began to wait and wait and wait for what was to be fulfilled that Jesus had promised. After 10 days passed by, the disciples were gathered together. As we heard last Sunday in the first chapter, from the first chapter of Luke, it says that there were 120 believers existing in Jerusalem at that time. So, apparently, there on that certain day, when things began to happen, there were more than just the disciples. Perhaps there were the disciples and all of the 120 gathered together.

But something unique, something that will never occur again, began to happen. They were in a room, and we can assume that they didn't have any glass on the window openings. There were just open cavities, and the wind began to freely blow through that room where they were gathered. So, they could feel the wind, and they could hear the humming of the wind. But then, something else occurred. I don't know how it happened, if they were gathered together inside of a house, that they could see flames of fire, cloven flames of fire coming down out of heaven, and began to land on each one of the disciples' heads.

But then, something, in addition, occurred, which can never be repeated. We know that God did His work of creation, as is mentioned in the opening chapters of Genesis, one time, on those six days of creation. God said, let there be light, and there was light. God said, let there be this, and this and that appeared, and this and that occurred. This will never happen again in that fashion, in that way. So, this is the first person of the Godhead.

But then, when we think of the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ did His work of redemption on Good Friday, and fulfilling it on Easter Sunday. He died on the cross. He was buried. But then He rose from the grave. He came back to life again. And won the victory over sin, death, and the power of the enemy of souls. So, this work of redemption and atonement that Jesus Christ, God's Son, accomplished, was done once and for all. And it will never again be repeated. And neither does it need to be repeated a second time. It's not like the Old Testament sacrifices where daily, weekly, monthly, and even annually, there are certain sacrifices that they would offer. Year after year. Month after month. Day after day. And so on and so forth. But Christ's work of redemption and atonement happened once. It was so perfect and so complete. It never will need to be done again. And never will it be done a second time.

So, this is the second person in the Godhead. But then we come now to the third person of the Godhead, which is the Holy Spirit. And when the wind began to blow and the disciples and those believers, 120 individuals who were gathered, they could feel it. They could hear it. But then they saw the Holy Spirit appear in a visible fashion. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and a dove came out of heaven and landed on the head of Jesus. The Holy Spirit appeared at that occasion in a visible form. In a dove. But now, it appeared as cloven tongues of flame and landing on all of the disciples' heads.

But then this caused something to happen. And the people began to speak in tongues. Now, if we read further in the second chapter of Acts, it speaks about this speaking in tongues. And this isn't like one certain, or I'm sure there's more than one, but especially one religious group, a charismatic denomination where they practice the speaking of tongues. And actually, they're just speaking Pig Latin or gibberish. And they're speaking a nonsense language, which no one can understand. It makes no sense at all. And it's not based on any existing language here upon this earth. And they are saying that they are the correct group of believers because they are able to replicate the events of the first Pentecost by speaking in tongues.

Well, what actually was this speaking in tongues that happened on the first Pentecost? Was it on the same day or shortly after? They were still gathered. And actually, people had come to assemble for this Old Testament Pentecost feast. The Jews would assemble for three celebrations, big celebrations throughout the year. One was Pentecost. The other one was the Feast of the Tabernacles. And the third one was Passover. So people had come from all over the known parts of the world into Jerusalem for this Old Testament Pentecost celebration.

And now this Old Testament festival, this Pentecost celebration takes on a new meaning. It changes. And now it comes to be the New Testament Pentecost celebration. And the Bible says that they began to speak in tongues. Well, what exactly was this speaking in tongues? It's not like in the Pentecostal church when they tried to mimic and replicate the events of the first Pentecost.

Well, people came from, we can imagine they came from China and they came from Japan and they probably came from Spain and England and France and Italy and Greece and the northern parts of Africa. And maybe they even came from Finland, who knows, or Sweden or Norway. And they were all gathered together from all of these different countries now to celebrate this Old Testament festival called Pentecost. And they all spoke a different language. The problem is they didn't have a translator.

Now, if I would begin to speak the Finnish language, the majority of the audience wouldn't get a word out of the sermon. You might as well go to sleep or pack your bags and go home. It would be fruitless, worthless services for you. Trying to listen to a language which you don't understand at all what the minister is saying.

So, Peter stands up to speak. And of course, he's going to speak the language that he speaks, his native language, which was the Aramaic language, a dialect of the Hebrew language. But what about these people who came from China? Those who came from Italy? Those who came from India? Northern Africa? Spain? Italy? Greece? France? Germany? They didn't understand a word of Hebrew or the Aramaic language.

But now the Bible says they began to speak in tongues. There was no translator apparently available. But yet, God allowed a miracle to occur. The miracle was without a translator. Even though Peter was speaking the Aramaic language, the dialect of the Hebrew language, without a translator, they understood every single word that Peter was speaking in his sermon.

This is a miracle that God allowed to happen once. And just like the first creation will never happen again. Just like Christ's work of redemption on the cross and the events of Easter will never happen again. The events that happened on this first Pentecost through the manifestation of the third person of the Godhead occurred once and will never happen again.

And so, the people heard what Peter said in their own language, without a translator. And the sermon was powerful and affected so much that the Bible says that 3,000 individuals repented or were converted on one day.

So, after seven days of festivities, the Pentecost celebration comes to an end. Then it's time to go back home. Those that came from China went to China. Those that came from Northern Africa went to Northern Africa. Those that came from the various parts of Europe went back to their respective homelands, their countries.

Now, they returned as believers. They had received the grace of repentance. Now, what do you think they did once they returned home? They told their family members, those neighbors, those friends who weren't able to come with them all the way to Jerusalem. They told them, something great, very special happened to me in my life. I received the gift of all gifts. I received the gift of living faith. I was able to have my sins forgiven. How about you? Would you also wish to have your sins forgiven in the same and like manner?

So, God allowed these events of Pentecost to occur in order that his mission command would begin to be fulfilled very quickly and very suddenly. Jesus had said before he ascended into heaven in his farewell speech that go into all the world and preach the gospel to every tongue and to every nation. So, we can see how far and how quickly the gospel now began to spread and this mission command began to be fulfilled.

So, these were the events of the first Pentecost. So, the first Pentecost is a feast today that we annually, every year at this time of the year, remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When it occurred at that time, at that occasion, in a visible form and a visible fashion.

Up to that point, the disciples had been huddled together in fear in their own little community, we could say. They're in Jerusalem, in the country of Israel. But now, God wished to dress them with power from on high so they would be emboldened to step forth out of their tiny little shell, we could say. And begin to go out, go forth and boldly preach the gospel unto all people. People of every nation. People of every tongue.

People of every tongue. Testament had mentioned about those certain individuals who tried to build that Tower of Babel. They wanted to build it so high that they thought they would reach all the way into heaven. But God did not allow this project to continue. And he actually scattered the people. And at that time, he mixed their tongues. And so they couldn't communicate with each other.

So the events of the Tower of Babel was kind of a scattering. Scattering of the people into different tongues. And I'm sure they went into their different areas of residence. But now, the events of Pentecost are just the opposite. It's now beginning to gather and unite and bring people and individuals and those of faith. It brings them into the one body of Christ.

The Apostle Paul writes that he talks about the kingdom of God. It's likened on to the body of Christ where Christ is the head. The head has already gone to heaven. But we are members, individual members, within this body of Christ. So the Holy Spirit calls, gathers together, enlightens, and sanctifies in the one Holy Christian Church here upon earth.

And so here, if we go to our text now with this long introduction to the events of the background of Pentecost Day and the Pentecost Festival. So let's now look a little bit at our text that we have before us.

Now this prophet, Joel, was a prophet of the southern kingdom, which was known as the kingdom of Judah. And some of the other prophets who lived at the same time as he did, or in other words, his contemporaries were Prophet Isaiah, Prophet Hosea, and Prophet Amos.

And if you read through this short book called the Prophet Joel, there's mention at least several times, if not many times, about the day of the Lord. So this was kind of a theme that goes throughout his book. So he also speaks much about calamities that are going to happen and going to occur. So he is urging the people of Judah, the people of his time, that they should repent of their sins.

And he is actually predicting and foreseeing the invasion of the Assyrians when they attacked the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel. But also in his message he is speaking about the last judgment, the great day of tribulation. But here the prophet Joel says, And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. I will pour it out upon all flesh.

We know that when Paul is writing to the Ephesians, he talks about a wall of separation. And this is the wall of separation between the Jews and the Gentiles. And he says, Now during the New Testament era, this wall of separation will be torn down. And no longer will there be any difference between the Jew and the Gentile. The bond with a slave and the free. The male and the female. But we are and we shall be one in Christ Jesus.

It's kind of interesting that during the Old Testament time, the priesthood, the office of the priesthood, only belonged to those who were members of the family of Aaron, which were of the tribe of the Levitical tribe. So if you weren't a Levite of that tribe, there was never any possibility of becoming a priest. Because you weren't of the right family. You weren't of the right lineage.

But now during the New Testament era, we are all priests. We are all part of the royal priesthood. Not only ordained priests and ordained ministers, but every believer, every child of God. We are fully authorized to preach the gospel of the remission of sins. We can say to one another, son and daughter, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven unto you.

Already, Moses, during the Old Testament time, as is mentioned in the book of Numbers, said that he wishes that all of the Lord's people would be able to be a prophet. And if we could extrapolate to be a priest. But it wasn't possible back then during the Old Testament time. But now, every newborn individual, every child of God, all believers, are a priest. Part of the royal priesthood here in the kingdom of God.

So as it here says, it talks about those who are... It will pour out upon your sons and your daughters and maids and handmaids and servants. Referring that now this gift of the Holy Spirit will come upon all individuals. Those who believe, accept, and receive the gospel by faith.

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And old men shall dream dreams, and young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids. In those days will I pour out my spirit.

As I mentioned that the prophet Joel often speaks about the day of the Lord. And many times this is in reference to the events of the end of the world. When Christ will come a second time and the earth and the world will burn and melt in fervent heat.

But we know that some of these things occurred during the time of Good Friday. We remember when Jesus was on the cross. That there was an earthquake that was heard. And also an earthquake was felt on Easter Sunday morning. At just about the time when the big stone was rolled away from in front of the mouth of that grave. And Jesus then rose or was resurrected. Rose from the grave. From death back to life again.

And also in the middle of the day. When the sun is at its highest peak. When it's supposed to be the warmest and the brightest during the day. Suddenly a great darkness fell upon all of the earth. And for a period of three hours. There was utter darkness. Throughout all the land.

So is this maybe in some sort of reference to what does the prophet Joel say here. But elsewhere in the Bible. For example Luke says in one of his chapters. And the sun will become darkened and turn. And the moon will become like blood. So was this in some sort of reference to these events that occurred as well. Not only on Good Friday and Easter. But as well as on Good Friday and Easter.

And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth. Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

Now one of the main symbols of Pentecost. If you look up any Bible dictionary or Bible encyclopedia. And read up what it means. What the definition or the background of Pentecost is. And what it means. It will say that the symbols of Pentecost are a dove. Of course this is referring to the dove that appeared when Jesus was baptized. But then also flames of fire. And of course those flames of fire appeared. And came out of heaven. And lit upon the head of all of those believers who were assembled.

But if we think about fire and its purpose or its duty. Fire has many purposes. For example if all of the lights were shut out. And the shades were put in front of all of the windows. And this room in which we are here. Gathered would be completely dark. Even though we got just two little tiny flickering candles burning here at the pulpit. Those little flames of fire emit enough light. That they would be clearly, very clearly visible to everyone. In every bench here in this room.

So one of the purposes of fire is it emits light. And when the people of Israel were traveling throughout the wilderness journey for those 40 years. They needed something to guide them. They didn't have a compass. So the Bible says that they were led by a pillar of cloud during the day. But during the night time that guide changed to a pillar of fire.

So one of the purposes of fire is to emit light. And light then is used as a guide. And fire also is a symbol of power. Jesus promised that when you see me ascending now into the glory of heaven from Mount Olives. Go into Jerusalem and wait for the events of Pentecost to occur. For you will be dressed with power from on high. And how were they literally dressed with power from on high. It occurred when the Holy Spirit at that occasion lighted upon them as flames of fire.

So fire was also an indication of that power that might that they were given in order to embolden them to leave out of their little shells there in their small tight communities in Jerusalem. And now go into all of the world and preach the gospel unto all of the people.

But then if you think about fire, if we put our hand close enough it emits warmth. But if we put our hand too close it will burn. So fire is also a sign or a symbol of judgment or condemnation. And some of these events occurred on Good Friday when Jesus was hanging on the cross. Almost as if the events of Judgment Day occurred.

Well for Jesus, Judgment Day did occur. Because all of the sins of the world were cast upon Jesus. And he had to suffer that judgment on our behalf. Which rightfully would have belonged to us. He took that judgment upon himself. He suffered that judgment to the bitter end. He carried the cross. He carried the weight of sin. He paid that penalty. And felt the brunt of the wrath of God.

God hates sin. But God loves the sinner. And so those events of judgment were upon the shoulders of Jesus. And he fulfilled that on our behalf. So that today by faith. Through the gospel message. In the power of the Holy Spirit. We can be free today. As Luther says in some of his writings and some of his sermons. That it's a great exchange that takes place. Our sins are put upon in faith. And through the preaching of the gospel upon Christ Jesus. And then he gives us in its place. Freedom. Liberty. And the gift of a child of God.

And so the wind began to blow through that room. And of course wind and spirit. If you look at it in the Greek language. Are the exact same word. They come from the exact same root word. If you go into an automotive shop. And many of them don't like to use hand tools. They like to use power tools. And many of them aren't electrically powered. But they're powered by air. What do you call these air powered tools? They're called pneumatic tools. Pneumatic. Pneuma. And it comes from the same word as wind or air. And it's the same as the word spirit. In the Greek language.

So when Jesus was visiting with Nicodemus. That one night. About very important matters of faith. Jesus said that. That the Holy Spirit is something that we don't know where. It originates. And we don't know where its final destination is. But it goes like the wind.

So Jesus is purposely using this. Word that has a twofold meaning. In his language. Wind which means the Holy Spirit is like the wind. And the same word wind is spirit. They're both one and the same word. And in the language that he was speaking.

So the Holy Spirit is also. What was felt physically. And at that moment there on the first Pentecost.

So then here the prophet says that. And it shall come to pass that. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Shall be delivered.

Remember when Jesus. Said that final parable. In the Sermon on the Mount. He. Prefaced that parable. When he was talking about the wise builder. Who built his house upon the rock. And the. And when the rains came. And the. And the waves beat against it. It did not fall. Because it was built upon a good foundation.

But then. He went to speak about the foolish builder. Who built his house upon the sand. And when the rains came. And the wind blew. And the waves beat up. Against that house. That was built upon that poor. Sandy foundation. Great was the destruction. And the fall.

But. Prefacing. Or just before he. Begins to tell this. This. This parable. He begins by saying that. And referring to this Old Testament writing. He says. Not everyone. Who says. Lord. Lord. Will be saved.

Just as the prophet is saying. It shall come to pass that. But. Whosoever. Shall believe. Upon. The word of God. And do. His will. Shall. Be saved.

So this is kind of what. The prophet Joel is here. Referring to.

And. Then he goes on to say. In. Or on Mount Zion. And in Jerusalem. There shall be. Deliverance. As the Lord has said. And in the remnant. Whom the Lord. Shall. Call.

So we are. Fortunate. Individuals. This evening. When. By faith. We are. Members. Citizens. Of this. Mount Zion. We are. Citizens. Of this. Holy Jerusalem.

Two of the pictures. Two of the names. Of the. Kingdom of God. Which. We are able to be. Citizens. And partakers of. Through faith.

And. Here. In this kingdom. Today. And always. We can. Uplift our hearts. To believe. Just as we are. Just as we find ourselves. And believe. Sin is forgiven. In Jesus name. And precious blood. We can believe. Unto. Peace. Freedom. And joy. In Jesus name. Amen.

The Lord. Bless us. And keep us. The Lord. Make his face. Shine upon us. And be gracious unto us. The Lord. Lift up his countenance. Upon us. And give us. Your peace. In the name of the Father. And the Son. And the Holy Ghost. Amen.