1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled
the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues
of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues a as the Spirit
enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every
nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in
bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly
amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then
how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors
from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear
them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed,
they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of
them and said, “They have had too much wine. b” 14 Then Peter stood up with
the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of
you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what
I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ”‘In the last days, God
says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will
prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those
days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and
signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will
be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and
glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
- Acts 2:1-21, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, dear friends:
Have you ever swallowed a pill and wondered ten minutes later if you had taken your medication? Have you ever daydreamed as you drove along a country road and had to ask yourself if you sailed through the stop sign now visible in the rearview mirror? Have you ever wanted to ask someone a question and later were not sure if you ever verbalized the thoughts in your head?
Sometimes our bodies work amazingly well on auto-pilot. Sometimes our minds are so conditioned that we are able to perform certain tasks without thinking. But this is not necessarily a good thing. Unasked questions can lead to miscommunication. Ignored stop signs can lead to tragic accidents.
This is also a real danger when it comes to worship. There are some parts of a service that change little from Sunday to Sunday. The songs may be different, but we still sing hymns. The wording may change, but we still confess our sins.
On Communion Sundays we confess our faith using the words of the Nicene Creed. Depending on your age, depending on your background, you may have spoken these words hundreds, maybe even a thousand times. Because the Creed has become a fixture in the liturgy, because it is such a regular part of our worship, is it possible that your thoughts sometimes wander? Is it perhaps possible that you did not give the Nicene Creed your full attention this morning?
The purpose of this introduction is not just to scold you if you weren’t paying attention (although we all need this admonition/encouragement). I want you to make the creeds your own, to cherish the Bible truths we confess in them, to appreciate the words our Christian forefathers wrote hundreds of years ago to summarize and defend the true Christian faith. This will happen when we draw deeply and often from the well of God’s inspired Word.
On this Pentecost Sunday, it is only fitting to focus our
thoughts on the third article of the Nicene Creed. In fact, the opening words of this article
will serve as the theme for today’s sermon.
And as we ponder the amazing events that took place in
WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
I. He is the Lord
II. He is the Giver of Life
We call him the Sanctifier, the Counselor, the Paraclete,
the Spirit that goes out from the Father.
But Lord? Outside of the Nicene
Creed, do we ever refer to the Holy Spirit as the Lord? God the Father? Yes. He is the Creator, “the Lord of
heaven and earth” (Acts
Just because we don’t apply the term to the third person of the Trinity very often, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Even if it sounds rather strange to our ears, the Holy Spirit is the Lord. We believe this because the Spirit himself reveals it to us in his Word.
The Bible clearly describes the Holy Spirit as a personal
being. “The Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters” at creation (Genesis 1:2).
The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove at his baptism
(Matthew
These references make it clear that God the Holy Spirit is not just an aura or an emanation of God. The Spirit is nothing like the lightning bolts that the Greek god Zeus shoots from his finger to vent his anger. The Holy Spirit is a real, living, personal being, distinct from the Father and the Son. But he is even more than that. We call him “Lord” because he is true God.
In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and brought some of the money to the apostles. There was nothing wrong with that...except they were trying to lead others to believe that they had given the entire amount.
Peter confronted them with their deception. Listen carefully to the way he describes their sin. “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?...You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3,4). Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit. Ananias and Sapphira lied to God. The Holy Spirit is God.
As true God, the Holy Spirit possesses divine attributes. He is omniscient. He knows all. He is omnipresent. He sees all. One of the attributes God the Holy Sprit put on display for everyone to see on the day of Pentecost was his divine power.
Ten long days had passed
since Jesus had gone into heaven. The
disciples were waiting in
The sound of a violent rushing wind came down from heaven and filled the house where they were sitting. But what they were hearing was not the only miracle. Tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each of the disciples’ heads. But what they were seeing was not the only display of the Spirit’s power.
The great commotion drew a crowd, and the people who came together witnessed the most amazing miracle of all. The Holy Sprit gave the apostles, men with little or no formal education, the ability to communicate with people from all over the world. The Holy Spirit enabled them to declare the wonders of God in their native tongues.
World missionaries will
tell you that one of the greatest obstacles in mission work is language. In some fields it can take years to master a
foreign language and more years to translate the Bible into the language of the
people. I receive e-mails periodically
from our member, Bill Meier, who is serving our
On Pentecost, the disciples made use of a God-given shortcut. They were able to communicate God’s Word immediately, directly and clearly to thousands of people. And who was responsible for this miraculous blessing? The Holy Spirit.
In the Nicene Creed we confess who the Holy Spirit is. He is the Lord. In unity with the
Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. But Pentecost was not just a stage for the Holy Spirit to flex his divine muscles. In the Nicene Creed we also confess what the Holy Spirit does. He is the giver of life.
The work of the Holy Spirit is commonly known as sanctification. He is the one who “makes us holy.” This is not a bad description, but perhaps the Nicene Creed gives us a better one. It is derived from the words of Jesus: “The Spirit gives life” (John 6:63). And in many different ways, the Holy Spirit acts as our Life-giver.
The Holy Spirit gives
physical life. God said: “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis
Life on this earth is a precious gift, but it doesn’t last forever. God may allow us our seventy or eighty years if we have the strength, but death is a fact of life. There is no limit for our Life-giver, however, because Holy Spirit gives life that will never end.
Jesus said: “This is eternal life: that they may know
you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John
17:3). Jesus said that “whoever believes in him will not perish
but have eternal life” (John
But our Savior would mean absolutely nothing to us without our Life-giver. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:3). No one can believe in Jesus unless the Spirit creates faith in their hearts to believe. The Holy Spirit quickens (makes alive) dead hearts through the Word and sacraments. Both were present on the Day of Pentecost.
Without any preparation, without any notes, filled with the Spirit, Peter preached a powerful sermon. He wanted the people to understand that what they were witnessing was not just a miracle. It was a fulfillment of God’s master plan.
What Jesus had promised the
disciples just before he ascended the prophet Joel had predicted some nine
hundred years earlier. How was this
possible? How could Joel see so clearly
into the future? He wrote by
inspiration. He was led by the
Spirit. Perhaps Peter recalled this
sermon years later when he himself wrote: “Prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were
carried along by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter
Echoing the words of Joel,
Peter also proclaimed: Everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (
Pentecost made a deep impression on first century believers, but that was two thousand years ago. What does Pentecost mean for twenty-first century believers? Why is it so important for us to celebrate this festival today?
Pentecost gives us the opportunity to devote our attention to the work of the Holy Spirit. And perhaps our review brings to light some forgotten sins, some of those sins hidden way back in the dark corners of our hearts.
We confess that the Holy Spirit is the Lord, but we do not always give him the honor he deserves. We say we believe that the Holy Spirit is powerful, but then we doubt that his Word is really able to change stubborn sinful hearts. We confess that the Spirit gives life, but then we neglect the very means he gives us to strengthen our faith. When we sin, we grieve the Spirit of God. Sin is serious. Sin pains God, but that pain is nothing compared to the eternal punishment we deserve.
On the other side, Pentecost gives us the wonderful news that the Holy Spirit does not hold a grudge. Even though human beings naturally resist him, even though the disciples didn’t deserve him, the Holy Spirit still came. He strengthened them. He empowered them. And he worked through them to touch the hearts of others.
It is also comforting to know that the Holy Spirit didn’t just do his work that day and then leave. He is still among us. And he works through the same means to produce the same miracles. Maybe not in such great numbers. Maybe not accompanied by such powerful signs. But where God’s Word is, God’s Spirit will be also.
In baptism he miraculously washes away sin and works faith in tiny sinful hearts through water and the Word. Through the same Word he causes faith to sprout and grow in believers who will then confess their faith in Jesus as their Savior. Through these channels of blessing, through these means of grace, the Holy Spirit creates spiritual life and gives us the hope of eternal life
They say that “confession is good for the soul.” This is true for the sinner who is weighed down by guilt. But these words can also be applied to the forgiven sinner, to the person whose heart is pure and whose conscience is clear.
Redeemed children of God want to confess their faith. And having just reviewed and relived the amazing events of Pentecost, we cannot help but confess: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.” Amen.