And for those of you who were at Oceanside this morning, this is a repeater sermon, so Lord willing I'll say something different or in a different way, or hopefully you'll learn what I was trying to say this morning. Acts 2, 1 through 13. Let us hear then together the word of the Lord. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, Visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs. We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, what does this mean? Some, however, made fun of them and said, they have had too much wine. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord shall stand forever. Amen. Beloved people of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you desire as a congregation to be a quote-unquote spirit-filled church of Jesus Christ? Do you long for the days in which you'll see even more people sitting in the pews next to you who have come to confess Christ as Savior? This is a question which our modern-day context has asked us, and we as a Reformed church must give an account. There are two ways in which we might answer the question. Are we a Spirit-filled church? Are we a Holy Spirit-empowered congregation of saints? As Paul asked the Galatians in Galatians chapter 3, do we receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Therefore, there are two ways in which we might answer this question and two ways in which we as a church might answer this question. That is, the first way is the law. Do we seek strategies and ways and programs in which we might foster the Spirit of God amongst us? Or we might answer the question with the Gospel. Jesus Christ Himself, as we just sang, is the one who has ascended on high and He has led captivity captive. The Holy Spirit is that merited thing in which God the Father has given to Him, by which now He pours out that Spirit upon us. There is then the law, the things that we can do to bring about the Spirit or experience. And there is then the gospel, the things that God has done. The things which we then receive by faith and believe with a true faith and believing heart. Well, then our text this evening, Acts chapter 2, we see the day of Pentecost, these Pentecostal signs. And there are three of them, and three, as we know, is the number of perfection in a sermon. So let me give you those three points. First of all, the first sign is the wind, verse 2. Second of all, the tongues of fire, verses 3 and 4 roughly. And third of all, the tongues or the spoken languages of the nations, verse 4 through 13. These three signs are these signs which God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, by the hand of Jesus Christ, gives to His church to teach us that it is by faith And it is through the gospel that we are a spirit-filled church. Now, they came together on that day, our text tells us. Notice verse 1. When the day of Pentecost came, or had fully come, or the day of Pentecost was fulfilled. It had reached its pinnacle. And here it is, and here it was. The day of Pentecost. This day of Pentecost, as you might know from the Old Testament, was 50 days after the Passover. 50 days after Jesus Christ's crucifixion on the cross for us and for our sins. 50 days later then, they marked the final day of the barley harvest and gave praise and thanksgiving to God for His blessings and goodness to them. But what is so significant about this day of Pentecost? Especially in Acts 2. Loved ones, we see that the day of Pentecost, as we know, was a ceremony from the Old Testament or the Old Covenant. It was one of those things which God gave to His church as a picture to lead them forward to Jesus Christ. Pentecost remembered the barley harvest. It commemorated that harvest and gave thanks to God. We see an interesting fact in our text then. The day of Pentecost had come to an end. This is the last day of Pentecost in the history of redemption that has any meaning. Up until this point, they commemorated those 50 days of harvest and then they gave thanks at the end of the harvest, you see. But now we see in Acts 2, verse 1, the day of Pentecost now signifies not that we look back to that harvest, but now we look forward to a greater harvest to come. The day had come and its fulfillment. No longer now do we give thanks for barley harvest, but now we give thanks to that great multitude of people from every tribe, tongue, language, and nation who shall come to Jesus Christ. And we see a picture of that in our text, which we see people from all tribes and languages, verse 5, from every nation under heaven. And then he goes on to list those nations. All these nations signify and symbolize for us a full harvest of Jesus Christ from all nations. And that day had come. The day of Pentecost then no longer remembered the things which God had done in the past, but it now is in anticipation of the things that God is going to do in the future. And notice as well the language of our text. When the day of Pentecost came or was fulfilled or had fully come. The word which Luke uses in Luke chapter 9 to speak of Christ's time which had come. And when his days, it says, were fulfilled to ascend, to go up, to ascend to the right hand of the Father. It is used in the Old Testament, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, Jeremiah chapter 25, to speak of those 70 years of exile in Babylon. And those 70 years had come to fulfillment. They had come to an end. And now God was going to redeem his people once again. Pentecost, then, is a day in which prophecy is fulfilled. Heightened expectation comes to fruition. Promise becomes reality. We see that in the three signs. First of all, the sign of wind, verse 2. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. this first sign of wind signifies that the church of Jesus Christ, loved ones, is a new creation. We sing the hymn, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation by water and the Word. The wind then signifies that on this day, the church becomes that new creation of God. He begins again, as it were, in this heavens and earth which He has made. But why does he give that picture of wind? What is so significant about wind in the history of redemption? Jesus tells us in John chapter 3 that the wind goes where it wishes. You cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with those who are born of the Spirit of God. The wind, then, you see, is a symbol of God's sovereignty, the Spirit's power and His immutable will to do that which He pleases. He is a sovereign creator. A sovereign re-creator, our text tells us. Genesis chapter 1 we see back in the very beginning of the scriptures themselves. We read this. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God, the breath of the wind of God, was hovering over the waters. god had made all things from nothing and this great mass which he called the heavens of the earth but they were formless and void there were there was darkness over them they were not formed and fashioned according to god's pleasure the spirit then is the one who hovers over that mass of darkness that mass of formlessness and emptiness you see the spirit then takes those things which god has made and forms them and fashions them like we would take clay and mold it into a pot he gives beauty and shape and form he fills creation on the six days as a temple of the lord himself in genesis 2 verse 7 we read this the lord god formed the man from the dust of the ground and notice and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life. And the man became a living being. Just as God made all things, the Spirit then fashions those things as He hovers over the face of the deep. Now we see that God makes of that dirt, that clay, that dust, a being, which is not yet a man, but until He breathes that breath of God, that Spirit of the Lord into His nostrils, He becomes a living being. He becomes Adam. He becomes man. He becomes an image bearer of God. He takes that which has nothing in itself. You see, God takes that which has no life in itself. And He gives it life. He gives it a recreative life. He fills it with His breath. He fills it with His power. He gives it a soul, if you will. Ezekiel 37 speaks about that valley of dry bones in which the Lord commands Ezekiel to go to that valley of dry bones to see those bones which have no life in themselves. They are dead. They are laying in that valley, withering away under the wind's power. The Lord says, can these bones live? The prophet says, only you, Lord, know. God then commands Ezekiel to speak his words to those bones that those bones might have sinews, they might have cartilage, they might have flesh, they might have life. And God then breathes his spirit into those bones. Gives them life, gives them power, gives them strength, gives them a soul. God then tells Ezekiel in chapter 37 at the very end, or towards the middle of that chapter, that those bones were the house of Israel. And the house of Israel which had fallen, which had been put into captivity, which had died, which had become a valley of dry bones, were now given life. They were now reconstituted as that people of God, a new creation. beloved people of god then acts chapter 2 speaks to us not of law it speaks to us not of things that we can do to bring about god's spirit in our midst it speaks to us about the gospel it speaks to us about what god has done and what he has done in his church to make us a new creation by water and the word loved ones we are not the frozen chosen as some often accuse us of but we are filled with the same spirit which they were filled with in Acts chapter 2 and we are full of this life we are those who are dead in trespasses and sins we are those who are like dust and clay dead bones lying in a valley left for dead but this is the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church on the day of Pentecost Jesus Christ himself pours it out to give that church life to give it breath to give it health to give it a soul. Think about that day of Pentecost. Later on in the chapter, verse 14, we read that Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Is there any greater illustration that the church on the day of Pentecost becomes this new creation than Peter himself. He denied Christ three times. He scattered from Christ. He claimed that he never knew Him. He had no knowledge of Him. He never walked with Him or talked with Him. But now we have Peter. One who now was, as it were, dead. Lifeless. A corpse. Dry bones. Dirt from the ground with no life in himself. A formless, dark mass of humanity. Recreated. Given a new life. And now he stands up and preaches that great first sermon of the church. Beloved, that is the thing that we learned this evening. That we too have been given a new life. We too have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God. We too are a valley of dry bones, dead in trespasses, dirt, clay. But yet God, by His sovereign power, by His sovereign Holy Spirit, has now filled us with gladness, filled us with joy, given us the merits of Jesus Christ to our account that we might stand righteous before God. That we might proclaim His praises. On that day they spoke in tongues which the Spirit gave them utterance, and they heard each of them in their own language the wonders, the miracles, the praises of God. As we sang from the psalm, who can declare all His praise? Who can utter all His wonders? We are those people, loved ones. God has given us His Spirit that we might not let it sit in our own hearts as it were we, that we might not trap it down in ourselves, but that we might spread it abroad. That we might take it to all those who need to hear that message of Christ, and that He will give us words to speak. That new life, loved ones, which is in us, that regeneration which God has given to us. He's raised us from death to life. He has given us Christ's righteousness that we might now tell others about that. The new creation which we are is the new creation which your neighbor needs. Those who are dead. Those who have nothing to do with God. Those who hate the Lord Jesus Christ. They need this new creation. We can't give it to them. You can't give them a book to read on steps to bring about conversion. only the gospel does this only God by his power does this and we know this by experience but we so often get discouraged when witnessing in our lives is not bearing fruit and we so often want to bring it about but Luke tells us that it is God who brings about salvation it's God who brings about this new creation the wind then signifies that on the day of Pentecost the church of Jesus Christ becomes that new creation and last week I was preaching on chapter 1 the story of Matthias becoming that 12th apostle those apostles who are those pillars of the church Revelation 21 12 pillars 12 doors which are the 12 tribes of Israel this new creation has its foundation this new creation has its mandate which is to tell others the wonders of God. We see second of all the second sign. The first is wind which signifies the new creation of the Spirit of God. Second of all verses 3 and 4 the tongues of fire which signify that the church is a new temple. A new temple. Look with me in Exodus chapter 40. Exodus 40 verse 34. We read here the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord which descends upon it. Exodus 40, 34. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out. But if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and notice, and fire was in the cloud by night. In the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. If you'll also look just at one other verse in 2 Chronicles, chapter 7, 2 Chronicles 7, just for a moment. We read of the temple, Exodus 40, the tabernacle, 2 Chronicles 7, the temple. When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord saying, He is good. His love endures forever. What we have here in this day of Pentecost, these tongues of fire they see on each of their heads individually. The fire, the cloud, the Spirit of God comes down and fills that room. Just like the cloud and the fire filled the tabernacle with God's glory. Just like the cloud and the fire filled the temple of God in the days of Solomon. And just like it was prophesied in Malachi chapter 3. That same glory, that same fire, that same cloud, that same Spirit would come and fill this new temple of God and the new covenants. The fire would purify the sons of Levi. That their offering would be an offering made in righteousness. Beloved people of Jesus Christ, we are that temple. We are this new temple remade by the Holy Spirit. Jesus prophesied that tear down this temple, that is his body, and in three days I shall raise it up. He was crucified, but then he was resurrected. His body was that temple. His body was built as that temple. And now the Spirit is poured out upon his body, the church of Jesus Christ. Just like in Exodus, the temple is built, it is constructed, it is lifted up. The glory then fills that temple. We are the priests of Levi. We are those ones who gave forth that offering and righteousness, the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, Hebrews 13. We have been given the same Spirit. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6 that we are the temples of the living God. Ephesians 2 tells us that we are a temple being built up in the Lord, a spiritual household. 1 Peter 2, we are a living temple, living stones being built up as a spiritual priesthood, a spiritual temple. So what does this mean for us? It's great to hear the history of salvation, the promises and fulfillments of God in salvation and in His Word. You see, loved ones, on that day of Pentecost, the Spirit was given. The Spirit has not been lifted from the church. Our worship is not a mundane activity. It is not a boring, rote thing that we do, going down the liturgy point by point. But we are the priests of God. We offer to Him our sacrifices of praise. We offer to Him our lives, our hearts, our minds. All that we have. All that we can do. The apostles received that gift of being a new temple on that day. And that fact still remains today. That we are this temple of the living God. Each of you, loved ones, are a living stone. 1 Peter 2 tells us. Each of you are being polished and molded according to God's sovereign pleasure to be the apple of His eye. And when He is finished with you, He will place you on the walls of that living temple and He shall be pleased. And He is pleased. That is why we sing with all of our hearts. That is why we come to two services to give Him our praise and to give Him our lives, to lay down our lives a living sacrifice. And loved ones, that is why we bring our friends to church who do not know Jesus Christ because this is the place where He meets us. This is where His Spirit is. And where His Spirit is, there is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not out there. It is not over there. It is here, loved ones. It is at this place. The glory of the Lord fills this place. As 1 Peter 4 tells us, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of glory rests upon us. We can't see a cloud. I don't see fiery tongues over your heads. But God tells us in His Word that we have the same Holy Spirit that they had on the day of Pentecost. We do not have these same miraculous signs manifested amongst us in our days. But we have the preaching of the law, which condemns sinners of their self-righteousness. We have the preaching of the Holy Gospel, which renews us, which gives us life, which justifies us. We have the Holy Sacraments, baptism. which signifies that we pass through that Red Sea, the blood of Christ, into our spiritual inheritance, the Belgic Confession tells us, Article 34. And the Lord's Supper, bread and wine, which do not become the body and blood of Christ, but through them the Holy Spirit lifts us up into heaven itself as we lift up our hearts to the Lord and we partake of Christ in heaven. Acts 2, then, is a significant chapter for us. The wind and the fire are no longer here. But that which was poured out once and for all in the day of Pentecost abides forever with us through the preaching of the gospel. The wind signifying the new creation which we are in Christ. The fire signifying that we are a new temple in the Lord. And lastly, the tongues of the nations. Verses 4 and following. Which tell us that the church is a new humanity. A new creation. A new temple. A new humanity. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. Have you ever thought about that phrase there in Acts 2? Was it a coincidence that they came from every nation under heaven on that day? Genesis chapter 11 speaks to us about the Tower of Babel. When the nations all had one language, with one mind, to build themselves a ziggurat or a large temple to heaven, that they might make a name for themselves in self-righteousness. But here we have in Acts chapter 2 the reversal of that day. No longer is God judging the nations by dispersing them, by dividing their languages and tongues, but now God is bringing those judged nations back to Himself in Christ. They were dispersed then, now they are brought back. Every tribe we see under heaven gathered that day. No longer is God judging, but now God has His day of salvation, which is today, bringing grace and mercy in Christ. Fulfilling the promise to Abraham, Genesis 12, that to him would be a seed as great as the sand of the sea and the stars of the air. All the nations of the world would be blessed through him. That blessing is in our text, Acts chapter 2. Beloved, the prophet spoke of this day. Isaiah 19 spoke of a day in which the Egyptians, those who had persecuted, those who had killed, those who chased the people of God for 400 years, placing hard burdens upon them, those same Egyptians, Isaiah 19 says, would one day speak the language of Canaan. In their land would be an altar to the Lord Himself. All these things signify this day. The day in which they would all gather, hearing the praises of Jesus Christ in their own languages. And they would gather together in one accord. They would gather together as one people. They would gather together as one new humanity, being remade according to the image of God and Jesus Christ. Beloved, that is true of us. The gospel has transformed us. It has renewed us. Chapter 2 of Acts, verse 42, we read of the people of God devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship. Everyone together had all things, verse 44, in common. There is no longer, you see, in this text of the day of Pentecost, no longer a segregation of peoples. It doesn't matter the background or the birth or the upbringing of one. One who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and shall be incorporated into this new person, this new humanity, this new image of God. We then must take serious note. We are told that the Spirit has done this. That is the Gospel. That is what God has done for us. He has broken down every single wall, the wall of barriers, Ephesians 2. No longer Jew or Gentile, but all have become one. That is what He has done. We then must live that out. We then must not close our doors to those who are outside of us, outside of our families, our friends, our communities. We then must leave these doors open and allow them to come in. Allow them to see the praises of God. Allow them to see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our midst. That they too might gather with us, as it were, from Egypt, And call upon the name of the Lord with us in the same language. The language of the land of Zion. And that language is the Catholic Christian faith. The faith once for all delivered to the saints which we confess to believe. That is the language of Zion. That is the language of heaven. The name of Jesus Christ. The name of God the Father. The name of God the Holy Spirit. So are we a Spirit-filled church? Yes. Has the Spirit been poured out upon the church? Yes. Does that powerful Spirit still continue in our midst? Yes. For we are this new creation. We have been given a new lease on life. We are a new temple. Glorious, full of praises, singing the Lord's wonders day by day. We are a new humanity created after God's image and true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Beloved, then we must live this out. We then must not seek to do things to bring about the Spirit because the Spirit is already here. We must then rest in that. And if you have friends or if you grew up like myself in churches other than reform, Pentecostalism, for example, And if you this evening must seek out some other way or experience to find your assurance. If you this evening are wondering, is there a deeper Christian life, the higher spiritual calling that you might have? Beloved, do not seek the works of the law. Do not seek the Spirit by the things that you can do, but rest in what Jesus Christ has already done. He's poured out a Spirit into your heart already. Acknowledge that by faith. Live that out in your life. You cannot gather Him. He's like the wind. You cannot corral Him. You cannot enclose Him. For He is sovereign and powerful. The same Spirit which they had then, it's the same Spirit which we have, by which we all now this evening can cry out, Abba, Father. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the wonderful plan of salvation which you have unfolded throughout history. We see the promises and the types and shadows and all these wonderful things of the Old Testament come to fulfillment in the New Testament. We can only wonder and stand in awe of you, Lord, that you have caused the end of the ages to come upon us. you've allowed us to live in this particular place and time and history to see these things fulfilled as well Lord we do pray this evening that you would allow us and that you would grant and guide us to apply these words to our own lives may our theology always become a theology of head and heart together of lips and of life oh Lord we do pray earnestly for our churches we do pray that you would give us this Holy Spirit the spirit of power the spirit of a new creation the spirit of holy and pure worship that we might see many come to Jesus Christ we ask Lord that you would fill our churches that you would fill us with your praise that you would fill us with so many people Lord that our numbers in our buildings cannot contain all those who are held within it we pray these things not for our own glory not for any financial gain we pray these things that your name might be glorified that Jesus Christ might be honored in this life as Lord and Savior speed his coming along oh Father but in the meantime may your gospel not come back void but may it perform that great harvest which we now look forward to which we now participate in forgive our sins this evening forgive the sin of holding back your gospel from others forgive the sin of segregating ourselves from other people who are not like us but may we welcome all in the name of Christ we ask these things in his name alone Amen