Month: July 2025

July 29 –  Pentecost! Then What Did They Do? — Acts #6

David Chupp Acts , , , , , ,

July 29 –  Pentecost! Then What Did They Do? — Acts #6
Acts 2:42-47

At Pentecost, after the presence of God descended on the people and Peter preached a sermon, the people reacted and asked a question:  What should we do?  Peter tells them to “Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.”   3000 people responded and were baptized in the mikveh pools at the Temple entrance.  What happened with those 3000 new followers of Jesus and the 120 disciples?  Then what did they do?

Acts 2:42-47   And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

“They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching.” Now we understand the concept of devotion, but this is actually something more than that.  Let’s look at that verse in several different translations.  You can do this easily on the internet. Just type in the verse, “Acts 2:42” and the words “bible hub”. 

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.  (KJV)
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  (NASB)

The Greek word here is ‘proskartereō’, which is the word ‘kartereo’, which means ‘to be devoted’, but it adds the prefix ‘pros’, which means ‘going toward.’  This is above-and-beyond dedication that makes other devotions look half-hearted.  Literally, they pushed themselves toward a firm devotion to the apostle’s teaching.

They were on the edge of their seats.  They were hungry to know more.  Remember that all of these people were devout Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem for the one-day religious festival of Pentecost.   They had come from all over the known world.  Most of them knew very little to nothing about Jesus except what they heard from this one sermon of Peter.  Jesus spent almost all of his ministry outside of Jerusalem.  Very few outside of Galilee had heard his teaching.  They had a life-changing experience that day.  They were told the messiah they and their ancestors had prayed for for hundreds of years had arrived.  They needed to know more before they went home.  So many of those 3000, if possible, would have remained in Jerusalem to learn more about this Messiah.

So they hung on every word the disciples said.  They didn’t want to miss a moment of teaching.  How does this compare to people today?  Do we see that hunger for the knowledge of Jesus today?  Are we on the edge of our seats in church, eagerly listening for more information about Jesus? Do we get excited about our personal daily study of the Bible?  Or do we feel like we know all we need to know?  Have we had enough Jesus?

Do you remember when you first came to Jesus?  Were you excited to know more then?  Did that excitement fade, and if so, why?   I remember hearing two deacons in a church talking about a young man who had just come to Christ and was constantly asking questions about he church and scripture.  And one man tells the other, “Oh, don’t worry, he’s a new Christian, he will get over it.”

Have you gotten over it?  I have been in church all my life.  I have heard thousands of Sunday School lessons and sermons.  But I haven’t always had this hunger to know more as I do today.  I believe that a person’s desire to pray and study the scripture is a measure of how their relationship with Jesus is going.  The closer we are to God, the more we want to spend time with him in prayer and the more we want to know His word.  So let’s all do a little self-inventory this morning.  How is our personal relationship with God right now?  Is it where you want it to be?  Do you have that hunger to know Him more and know more of HIm?  Or have you gotten over it?

Back to our scripture:   “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship… What is “the fellowship”?  ‘Fellowship’ is a very ‘churchy’ word.  It is not the word you choose to describe the crowd at a baseball game or a party.  Churches talk about having ‘fellowship’ after the service.  They have a “fellowship hall”.  Our minds go instantly to having a meal.   And a meal can be part of the fellowship, but that is not all of what it means to Luke.

The Greek word there is ‘koinōnia,’ which is only sometimes translated ‘fellowship.’  Koinōnia describes a participation with others, sharing the work with them, and sharing the fruits of their labors together.  Look at how this word is translated in other verses:

Philippians 1:3-5  I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Romans 15:26  For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
Philippians 3:10  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death

We see koinōnia translated as a ‘partnership’, a monetary donation to the poor, and a participation with Jesus in his suffering.  

Some look at this passage in Acts 2 and get hung up on the idea that they had everything in common and sold land if others needed help, as if they gave no thought to the idea of personal property.1  They did share their food, prayers, and resources.  Remember that some of these were just visitors to Jerusalem for the festival from other countries who had stayed in Jerusalem longer than they had anticipated, in order to learn more about Jesus.  They needed a place to stay and resources while they were there until they returned home.   So the followers from Jerusalem made room in their homes. If someone was in need, the others gave them what they needed and sold some of their possessions or land if necessary to raise the money.   They joined together as partners in worship, in witnessing, in prayer, and in sharing meals together.  They became family.  Koinonia, fellowship.  Jesus said, “By this, people will know that you are my disciples.  If you love one another.” (John 13:35).

So ‘fellowship’ is not just eating and having a good time.  It is joining with others as partners to share the work of the gospel, with each contributing as they are able, suffering together, and enjoying the fruits of their labor together.  We need to grasp this concept within our local congregations and beyond.  One example above of koinonia was Paul collecting money for the people in Jerusalem.  There was a famine affecting them, and other groups of followers gave Paul money to deliver to them to help buy food.   And these other house churches in Asia Minor were happy to contribute to the needs of these followers in Judea, because they were all part of the same family.  This is how we should view our sister churches that exist all around us.  We are partners in the Gospel.

The small church I attend is blessed to have several large, strong congregations in our community.  Two of them are doing an incredible job of reaching out to young people and young families in this community.  I had the opportunity last week to thank both of those pastors for what their church is doing that our small congregation could never do.  We don’t have the staff or facilities to do those things, but we need to reach out and seek ways we can partner with those sister churches and use our resources to assist them in some way, because all of these churches are on the same team.  We all wear the same color jerseys.   I have seen places where churches seem to be in competition with one another, trying to outdo each other as if we are on opposing teams.  We need to encourage koinonia – partnership in the gospel.  

In Acts 2:42, Luke specifies one aspect of their fellowship as the “breaking of bread”. They came and ate together, sharing their food so that no one would go hungry.  There is something special about eating a meal with someone to create a bond.  Now, this is the part of the fellowship we understand — the meal.  However, we need to expand our horizons a bit again. You realize that these over 3000 people are not meeting together in a building.  They didn’t have a building.  They met in each other’s homes, using their house as a tool for the gospel.  You can use your home and your dinner table as a tool to connect to people.  Invite people into your home to build relationships.  Do not underestimate the importance of hospitality as a ministry.  (In a few weeks, we will walk you through the Bible and see how much God values hospitality.)  There are enough unchurched people in your community to fill up every pew in every church in your community many times.  I challenge you to invite someone to your home or out to eat a meal.  Show them what koinonia is all about.  Show them you are a disciple by your love for them, simply by sharing a meal.2

The other specific aspect of ‘fellowship’ that Luke mentions is “the prayers.”  What prayers?  They were taught to pray as Jesus taught the disciples to pray.  The prayer that we call the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” prayer.   And they continued to pray the prayers they had been praying all their lives.  There were two prayers (the Shema and the Amidah) that every devout Jew (including Jesus and the disciples) would pray several times a day. 

We are told in Acts 2:46 that they were attending temple services every day.  And Luke in the next chapter tells us about an incident that happened with Peter and John as they were going to the 3:00 pm prayer service in the Temple. 

Acts 3:1  Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

Does it surprise you that they are still praying these Jewish prayers and are still attending worship in the Temple?  Wait!  Aren’t they Christians now?  Why are they worshipping in the Jewish Temple?

They are Jews.  They have not changed religions.  They have not abandoned the God they worshiped all their lives.  The only scripture they have to read is the one they have always had, the Tanakh (what we call the Old Testament).  All their life, they had kept the Torah.  Throughout their lives, they had praised God in the temple and brought sacrifices.  All their life, they had prayed for the time when their Jewish Messiah would come.  The only difference now is that they have found the Messiah they had been waiting for so long. If you asked any one of these 3120 what their religion was, they would say ‘Jewish.’  They are Jewish people who are excited to tell others that they have found the Messiah they have long-awaited.  So how does this change things for them? 

First, understand that this coming of the Messiah was not exactly as they had been told.  They had been taught that he would come as a military leader and conquer their enemies.  However, the Messiah that Peter preached about, Jesus, was quite different from what they had expected.  He did not come as a king to conquer Rome, but as the King to conquer a much more deadly enemy than Rome: the enemy of sin and death.  And he conquered death by dying and rising again.  Paul would later say it this way:

 1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [over death] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How much of this did these first followers of Jesus understand at this point?  Remember that Jesus’ original disciples were often slow to understand what he was teaching.  But now they have the Holy Spirit to guide them in understanding.  But did they understand already at this point that Jesus’ death on the cross ended the need for animal sacrifices?  Certainly, by the time Paul is writing letters 10-20 years later, that was well understood.  However, we are unsure how much this early group understood.  

And perhaps a better question is, do we understand what the sacrifices meant in Old Testament times and what Jesus’ sacrifices mean for us?   There is considerable confusion about this, so let’s try to clarify.

When God created the world, his perfect plan did not include sacrifices.  There was no death in the good world God created.  He didn’t want sacrifices; he desired obedience.   And that is still God’s preference, as Samuel explained to Saul:

1 Samuel 15:22   And Samuel said, “Has Yehovah as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

So we need to understand what King Saul forgot:  What does God really want from us?  Obedience.

God’s plan was obedience.  But Adam and Eve would not choose obedience.  They had been warned that taking the forbidden fruit would cause death.  So when they brought sin and rebellion into the world, they brought death into the world.   Sin began its reign on the world, and with it the penalty of death.  Animal sacrifices would be instituted as part of a way to temporarily atone for the people’s sins.  Adam and Eve deserved death for their rebellion.  But look what happened in Genesis 3.  They sin and hide from God.  They make coverings out of fig leaves.  Because of their sin, the ground is cursed, their relationship with each other is cursed, and they are told they will die. “Dust to dust.”  But they do not die immediately.  A very important thing that happens is in verse 21:

Genesis 3:21   And Yehovah God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Think about this.  Where did the animal skins for garments come from?  God Himself sacrifices one or two of the animals that He so lovingly made and makes coverings for them.  Now we don’t have time to go into all the interesting symbolism of nakedness and sin and the covering of sin, but see that their sin is covered by the shedding of blood of animals, and then their nakedness is covered by the hides of the innocent animals whose blood was shed. They deserved death.  They were told that was the penalty.  Why would God postpone the penalty on Adam and Eve and instead temporarily place it on these animals?

 Because He is full of grace and mercy.  Grace is not a New Testament concept.  Grace is part of God’s character, and it is seen on every page of the Bible.  They needed forgiveness for this sin.  And God took measures he didn’t really want to take.  He didn’t really want to kill one of his own animals.  He didn’t want a sacrifice.  What did God really want?  Obedience.  Despite their disobedience, God acts in mercy to grant forgiveness so they avoid instant death.

Hebrews 9:22  Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.  

“The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)  The wages must be paid.

In the Old Testament, how do you get from Sin to Forgiveness?  So many people look at the laws of sacrifice in Leviticus and see this is the path to forgiveness.

if a sin is committed, then to be forgiven, one had to make an animal sacrifice to atone for their sin.   But that is not at all what the Old Testament says.  Look at this passage in Leviticus:

Leviticus 6:1-7   Yehovah said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to Yehovah by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit— when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it, and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering. 
And as an offering they must bring to the priest, that is, to Yehovah, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way, the priest will make atonement for them before Yehovah, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.

To be forgiven, there must be first recognition of the sin, a confession and repentance, a restitution as possible, and then an offering.  Restitution is made to any people you have cheated, robbed, or hurt by your sin. Then restitution to God is through the animal sacrifice.  Again, the penalty for sin is death.  The wages of Sin has always been death.  But God is full of grace and mercy and love, so he allows us to avoid instant death (as He did Adam and Eve) by accepting a sacrifice.

Forgiveness is granted out of God’s heart of mercy and out of his grace.  The death of the blameless animal is accepted as a temporary substitute for the penalty of sin, death.  But it was an imperfect sacrifice.  It was as the author of Hebrews stated just a shadow of what was to come.  

Hebrews 10:1-4   The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. However, those sacrifices serve as a reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

For thousands of years, every day at 9 am and at 3 pm, a lamb was sacrificed on the altar of the Temple for the sins of the people.  The first sacrifice of the day was the lamb, and all other offerings were placed on top of that lamb, which burned for 6 hours.  Then, at 3 pm, another lamb was sacrificed and was left to be burned on the altar all night, ensuring that there was always a sacrifice being offered at all hours to atone for sins. Every hour of every day of the year. Year after year.  In addition, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, special sacrifices were made for the sins of the people.   But everyone knew that the blood of animals alone could not atone for sins. 

We see this clearly in Psalm 51, which we discussed a few weeks ago.  Again, this is the psalm David wrote after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin with Bathsheeba.  What is David’s response when confronted with his sins of adultery and murder? 

Psalm 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:16  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;  You will not be pleased with a burnt offering

David is well aware that God doesn’t really want a sacrifice for his sin.   What God really wanted was what?  David’s obedience.  But that ship has sailed.  Now what does God want?   Not a sacrifice.  

Psalm 51:16  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

What God wants is a broken spirit and a repentant heart.  Confession and Repentance.   Sacrifices are a mere outward expression of what should be going on in a sinner’s heart.  No sacrifice was ever effective in atonement if the one offering the sacrifice was not repentant. 

But what about the path from sin to forgiveness in the New Testament?  How did the coming of Jesus change the way God forgives sin?

There is confession, repentance, restitution, and then the offering.  But not an imperfect animal sacrifice, but Jesus, the perfect, sinless only son of God.  He is our sacrificial offering.  He takes our place.  He pays the wages of our sins.  He takes our punishment of death.  However, note that this is the only change.  The path to forgiveness is unchanged.  God has not changed.  The grace by which God forgives in the Old Testament is the same grace God dispenses in the New Testament. The only difference is the sacrifice.

But, oh, what a difference Jesus makes.   A perfect sinless sacrifice.  

Hebrews 10:11-14   And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

“For all time a single sacrifice for sin,”  One and Done.  It is finished.  And thus, there is no need for any more sacrifices.  What does God really want from us?  Obedience.  But no human ever gave God total obedience except for Jesus.  So Jesus can be that perfect, blameless sacrifice and accomplish what no animal sacrifice ever could—a permanent atonement for sin.

But we can’t forget the steps of confession, repentance, and restitution.  They are still essential.  David in Psalm 51 knew that.  What God really wants is obedience, but when we sin, what God really wants is our hearts to break for our own sins.  (not the sins of others.). Confession and repentance.  Paul was concerned that, since continual sacrifices for sin were no longer required, people would forget the importance of remaining obedient and the importance of the steps to forgiveness.  But we see those steps throughout both Testaments.

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we confess…. Confession is a necessary step in the process.

Romans 2:4   God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy that repentance is a gift from God. Restitution is best seen in the New Testament in the actions of Zacchaeus.

Luke 19:8 And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

However, we don’t know if these early followers of Jesus understood the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice or if they continued to offer sacrifices in the Temple.  Certainly, by the time of Paul’s letters, this concept was fully understood, and there was no need for animal sacrifices for those who followed Jesus.  However, it is essential for us to understand the concept of sacrifice for sins and the process of forgiveness.

While Jesus’ sacrifice is complete and sufficient for the forgiveness of all sins, we are still called to make a sacrifice.

Romans 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We present ourselves as a sacrifice to God. This is not a sacrifice for forgiveness of sins; Jesus has taken care of that.  We sacrifice as an act of worship.  The people in the Old Testament brought a lamb, which was then killed.  It was a costly sacrifice for most people who had little.  When we present ourselves to Jesus as a living sacrifice in worship, it will cost us something.  As with all sacrifices, a death is involved.  We must die to self.

Listen to what RC Sproul said about this verse:
“God does not ask us to bring in our livestock and burn it on the altar; he asks us to give ourselves, to put ourselves alive on the altar. To be a Christian means to live a life of sacrifice, a life of presentation, making a gift of ourselves to God. Some people think that all it takes to be a Christian is to scribble a cheque or to give a few hours of service here and there on special projects for the church. But that’s not what believers are called to. My life is to be set apart and consecrated to God. That is what is acceptable to him; that is what delights him; that is what pleases him; that is the appropriate response to him and for him.” 3

What does God really want from us?  Obedience.  But all have been disobedient and fallen short of God’s plan.  And the wages of sin is death.  So God wants us to recognize our sins, confess, repent, make restitution as possible, and then thank him for the gift of his son, who paid the price for our sins.  And then what does God want from us after that?  Obedience.  The living sacrifice of obedience.

So spend some time in God’s word this week.  Study to see what God is asking you to be obedient to this week.  How will you sacrifice this week to be obedient?   Pray and discover what God is asking you to do this week.  And be obedient to it.

1.  It appears that these followers understood that if everything indeed belongs to God, then ‘personal property’ is interpreted differently.  The Bible looks at the things we ‘own’ as just being on loan to us from God, and we are just stewards of certain properties he has assigned us.
2.  These new followers were likely incorporating in their meals the celebration of the Lord’s Supper together in remembrance of what Jesus did for them.  Typically, what we call communion or the Lord’s Supper was held as part of a full meal at this time, as evidenced in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
3.  Sproul, R.C.  The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans.  Christian Focus Publications, 1994.  Page 195.

July 15 –  Pentecost! So What Shall We Do? — Acts #5

David Chupp Acts , , , , ,

July 15 –  Pentecost! So What Shall We Do? — Acts #5
Acts 2:37-41

Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit comes in wind and fire.  There is a miracle of understanding languages that is a reversal of God’s intervention at the Tower of Babel.  Last week, we examined the response of those who asked the question, “What does this mean?”  Peter answers with a sermon that reveals God’s plan for redemption and the gift of the Holy Spirit through Jesus.  He tells them that prophecy has been fulfilled in the past year and even that very morning.  Today, we examine the response of the people to Peter’s message as they pose another critical question.

A huge crowd from all over the world has gathered for Shavuot, one of the three festivals in Jerusalem that everyone must attend.  So, most of these people are the same ones who attended the required Passover feast 50 days ago.  It was the same crowd in the city almost two months ago, during Jesus’ final week.  Many of them were there when Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, when he overturned the tables of the money changers, when he challenged the religious leaders, and when he was crucified.  

Peter summarizes the story of Jesus, then tells those assembled at the Temple for Shavuot that this Jesus, whom you crucified, has been raised to life by God and is your Messiah.  And they were there for this.  These were the very same people who had either shouted “Crucify Him!” to Pilate or had kept silent as the disciples did. So, how did they respond to Peter’s sermon?

Acts 2:37-41   Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

These 3000 people were “cut to the heart,” which means they were deeply emotionally moved.  The Greek phrase here, “katanyssomai kardia,” literally means “stabbed in the heart.”  That is a picturesque way of stating an intense emotional response.  Obviously, the Holy Spirit did not stop moving after the miracle of the languages.  He is moving in the hearts of these people, giving them the gift of remorse that leads to repentance.  

There are two other instances where the phrase “cut to the heart” appears in some English translations.  One example is found in Acts 5. This is a great story that we will explore in a few months.  The apostles are preaching in the outer courts of the Temple, and the High Priest has them put into prison.  An angel of the Lord comes at night and opens the prison door for them, telling them to return to the Temple in the morning and continue preaching.  Unaware of the escape, the next morning, the High Priest gathers a council of judgment and sends someone to bring the apostles from prison.  It is then discovered that they escaped during the night. Then someone comes and tells the High Priest, “Hey! You know those men you put in prison yesterday for preaching in the Temple?  Guess where they are?  They’re back in the temple, preaching again this morning.”

The High Priest is not amused.  So they bring the apostles to the council, and Peter says, Thanks for the hospitality yesterday, but ‘We should obey God and not men.”  (Acts 5:29).  Peter presents the gospel to these religious leaders and says, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”  This is the same message that drove 3000 to repentance on Pentecost: ‘You killed Jesus, but God raised him from the dead, and he is on a throne by the Father now.’  And how do you think these religious leaders responded?

Acts 5:33  (KJV)  “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”

There is our phrase again, “cut to the heart.”  They were deeply emotionally moved, but the emotion is different here.  It is not remorse but anger and rage.  We see this same reaction again in Acts 7 after Stephen delivers a sermon to this same council.

Acts 7:54  (KJV)  “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart.”

They are enraged to the point that they want to kill Stephen.  And this time they do.  They take Stephen outside the city and stone him to death.  

In these two verses, “cut to the heart” is translated from a different Greek phrase, “diapriō kardia autos”, which means literally ‘to saw your own heart in two pieces.’  (Greek is indeed a very picturesque language.)  Metaphorically, it means being filled with murderous rage.  Our English biblical phrase, ‘Cut to the heart,’ can be derived from one of two Greek phrases that express two different extreme emotional responses.:
Stabbed in the heart – which is a response of remorse, I’m sorry, what can I do?
Saw your own heart in two, which is an intense negative emotion — rage –  I will kill you.1

Last week, we explored how we perceive events in the world and the importance of asking, “What does this mean?” to ensure we understand how God is at work in the world around us.  So Peter preached a gospel sermon, and 3000 were cut to the heart and believed and were baptized.  And then they ask an even more critical question:  “What shall we do?” It is not enough to understand what God is doing in the world.  Our reaction to God must include action.  We must do something. As James said:

James 1:22“  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Remember that the Hebrew word to hear, “shema,” includes the idea of obedience. (James is Jewish.)  It means hear and obey.  There is no such thing as hearing that is not followed by action.  We must always ask both questions: “What does this mean?” and “What should we do?”  We must not only understand, but also react.  Jesus did not call anyone to be a passive follower.  It is inherent in the word ‘follow’ that there is action.  If I teach you about scripture, if I share what God has taught and is teaching me, and if I somehow, through the grace of God, do a good job of teaching, but you are not encouraged and incited to do something for the Kingdom of God, then I am a complete failure.  To be confronted with the gospel, there are only three ways to react:
1.  Cut to the heart and spurred to action for Jesus.
2.  Cut to the heart and be enraged at Jesus.
3.  Be indifferent about Jesus.

Now let me ask you….Which of the last two bothers Jesus the most?  To answer that, we need to take a detour into the book of Revelation.  (If you have a red-letter Bible, you will note that this letter to the assembly in Laodicea is the words of Jesus.)

Revelation 3:14-22   And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

“Because you are lukewarm…I will spit you out of my mouth.”  The ESV, like most other versions, has toned this down somewhat to avoid offending anyone, but here, Jesus means to offend.  The word for ‘spit’ is ‘emeō,’ from which we get our medical word ‘emesis’, which means vomit.  What is going on in Laodicea makes Jesus sick and want to throw up.  Of the seven churches listed here, this is the only one for which Jesus has nothing good to say.  To understand this reference to hot, cold, or lukewarm, you need to know a little about this area of Asia Minor.  

Laodicea is situated in the fertile Lycus River valley, in our modern-day Turkey.  Six miles to the north lies the city of Hieropolis, renowned for its medicinal hot springs, which feature a spa dating back to around 200 BC.  Eight miles to the east lies Colossae, famous for its refreshing, pure, and cold natural spring water.  In contrast, Laodicea had no water source in the city.  An aqueduct, cut from stone, transported water from Denizli, 5 miles south. 

Here is a section of that 5-mile-long aqueduct. Each stone is hollowed out, cut, and fitted together to pipe the water to the city.  

By the time the water arrived at Laodicea, it had become lukewarm and had also absorbed a high mineral content from the stone, making it unappealing.  It did not have the refreshing quality of the waters of Colossae nor the healing properties of the waters of Hieropolis.   It was neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm.  Robert Mounce, in the NICNT, “Thus the church in Laodicea was providing neither refreshment for the spiritually weary, nor healing for the spiritually sick. It was totally ineffective, and thus distasteful to its Lord.”2  This group heard the gospel, but they did not do the gospel.

Revelation 3:17  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

Laodicea was a very wealthy city.  They were known for their medical school, prosperous banking establishments, the production of an eye salve that was exported worldwide, and a thriving textile industry.  Knowing this, now look at what else Jesus says….not realizing that instead of healthy, you are wretched & pitiable, you think you are rich but you are poor, you are known for healing eyes, but you are blind, and you say you produce finest clothes, but you are naked.

They think they have it all.  They think they don’t need any help from anyone.  A massive earthquake devastated Laodicea in 60 AD. The government of Rome offered to help them rebuild, but they refused the help.  They are proud, self-sufficient people.  They didn’t need Nero’s help then, and this “church” apparently didn’t need Jesus’ help either. They think they have it all, but they have abandoned Jesus to get it.  So they have nothing.

They are a church that neither provided healing nor spiritual refreshment.  They had heard the gospel, but how did they react?  They were not cut to the heart in a good way or a bad way.  They were able to hear a story that should cut you to the heart, and remain unaffected.

Revelation 3:18-19   I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

Then we have that verse you have heard so many times before:

Revelation 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

You probably have a picture in your mind of that verse that may look something like this: Jesus is knocking on the door and asking to come into the ‘door of your heart.’  Salvation awaits the one who opens the door to Jesus.  Did you realize this verse was explicitly written to these self-sufficient, wretched, pitiful, naked, poor, blind people in Laodicea?  But wait a minute?  Are the people in this church in Laodicea unsaved?  They can’t all be lost, can they? Didn’t Jesus call them a church?

Well, not exactly…… We have a translation problem.  The term Jesus uses for the “church at Laodicea” is the Greek word ‘ekklesia.’  It comes from the Greek root verb ‘kaléō’, which means “to call.”   So ‘ekklesia’ means “those called out”.   As followers of Jesus, we believe he has called us out. (See Paul’s explanation in 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1).  So an ekklesia can be a church.  But it is not always a church.  

In Acts 19, Paul got into trouble with the local silversmiths in Ephesus.  Paul was preaching that idols made of metal were not gods, and this hurt the silversmiths’ business.  So they want to throw Paul and his bunch out of town.  There is a great disturbance in the city.  Now look for the word we translate as ‘church’ as seen in Acts 19.

Acts 19:32-35  Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the ekklesia was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?”

The Bible refers to this gathering as an ekklesia.  But this is not a church.  This is a town hall meeting. (It is a very rowdy one, as when a Jewish man tried to speak, he was shouted down for two hours, the crowd chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”.  But this assembly is run by the local town clerk, who concludes the meeting this way:

Acts 19:38-39   If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular ekklesia.

If the silversmiths have a legal complaint against Paul, then they can use the courts.  If there is anything else, we will address it at the next regular town meeting.   

So in the Bible, ekklesia doesn’t have to mean church.  It is any gathering of people.  When Jesus dictates a letter to the ekklesia at Laodicea, he is writing to a gathering of people.  He is not necessarily saying they are a church.  I think that Jesus says they are pretending to be a church but are lost and in need of repentance. This is one of 7 letters Jesus dictates to gatherings in this section of Revelation.   This one to Laodicea is the only one where he has nothing good to say.  They are “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”  Jesus wants them to be clothed in the white garments of his righteousness.  So he stands at the door and knocks.

We took this detour into Revelation because we are looking at the ways people respond to the gospel.

Peter preaches, and some are “cut to the heart”.  Others respond to preaching and are “cut to the heart”. Then you have this group in Laodicea.  They call themselves a ‘church’ and claim to be following Jesus, but they have heard the gospel message and were not ‘cut to the heart’.  They were unaffected.  They are apathetic.  They are going about their lives, enjoying their health and wealth, unaware that they are bound for destruction.  They are living in a prosperous city.  They have it all. They are so satisfied that they have no real need for Jesus.  But Jesus tells them they are poor.  That is the Greek ‘ptochos.’  They are wretched beggars with no resources.

We see these same three reactions today.  Some hear the gospel and are convicted.  They realize they are spiritually and morally bankrupt without Jesus.  They need Jesus, and they respond with remorse that leads to repentance and salvation.  Some hear and have other emotions.  They may mock and poke fun like the people at Pentecost who said the disciples were just drunk.  They may relentlessly poke fun at Christians and the gospel in public on TV or social media.  In some countries today,  People get angry and kill those spreading the gospel message.  It is hard to know the exact numbers, but even the most conservative sources say that at least 10,000 Christians are killed every year for their faith – over 25 martyred a day.

And then some respond with apathy.    They react to the gospel with no intense emotion at all.  They are unaffected.  And this is becoming the largest group of people.  God is meaningless to them.  They don’t care.  They are doing just fine without God, thank you.  Oh, they may want the name of God.  They may even call themselves a Christian and their gathering a church.  But they are so unaffected by the gospel that they meet and never do the gospel.

Our country just celebrated its 249th birthday this month.  We are blessed to live in this land.  2/3 of the people living in the US claim to be Christians.  However, I am concerned that many who make that claim do so in the same manner as the Laodiceans.  They want the title of Christian, but not the job.  They want to be in God’s kingdom, but they don’t want to live by the King’s rules. They mistreat people whom the King loves. They disregard his precepts.  They say they can make their own decisions about right and wrong.  And they make Jesus want to throw up.  They are resistant to the truth of the gospel and resistant to the influence of the Holy Spirit.  They think they have it all, but they don’t realize that they are spiritually and morally bankrupt.   

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:3). He uses the same word for poor as he did for the Laodiceans.  He said that the fortunate ones are those who realize their own spiritual poverty.  To humble yourself before God and ask for forgiveness, you first have to admit your problem, that you are a sinner, and you can not atone for your sins yourself.  You have to realize that you are bankrupt, that you have zero resources to alleviate your spiritual need before you can acknowledge your desperate need for Jesus.  Only those who recognize this can enter the kingdom of heaven.

This is why it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Like the rich Laodiceans, they don’t see the need.  They are comfortable as they are.  If they need anything, they will buy it themselves.  And many today, like the Laodiceans, claim to be part of the church, but have never opened the door to Jesus.  They hear the Word, but they do not do the Word.

We all live in Laodicea.  Compared to the rest of the world, the people in the US are wealthy.  Over half of the people in the world live on less per day than each of us spends on gas to drive to our church this week.  We live in the land of the self-sufficient.  There is a mission field in our backyard.  And while you are very unlikely to experience a violent response to the gospel, you are likely to get what Jesus said was a worse response – apathy. This is the reaction of the comfortable.  And the Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

From Pentecost, we learn that it is essential to examine the world around us and ask, “What does this mean?”  And then we look at ourselves and ask, “What should we do?”  We should ask ourselves these two questions every day.  Now that we have examined the possible responses to Pentecost, next time we will explore the details of what they did and how they lived.

1.   Interestingly, we still use a similar metaphor today.  Some of you may have heard it in a hit song from 1986 by Jon Bon Jovi, which begins with the lyrics: “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame.  Darling, you give love a bad name.”   Shot through the heart = Deeply hurt in a relationship.
2.   Mounce, Robert.  New International Commentary of the New Testament. “Revelations”.

July 1 –  Asking the Right Question About Pentecost — Acts #4

David Chupp Acts , , , , ,

July 1 –  Asking the Right Question About Pentecost — Acts #4
Acts 2:1-13

Acts 2:1-13   When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.  And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

We are continuing to discuss what happened at Pentecost. As I said last week, it is a turning point in history. As we journey through the Book of Acts, we will consider the implications of this watershed moment.  On that day, when God chose to send the blessing of His presence, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in His followers, He came in an undeniable fashion.  We have discussed the sound of the wind and the fire, and how they paralleled the manifestation of God’s presence at Sinai and the dedication of the tabernacle and the temple.  No one there thought it was just another day.  Something amazing happened.  So today I want to consider what happened next.  How did the people respond to this incredible event?

First, Luke says they were “amazed and astonished”.  We tend to use these words interchangeably today.  The Greek word we translate as ‘amazed’ describes people who have witnessed something so extraordinary that they are filled with wonder and awe.  It was a common reaction to Jesus’ miracles.  The word translated as ‘astonished’ carries more the idea of shock that something totally unexpected happened.  So, you could say the reaction was one of “shock and awe.”

Then, after Luke describes the nations the people came from, the scripture again tells how the people responded.  This time, it divides the people into two groups with different responses.  The first group has a similar reaction:

Acts 2:12   And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

Again, the word ‘amazed’ (awed, filled with wonder) and now ‘perplexed’, a different Greek word that means you can’t understand what has happened.  It is too difficult to unravel. Because they are bewildered and puzzled, they ask, “What does this mean?”

Perhaps you can relate to these people witnessing a religious service unlike any they have ever seen before.  Has this happened to you?   I was 15 years old and had been attending a youth group at a small Methodist Church for about six months.  It was like any other small Methodist Church in the southern US in the 1970s—traditional service with hymns and preaching.  Occasionally, someone in the congregation said “Amen” during the sermon, and everyone turned around to see who said it.  The youth group was singing the “new” worship songs like “Pass it On,” “Jesus is the Answer,” or “For Those Tears I Died.”   Yeah, we were the cool Jesus people.  To be honest, like almost every other 9th-grade boy who attended youth group, I was primarily there because I had a crush on a girl.

One Sunday night, the youth choir sang, and then the preacher stood up and began preaching. It was then that it happened.  A man in the second row stood up in the middle of the sermon and started speaking in tongues.  I had the “shock and awe” response.  And then after he finished, someone else stood up and translated what the first man said.  And I am still in ‘’shock” mode.  Then one of the youth on my pew stood up and started speaking in tongues. And it was, you guessed it, the girl (my secret crush).  From that point on, I honestly have no memory of what happened next. I was undone.  I had never heard of anything like this.  I am sure I had read about tongues in the Bible before, but I had never heard anyone discuss it, much less suggest that it might still happen.  I didn’t know how to process what I had just witnessed.  “Awed and Puzzled”?  Yes, that was me.  And that lasted for weeks.  I understand that the pastor addressed the issue in that service and the following weeks, and the church moved in a more charismatic direction; however, I never returned.  I was just too overwhelmed.  I had the question in my mind, “What does this mean?” but I didn’t stick around for the answer.

So all are shocked and awed by the fire and the wind, and hearing the people in their own language.  And then one group doesn’t understand what is going on, so they ask the question, “What does this mean?”  Then the other group: 

Acts 2:13   But others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”

They are mocking.  They are poking fun at God’s miracle.  They laugh and say these people are drunk.  They see something that does not fit into their paradigm, and they react with scorn.  Remember, all of these people there in the Temple that day consider themselves devout Jews.  Some have traveled for weeks to attend this religious festival.  They are in the Temple at 9 in the morning for worship.  You have got to be serious about God if you show up for a worship service before 9 am.  Yet some are scoffers.

So why are these devout Jews mocking?  God shows up in a way they never expected and in a way they could not explain, and their reaction is bitter.  Something different happened in church.  I can hear them now…”Woah!  We’ve never done it that way.  That’s not worship, because that is not the way I do it.”   “Next thing you know, they’ll be raising their hands and using TV screens in the church.” If God should show up in a way different from what you already know or have expected, be careful not to jump to mocking.

Galatians 6:7  (Amplified version)    Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt, nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.

You reap what you sow.  You don’t want to plant seeds of mockery.

This crowd of Jewish worshipers reacts in two distinctly different ways.  How would we react?   It is hard to say, but we can say how we react when we read about it.  We live in a world of reason.  We like to rationalize and explain things.  So often, most of the questions we ask when we read this story are about what exactly happened and how it happened.  We ask questions like:
What were they saying?
Was it unintelligible babbling, or were they speaking different languages they didn’t know?
Were the people all hearing it in their own language, no matter what they said?
Were they all saying the same thing?
If so, what were they saying?
How long did this go on?
Was it just the apostles or the 120 disciples?
Were the men and women both speaking?
Were you wondering about any of these questions?

I found many commentaries and articles that went on and on about answers to these questions.  But I’m not going to try to answer any of these questions, because I really think all of these are the wrong questions to ask at this point. Of those two groups, the ones who were receptive to the message, the ones who weren’t mocking, asked the right question: “What does this mean?” That is the question we should be asking. Remember when Jesus healed the man who was born blind?

John 9:1-3   As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The disciples asked, “Whose fault is this? Blindness from birth must be the result of sin.” Jesus said that was the wrong question. The right question is, “How is God going to use this man’s blindness for good?” I don’t believe it is God’s will that anyone be born blind. God designed a world without sickness or blindness. Blindness is the result of living in a broken world. God is going to use this man’s blindness for good to show his work and bring glory to himself.

This is how we should view the world. War occurs, disasters happen, peace comes and goes, health issues emerge, friends pass away, babies are born, people help you, and others disappoint you. In all these moments, we shouldn’t ask the wrong questions. We shouldn’t ask whose fault it is. The correct questions are, “What does this mean for the kingdom of God?” or “What is God doing here?’

After the Spirit descends, Peter stands with the eleven and delivers a sermon. In this sermon, he shares what they don’t know. He explains that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy they’ve read for years, what Joel predicted would happen in the last days. The Spirit would be poured out on everyone—men, women, slaves, and free. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Jesus is the promised Messiah. Peter discusses Jesus’ ministry, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. This is what they didn’t know.   But God is doing something else that they would immediately recognize. All of them were Jews, very familiar with their scriptures. There is something else happening here that is so obvious that Peter doesn’t need to mention it.  But it may not be obvious to us, because the Old Testament scriptures don’t hold as much importance in our minds as they did to these people.  So let’s walk through it.

Remember the big story of the Bible: God created the world, and everything was good. Mankind introduced sin and death, which caused a separation between God and His people. Everything after Genesis 3 focuses on how God is correcting all the wrongs and fixing what was broken to restore His relationship with His people so that they can dwell together again.  

Peter explains in his Pentecost sermon that through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God is repairing what went wrong in Genesis 3. Jesus overcomes both sin and death, then sends the Holy Spirit so God can dwell with humans again, even while we still live in a broken world.  Now look at what else is happening that Peter doesn’t mention. While Jesus is fixing what went wrong in Genesis 3 through the actions of the Spirit on that Pentecost, God is also fixing what went wrong in Genesis 11.  

First, let’s go back to our scripture.  Luke tells us :

Acts 2:1   When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

Then skip down to verse 5, where he adds some detail about who was there:

Acts 2:5   Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

Then, in verse 9, he lists all the places they came from.

Acts 2:9-11   Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians…

Here is a map of the places that Luke mentions; it is most of the known world at the time.  Devout Jews had traveled from all these places to gather in one place in Jerusalem.  Why does Luke go into such detail about who is there?  Because if you know your Bible, you know there is another place in the Bible where you can find a very similar list of nations.   It is way back in the Bible in Genesis 10 where the scriptures show how Noah’s sons and their descendants scattered to follow God’s command to be fruitful and fill the earth.  

Here is the area listed in Genesis 10 where all the people after Noah scattered to.  And three times in Genesis 10, it says these were all separated into their lands by their languages.

Now, don’t be confused, because this list of nations in Genesis 10 describes the results of what happened in Genesis 11.  In our culture, we like our books to be in chronological order.   First things first.  However, in Old Testament times, they weren’t as concerned with chronology, and therefore, you will see them present events out of chronological order for various reasons.  For example, Numbers 9 clearly happens exactly 1 month before Numbers 1.  Genesis 11 (the story of the tower of Babel) is the event that leads to the scattering of people to all the nations listed in Genesis 10.

Luke takes the time to list all the countries from which people came on Pentecost because he wants you to recall the other list in Genesis.  He wants you to see the connection between what happened in Genesis and what is happening at Pentecost.  Let’s back up and look at the pattern of events in the first 10 Chapters of the Bible.

Creation.  The spirit hovers over the chaos waters.   God makes dry land appear, then plants to grow, and populates the world with animals, and then places man.  He tells man to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the land.  After the fall, things go downhill very fast.  So in Genesis chapter 6:

Genesis 6:5-6   Yehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yehovah regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

“Every intention of the heart was only evil continuously.”  That’s bad.  How does God respond?

Genesis 6:7-8   So Yehovah said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yehovah.

But Noah found favor.  It is the Hebrew word ‘chen’, which means ‘grace’.  Noah found grace.

So God causes a flood.  We are meant to see the flood as a de-creation event.  It is creation backwards.  Man is destroyed, animals and plants are destroyed, and the chaotic waters again cover the land.  It is creation in reverse.  Only a remnant is saved through grace on an ark.  

Then, like a re-creation event, you start with everything in a watery chaos, and then the waters recede, revealing dry land. The emergence of plants follows this, and then animals and humans are placed back on the land, on Mount Ararat.  And God tells them again to be fruitful and fill the land.  

But just like after the first creation, things go downhill quickly.  Sin abounds.  And instead of filling the land, they rebel and choose to stay in one place, and build a city and a tower to make themselves great, to reach up to heaven and be great like God. You know this story:

Genesis 11:1-4    Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Let US make bricks, build OURSELVES a city and a tower.   Let US make a name for OURSELVES.   God has no place in the actions of the people building this great city and tower.   He is forgotten or ignored.  What God says doesn’t matter.  We can decide for ourselves what is right and wrong.   It is all about me!  God had commanded them to multiply and fill the earth, but they had forgotten this instruction; instead, they wanted to remain where they were.

They wanted to reach up to heaven.  That doesn’t sound like it has to be a bad thing.  After all, God’s goal is to dwell with humanity again, as He did in the Garden.  But they didn’t want to do it God’s way; they wanted to do it on their own, in their own way.  They thought they could reach up to heaven all by themselves.   They could do it without God. Just as in Genesis 3, humanity is attempting to exceed its limits. “Let us build a tower with its top in the heavens” sounds a lot like what the serpent said, “And you will be like God.”  “Let us make a name for ourselves.”  Then all people will honor us and give us praise and glory. This is Genesis 3 all over again on a larger scale.  

This is similar to Adam and Eve’s desire in Genesis 3.  Knowing the difference between good and evil is not a bad thing. It is really important to understand the difference.  That is one of our most important jobs as parents: to teach our children right from wrong.  But the problem in Genesis 3 is that they didn’t want God to tell them or teach them; they wanted to reach out and take it for themselves.  No thanks, God, we don’t need you to instruct us; we’ll decide right and wrong on our own.  They could accomplish this without God. They could be Gods themselves—their own gods.  That’s like a 2-year-old screaming at his parents, “But that’s not fair! I want to make my own rules!”  God wants them to learn to judge right and wrong.

However, it must be His own definition of right and wrong.  This first sin in Eden still plagues us today.  We think we can legislate morality.  But we are not at liberty to alter God’s definition of right and wrong when we feel like it.  We can’t change right and wrong by voting on it.  It doesn’t matter what Congress, the president, or the Supreme Court says.  There is only one that determines right and wrong, and it is not a court that calls itself ‘supreme’, but it is the Supreme Being, Yehovah God, King of the universe.  He is the sole judge of right and wrong.

We live in a great country and have enjoyed a long time of success and prosperity.  The danger with greatness is that you may forget how you got there.  Moses warned the people in Deuteronomy that when they became prosperous in the land, they would forget God.  They would forget God’s rules and decide they can make their own rules and be their own God.  We need to pray for repentance and revival in our country.  

Adam and Eve decide they can’t live by God’s rules.  They reject him as king, so God intervenes.  They are forced to leave the garden.  Now look how God intervened in Genesis 11: 

Genesis 11:5-7   And Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And Yehovah said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

I like how it says, “Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower…”  This is how fruitless their godless attempts were.  They are trying to reach up to heaven, and yet God has to come down to reach them.  God says their unity is a bad thing.  Being united is only good if we are united under God.  The people of Babel were united for themselves.  So God intervenes.  He divided their languages, which forces them to abandon their construction project as they can no longer communicate with each other.  They naturally separate into their various language groups and begin to fulfil God’s plan to fill the earth. 

At Pentecost, God is repairing what went wrong in Babel.  At Babel, there were people from every nation all in one place.  They were trying to reach up to God’s space. But that is impossible.  We can’t make our way to heaven on our own.  Then God divides their languages to end their communication and thus bring an end to their sinful project.  This causes people to scatter in order to fulfill God’s command to fill the earth.

At Pentecost, Luke tells us that they were devout men from every nation, all gathered together in one place.  And God reaches down to them by sending His Holy Spirit to abide with them. He removes the barrier of different languages so they can communicate.  And the communication is not man’s words, to glorify man, but God’s words to bring glory to God. Then the people go back to all the nations, where they will fulfill God’s Great Commission to disciple others by sharing the good news of Jesus.  God is again intervening in the world to redeem what went wrong.  

The more you study the Bible, the more you see these patterns.  The Bible is a collection of books intricately designed because God wants you to see how he consistently deals with His people.  The more we study His Word, the better we will recognize these patterns as well as God’s actions in our world today. And that is important.  These people in Acts 2 asked, “What does this mean?”  I am afraid that we often look at the events of the world around us, just as the disciples looked at the man born blind.  They were asking the wrong questions, “Whose fault is this?  Why was he born blind?”

Another war breaks out, more disasters occur, peace comes and goes, health problems develop, friends die, babies are born, people come to your aid, and others fail you. Throughout these times, we should not ask, “Whose fault is this?” or “Why did this happen?” The right question is, “What does this mean for the kingdom of God?” or “What is God doing here?”  Look for God moving every day, all around you.  Don’t live like the people in Babel, ignoring God or pretending He doesn’t exist.

I can’t tell you exactly what you would have heard if you were there on that Pentecost Sunday in the Temple in Jerusalem.  I can’t describe what the fire looked like or exactly what the noise sounded like.  I can’t tell you what the disciples said that everyone heard in their own language.  But that’s okay, because that is not what is important.  I can answer the question that those receptive to the disciples’ speaking asked.  “What does this mean?”

It means God’s plan to reunite His Spirit with humans is happening, just as Joel predicted.  It means we, like the disciples, can experience the presence of God living in us through the same Holy Spirit that descended upon them like fire. God is multiplying his presence in this world; the Kingdom of God is now.  The problem at Babel is now solved.  We can, through the Holy Spirit, be united under God..

After the Flood, God made a promise.  He put a bow in the sky and said

Genesis 9:11 Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.

God would never again cover the earth with the waters to destroy. However, God did promise that He would cover the earth again.   With what?

Isaiah 11:9   For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yehovah as the waters cover the sea.”

And the same Holy Spirit that came down on the disciples is in you.  And we have that same Commission they had.  Every time we gather together in one place in our churches, as they did on that Pentecost morning, we worship as they worshiped.  And we should see the Holy Spirit in each other, manifested through the fruits of the Spirit.  And then when we walk out these doors, we will scatter to different parts of our world with the same goal.  To disciple all we come in contact with.  Let us flood the earth with the love, mercy, and grace of our God.