Sermon for HCBC (19 July 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
Introduction
In the last two weeks we’ve been introduced to the Holy Spirit’s role in empowering believers. Last week we saw that the Spirit is the catalyst of the new birth, and the new birth enables us to worship. Once our eyes are opened, we begin to bear witness. You might recall that one of the Spirit’s primary tasks is to point to Jesus. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Spirit empowers Christians to witness.
If you’ve spent any time around the church, you’ve no doubt been told about witnessing and sharing your faith with others. But often this is a guilt trip and it is predicated on methods and getting people to say a prayer. I think Scripture offers us a freeing alternative. I think understanding the role of the Holy Spirit offers us a freeing alternative. Rather than feeling burdened by a requirement to share our faith, Scripture shows us that real witness is built on passion and power. The Spirit produces passion and power to witness. You don’t need a book on evangelism and you don’t need to force people to say the sinner’s prayer with you. You only need to rely on the Spirit.
Empowered Witnesses
Before we look at Acts 2, let me remind you of the background. Jesus has just ascended to heaven. He has instructed his disciples to wait on the Holy Spirit. You can imagine that this is a fearful and uncertain time. Certainly, they were wondering what was next. The Church is always experiencing these moments. We don’t really know what ministry looks like in 2020 or 2021. But we do know that we must depend on the Spirit. That’s precisely what the Church is doing as we pick up in Acts 2.
Look at Acts 2:1: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.” Pentecost is a feast day in Jerusalem. And these first believers are together presumably praying (cf. Acts 1:14). And something happens. Verses 2–3: “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.”
Here are the effects. Verse 4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Notice how the Spirit empowers them for the coming task. “They began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Here we have the first mention of the gift of tongues in Scripture. In this instance, the gift of tongues is the supernatural ability to speak in a language that the person could not previously speak—like if I went to France and suddenly could preach in French. The purpose of this gift is for witness. Later in Scripture, we encounter what appears to be a different form of the gift of tongues, but for now we are talking about the gift to speak in another language in order to bear witness. This is the Spirit’s work. The Spirit empowers them for witness.
This isn’t a private witness. It is a public witness. There are people in Jerusalem who begin hearing them. Notice their reaction in vv. 6–7: “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?’” Pay attention to all the language of amazement. “They were bewildered.” “They were amazed.” “They were astonished.” Verse 12: “They were amazed and perplexed.” The Spirit’s empowerment produces astonishment. This is a supernatural work. It’s not ordinary.
The crowds, in response, ask this important question in v. 12: “What does this mean?” They are confronted by something supernatural. The natural question is “What does this mean?” I want to stop here for just a second. This is really the question we are always asking as humans. It is the question of reality. What does it mean to be human? Is there a God? How do I make sense of life? What is the meaning of life? These are the questions of reality, and the gospel of Jesus confronts the questions of reality.
Peter stands to preach the first sermon. And notice he addresses the question: What does this mean? First, he says, “This may seem bizarre. You may think we are drunk, but in fact, God is doing what God promised he would do.” Then he quotes from Joel 2: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). The promise is the Spirit, and the promise will be absolutely clear because it will be accompanied by prophecies, visions, and dreams. There will also be miracles. Verse 19: “And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below.” These miracles and visions and prophecies are the Spirit’s empowerment. They give authority and credibility to the witness. They prove that God is doing what God promised to do, and they are signs of salvation. Verse 21: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Here is what this means. God is reconciling the world to himself.
How can this be? The content of Peter’s sermon, which is the content of all Christian witness, tells us how this is possible. The content of Christian witness is Jesus Christ crucified and risen. Verses 22–24:
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
What do these signs mean? They mean Jesus is king. That’s what Peter says later in v. 33: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
This is the content of Christian witness. Notice in v. 32, Peter says, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Christian witness testifies to the fact that Jesus was crucified, risen, and exalted above all things. In short, the content is Jesus is king. That’s in the summary statement in v. 36: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” So that’s the content and the answer to the question of reality: What does it mean? Jesus is king.
There’s one more question in the text. We will call it the question of response. Verse 37: “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?’” What do we do? We’ve heard that Jesus is king. What do we do? This is the question of response.
Peter gives the answer in v. 38: “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.’” Two commands: repent and be baptized. Now the simple act of baptism does not mean salvation. Baptism is too easy in our culture, so we miss the significance of it. But in the world of the Bible, this baptism meant identifying with Jesus’s death and resurrection, which wasn’t so easy, especially in a Jewish context. Baptism meant you were declaring your allegiance to King Jesus. That would get you shamed and shunned. It might even get you killed. Notice in v. 41, only those who receive the word are baptized. So the answer is to repent and embrace Christ. The answer is to recognize Jesus as king and declare your allegiance to him.
Pay close attention. The answer is not, “Quit doing bad things.” I think we hear repentance and think that. But repentance in this context means quit thinking you can save yourself. It means turn to Jesus. That is Christian witness. We don’t tell people to fix themselves. We declare that Jesus is king. It’s important to emphasize this. I’m ashamed to say that some Christians seem so caught up with political policies and morality that they never get around to declaring the heart of the gospel: Jesus is king. The gospel is not a self-help program. It’s a cry that there’s a new king on the throne, a better king, a more righteous king, who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He has gone into battle, defeating sin, Satan, and death. He has freed us from guilt and blindness and bondage. Now all things are being subjected to him, and when history as we know it comes to a close, every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow and admit that Jesus is king. That’s the way things are, and the question we bear witness to is: What will you do with King Jesus? How will you respond to him? The question is not: Did you say a superstitious prayer? The question is: Have you embraced Jesus as king? Have you declared your allegiance to him above all else?
Applications
As we think about this text, there are some important takeaways for us. Let me highlight four.
1. Witness is empowered by the Spirit. The same Spirit empowers believers today. We may be skeptical about this, but I think that’s because we have so cheapened the gospel. If you say a prayer, you go to heaven. That’s manipulation not new birth. The same Spirit indwells all true believers today. Witness, then, is empowered by the Spirit. It is not merely a skill to develop. The same Spirit who gave the early church utterance will provide us with the power to witness faithfully. The same Spirit will provide supernatural authority even in our feeble efforts.
2. Witness makes much of Christ. I’m afraid some people get it in their heads that their job is to tell everyone how they need to clean up their lives. That is not witness. Witness points to Christ. People don’t need better morals. They need Jesus. Witness is not about how good of a person I am and how people should be more like me. It is about what God has done in Christ. “He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Moralism is not good news. The gospel of Jesus is.
3. Witness is not a clever sales pitch. You don’t need techniques or marketing skill. Witness only requires knowledge of the gospel and dependence upon the Spirit.
4. Witness is our task. Conversion is not. Sometimes zealous believers feel it is their duty to convert people. This can lead to guilt if they are unsuccessful or it can lead to pride if their numbers are impressive enough. It can lead to trying to control the situation. We may constantly be thinking of ways to witness. While we are called to be faithful witnesses, we don’t save anyone. Notice how this point is made in Acts 2. Verse 39: “Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Then v. 47: “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Scripture is abundantly clear that we are just participants or vessels for God’s work. We simply get the joy of participating, but we don’t save anyone. This is freeing because success is not contingent on the response. It is only contingent on our faithfulness.
Conclusion
How might God want to use you? What might he want to do through you? Can you imagine it? He takes a bunch of rural Galileans and changes the world. The same Spirit is promised to all who embrace Christ today.
Witness is the outflow of passion for Jesus. Imagine that you found a precious diamond in your backyard. Your response wouldn’t be to cover it back up, go back inside, and make a bowl of popcorn. Your whole life would be consumed with the precious jewel. And you would take it to get it appraised. You would tell your family. So it is with the gospel. God has done what God promised to do. Jesus is king. If we realize that, that it changes reality, that it changes the world we live in, then our life will be constantly bearing witness in word and action to the fact that Jesus is king. That is the goal of life after all: To glorify God by making much of Jesus. The Spirit begins and empowers that work in us.
This is important as we think about what we do as the church. I am convinced that many in our context seem to think the church is just another community organization. We celebrate the same holidays. We do some good things. And there’s really no distinction between the church and others in the community. One corrective to that is here. The church is a witnessing community. We exist in particular communities, but we are distinct from those communities. We simultaneously exist in the city of man and the city of God. But above all, our allegiance belongs to king Jesus, and we live and breathe our commitment to him. That is what God has called his church to be—witnesses to a different king and a different kingdom.