Pentecost Sunday - Part Two

Today is Pentecost Sunday. As l said last week in part one of this message, the festival of Pentecost didn’t originate in the first century. It dates to the Exodus of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The festival is known in the Old Testament by several synonymous titles: The Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, and also the Feast of the First Fruits (Exodus 23:15-17; Leviticus 23:10-16; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:16).  

The word ‘Pentecost’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘fifty.’ According to Moses, Pentecost was to be celebrated 50 days after the Passover Lamb was slain. Many (but certainly not all) Jews today still celebrate Pentecost – called in Hebrew, ‘Shavout’ – even though Jews no longer sacrifice a lamb on the first night of Passover.

Since the days of Christ’s crucifixion on Passover, many Christians have recognized Pentecost to be the final brushstrokes – so to speak – of the painting God began in Exodus. Those final stokes occurred when God's Passover Lamb was slain on Calvary, and with it, protection and salvation from the angel of death in much the same was as Israel was spared the death of the firstborn on that first Passover night in Egypt.

On that first Pentecost after God's Lamb was slain on Calvary, Peter and the others stood on the Temple grounds to proclaim to the assembled priests and laity that Jesus is God's sacrificial Lamb who alone could remove their sins.

As an aside, let’s remember that shortly before this event, Peter and the others cowered in terror in that small room. Their hopes which centered around Jesus as their Messiah lay buried in a borrowed tomb. They knew the Romans and Pharisees would be looking for them also.

But something happened to the disciples after Jesus rose, ascended, and sent them His Holy Spirit. Luke records Peter’s fearless declaration this way: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit . . . And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” (Acts 2:36-38, 40)

Something happens to a man or woman who suddenly realizes what Peter and the others realized: “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:11)

Of course, what happened to Peter and to the others happened again and again throughout the book of Acts and throughout church history. Saul of Tarsus is a great example. At first, he was a feared and murderous religious terrorist. He made it his all-consuming goal to destroy Christians and the fledgling church. But then he met Christ – and the terrorist became a passionate flame for Jesus the Christ. And like Peter and the others, Paul quickly began to proclaim this same Jesus as mankind’s only hope for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life.

Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Rome: (Romans 1:16-17): “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

We looked at that text last week, and I want us to return here for a while because of its critically important message for you and me in the 21st century. We are SURROUNDED by pagans – even in many of our churches and pulpits. Pagans who deny the supernatural. Pagans who deny the divinity and simultaneous humanity of the Lord Jesus. Pagans who turn the grace of God into an opportunity to remain sexually immoral. Pagans who kill babies in the womb. Pagans who mock our biblically based faith. Pagans who hold to the form and rituals of religion, but by their lifestyles deny the Holy One who gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel.”

Like I said a moment ago – something happens to a person who suddenly realizes what the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth has done for us. Something had happened to Peter before he stood fearlessly toe to toe with those who murdered Jesus. Something happened to the apostle Paul before . . . well, Chuck Swindoll wrote it this way as he reflected on Paul’s trial before King Agrippa and Governor Festus as Luke records it in Acts 26:

“Momentarily forgetting the difference in rank and status, Paul now spoke face to face with Agrippa . . . . In unguarded abandon, he exclaimed, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains" [26:29].

In another reflection related to Paul’s unashamed boldness and how that boldness applies to our time, Swindoll referred to when Mother Theresea of Calcutta spoke at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. In attendance were numerous dignitaries, including then President Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore. Swindoll writes:

“The gracious nun from Calcutta spoke plainly and courageously about the evils of abortion and the devastation that dreadful lapse in morality continues to have on our already splintered culture. While she read from a carefully prepared manuscript, no one in the room moved a muscle. In fact, many of the well-dressed dignitaries smiled nervously, appearing cool and collected on their refined exteriors, but churning wildly within.”

“As the ancient political officials had sat glaring at Paul, so the nobility of Washington sat silent, their consciences throbbing in their chests.”

Characteristically of Swindoll, he again brought home the application of the ancient message which is ever current: “The challenge [to us] comes in those private, unguarded moments when you face opposition to truth—in the halls of the university, in a company board room, at the school PTA meeting, in the athletic director's office, or while seated on a plane. . . .

You may never be summoned to stand before kings and queens or be invited to address the political elite or high-ranking military officers; but you will have your own opportunities to stand and deliver.”

I end here his quote, but I reiterate Swindoll’s point: You and I will have our own opportunities to stand tall for Jesus – even when we least expect it.  And oh, God help us remain bold in the face of darkness, whether in our families, or in the dining room, or the doctor’s office, or the supermarket, or wherever else it might be.

Neither Peter, the other apostles, nor Paul were ashamed of the gospel. Why? “Because they knew it to be POWER of God to salvation to everyone who believes.”

Christian! It was the power of God that made the former terrorist what he became for Jesus. It was the power of God that made a small, frail nun in Calcutta what she became for Christ on that day in Washington. It was the power of God that made the heroes of faith in that 11th chapter of Hebrews what they became for God. And it is the power of God that makes me AND YOU what we are for Christ when we stand toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with the forces of darkness.

The power of God. Since He stands with us in every circumstance, who can stand against us? Listen to His promise through the prophet Isaiah [51:12-13b]:

“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and of the son of man who is made like grass, That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, as he makes ready to destroy?”

God's power. Power to defend. Power to go on the offensive against the enemies of the gospel message. And power to change lives.

Christian! If we are today the same as we were before we got saved – we’d better check ourselves to see if we are, indeed, saved. Furthermore, if our walk with Christ has gone into a slow idle and we are content to remain we are – we’d better check ourselves to see if we are, indeed, saved.

The good news of Jesus Christ is the good news of the complete and utter erasure of our sins from God's memory. The good news of the gospel is never-ending life of incomprehensible joy and peace and love for all who die in Christ. And it is the good news of the gospel message that ought to compel us to desire God more and more as we grow older. From eternal death to eternal life. The gospel is the power of God to salvation to EVERYONE who believes.

You might remember the ‘Dry Bones’ prophecy of Ezekiel 37. I repeat it now because it so well illustrates what I’ve been talking about – the

power of God even over the spiritually dead like Saul of Tarsus who became the apostle Paul. It illustrates the power of God over the spiritually dead like Richard Maffeo whom God made as he is. It illustrates the power of God over the spiritually dead like everyone else in this room before you called Jesus your savior, lord, master.

Ezekiel writes (Ezekiel 37:1-6): “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. . . . and behold, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Dry bones raised to vibrant life. Oh, how the world needs to hear this. How our families and acquaintances need to hear this: Eternal life offered to all.

BUT God adds a caveat, doesn’t He? He adds a stipulation to life from dry rot, doesn’t He? The gospel is the power of God – for everyone who BELIEVES.

We are not at all talking about a mere intellectual assent – “Yes, I believe Jesus is God, I believe Jesus died for my sins, I believe Jesus rose from the dead. Oh, and pass the biscuits please.”

Mere intellectual assent does NOT equal salvation. You will remember the words of St James: (James 2:19-20) “Demons also believe, and tremble with fear. But are you willing to recognize that faith without works is useless?” (My paraphrase)

In other words, saving faith is OBEDIENT faith to God's commandments. If we are not striving to obey Christ, if we even marginally dallying with sin, enjoying its passing pleasures – we’d better beware. The gospel is the power of God for eternal salvation, but ONLY for those who obey the gospel, who repent of their sins, and who strive against their sin nature to please their Savior.

The gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes; Everyone. Regardless of our backgrounds, our past histories, current sins, regardless of what we have done or have not done – nor how often we have failed to do right.

God imputes to those who come to Him with obedient faith with HIS own righteousness. Church attendance does not save us. Memorizing scripture does not save us. Doing good works does not save us. What saves us in our faith – the same faith Abraham had. Hear it again from the apostle’s pen:

(Romans 4:2-5) “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

Faith. Faith that God sent His Son to die in our place, to bear on Himself God's utter wrath for our sins. Faith that God is true to His promise of eternal life for all who trust Christ as their atonement for their sins. Faith that God will be true to His word to utterly and forever forgive and forget our confessed sins.

It was that incredible truth of salvation by faith that seems to have exhilarated the former pharisee who thought he had to meticulously follow Moses to please God. Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Philippi:

(Philippians 3:7-9) “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

The good news of the gospel is this and more: Our salvation is a GIFT from God. Period. We can do nothing to earn it. And God alone declares us righteous, not because we are in ourselves righteous, but because God credits Christ’ righteousness by and through our obedient faith in who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and WHY He has done it. Again, I will remind us all what Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: (2 Corinthians 5:21) “[God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

That is one reason Paul continues in this text from Romans: “For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Oh, may God make it so in each of our lives that we never be ashamed or embarrassed or shy about such good news as the gospel message. The good news that God's undefeatable in unfaltering power for a changed life-trajectory, the power of God to receive from Him a clean slate not just once at an altar, but every day, moment by moment, as we confess and repent of our sins.

On that first Pentecost after the Lord’s sacrificial death the Peter and the others proclaimed forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the Lamb of God. It was after that first Pentecost that the former religious terrorist proclaimed he was not ashamed of that gospel.

God loves you. We cannot say it often enough: God loves you. God Himself forgives you of every sin you have ever brought to Him in confession. No one has to remain outside of His embrace as long as we still have breath. His salvation is always as close as our desire to pray for His mercy.