When The Spirit Comes Upon You

This was my Pentecost Sunday sermon. Some will be interested in the subject (the Baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues), while some will not. I hope it encourages, or at least sparks fruitful discussion. A PDF handout is available here. Thanks for listening and/or reading.

Text: Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-18, 37-39

As we begin Acts chapter 1, Jesus is with His disciples after rising from the dead, and is about to return to the Father.

4 …being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “You have heard from me.” 5 For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 When they therefore came together, they asked him, “Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own authority.

8 But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Let’s go to the beginning of Chapter 2, and see what happened 10 days later.

ACTS 2:1-18, 37-38

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy…

Peter now explains that Jesus has ascended to Heaven and has poured out the Holy Spirit. He tells them that God has made Jesus Lord and Messiah. Skip down to verse 37.

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

On this Pentecost Sunday, I want to share a message entitled, “When the Spirit Comes Upon You.”

Last week, Pastor Glenn launched a new sermon series, called “Sowing to the Spirit.” In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he says, “…walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...” (see Galatians 5:16-18).

We may have a sincere desire to be good, but if we’re honest we’ll admit that just wanting to be good is not enough to empower us to overcome sin and live a victorious Christian life. So, how can we make sure we’re walking in the Spirit and not according to our sinful nature?

Paul goes on to say, “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up” (6:7-9 CSB).

How do we overcome our sin nature and live a victorious life? We need to develop a dynamic partnership with the Holy Spirit. We need to sow to the Spirit.

Paul paints a picture of a farmer sowing seed. Just like a farmer, I need to cast my seed in a good field, one that will give me a good crop. Sowing to the Spirit means I expend my time and my energy in ways that will be spiritually fruitful. Sowing to the Spirit means we’re investing the moments and the hours of our lives into things that strengthen our faith, and our relationship with Christ.

This summer, we’re going to look at