PENTECOST (1)
Text: Acts 2:1-13.
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who came into the world to save sinners, the love of God the Father who gave his dear Son to the lost sinful world, and the communion of the Holy Spirit who writes the love of the Father and the grace of the Son in our hearts, be with you all. Amen.
It is an amazing, glorious, eternally memorable fact which Christians these days solemnly commemorate in all the world. It is the visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Lord's disciples which took place on that first Pentecost. Ten days before the Lord had given his disciples the promise: "John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Acts 1,5. Thereupon unseen by any but his disciples, and they were singing, he rose majestically higher and higher and withdrew from their view. And what happened? The tenth morning after Christ's ascension had dawned. This was the Jewish Pentecost. The disciples were all with one accord assembled in prayer and supplication, when lo! a surging from heaven as of a mighty wind filled the entire house where they sat. Then the Holy Spirit appeared visibly in the form of fiery tongues, which began to burn over the heads of the disciples; they were also all full of the Holy Spirit, so that to the amazement of great numbers of spectators, people present for the festival from all nations under heaven, they suddenly began to tell of the great deeds of God in fiery, stirring speeches in all the languages of these strangers.
Pentecost (1) 269
Thus the Holy Ghost revealed himself gloriously and majestically to the world as true God and as the Third Person of the Holy Trinity; now he demands that the whole world perceives that he also is God with the Father and the Son, equally great and mighty, and that all honor and adore him on earth as they do in heaven.
By the public, amazing outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples Christ also revealed to the world that he actually has risen and lives; he actually has ascended to heaven;, sitting now as God and man at the right hand of majesty on high, sitting upon the throne of his almighty Father, he rules and from his fullness pours out the Holy Spirit with his gifts according to his good pleasure upon his chosen children. Thus are also the disciples not only equipped for their great work, their former weakness and despondency turned into divine strength and unconquerable courage, their deficiencies into knowledge, into certainty and perfect enlightenment, their simplicity and ineptitude into the riches of heavenly wisdom, but thus before all the nations of the world they were also solemnly and publicly confirmed in their great office; they were sealed and attested as the teachers of all men, the messengers of God to the entire world, the representatives of Jesus Christ.
Hence, who is able to express the importance and glory of our today's Pentecost festival? There we see our Savior upon the throne, the Holy Spirit pouring himself upon the disciples and they, filled with the Holy Spirit and driven by him, going out into all the world; we hear them preaching the heavenly message of the grace of the Father in the Son to all sinners. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
However, do not suppose that the miracle of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate today, is a miracle which once happened to the apostles; we indeed admire it, but we can experience nothing of it. No! No! This is the special glory of Pentecost that that which we solemnly celebrate as having; once taken place should be repeated every year on Pentecost. Of course, it is true, that on that first Pentecost the apostles were endowed with certain extraordinary miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit which had been promised to no one but them, but which were also necessary only for them; the chief gift which they receive then, the Holy Spirit, that should be granted also to us, yes, to all people at all times in all places; this miraculous fact is a prophetic picture.
This is also the very thing which I now intend to show you. Oh that God will give me the power and grace to do that and bless my weak testimony, so that we all at the close of this festival, enkindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may begin to join the apostles in speaking of the great deeds of God which he has done to us.
Quote the text here: Acts 2, 1-13.
Thus reads the amazing story of this day. There can be no doubt as to
the meaning which the fact related had and still has. The Apostle Peter tells us. Immediately after our text we are told: When many hearers in satanic hardness ridiculed this miracle, Peter arose and testified: "Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words; for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith 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; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." Acts 2,14-18. This first Pentecostal sermon gives us the key to the miracle
Pentecost (1) 270
of Pentecost. From it we learn that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples was only the beginning of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh. From it we learn that as the Jews on Pentecost celebrated the festival of the firstfruits of the harvest, so the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles was only, as it were, the spiritual gifts to the firstfruits of the New Testament harvest. Therefore permit me now to show you;
THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
Λ PROPHETIC PICTURE OF THE OUTPOURING UPON ALL FLESH
1. A Picture of the Forerunners who Continually Precede His Coming;
2. A Picture of the Means by Which He Enters into the Hearts of Men;
3. A Picture of the Results He Brings About by his Gracious Indwelling.
I.
My friends, God's intention and promise as early as the Old Testament is that all men will be filled with his Holy Spirit, because without the Holy Spirit no one can come to faith nor stay in the faith; hence without the Holy Spirit no one can be saved. So what happened on this day to the apostles was merely the beginning of what is now to take place in the whole world. We see that at the very first Pentecost people from all regions of the earth were present, we may say, as the representatives of all nations; on this day 3,000 souls who thus received the gift of the Holy Spirit were baptized in the name of Christ. However, the baptism of the Spirit and fire by which the apostles were baptized was not only the beginning of the outpouring of the Spirit which according to the prophecy of the Prophet Joel was to come upon all flesh; it was at the same time a prophetic picture, that is, God on that first Pentecost showed in the apostles, as though by a picture, the way in which all people will share in the Holy Ghost, and what results he will produce in them.
We hear that a forerunner preceded the coming of the Holy Spirit. We read: " And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." Vv.1.2. Luke means to say: Scarcely had the Jews begun the celebration of their Pentecost festival, when there came down from heaven -- it was early, about 9 o'clock -- a sound growing louder and louder; it sounded throughout the city like a storm; finally like a gust of wind it descended into the house where the disciples had been assembled and filled it. This was not only the bell which God rung in order to awaken the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Call them into this house where they should see the great miracle of Pentecost and hear the first Pentecost sermon; this was at the same time the forerunner which should tell the disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit and prepare them for it. What the apostles experienced here is at the same time a prophetic picture of that which every person must first experience who is to share in the Holy Spirit.
By nature man is not capable of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By nature we all lie in the deep sleep of security from which we must first be awakened. By nature we all concern ourselves little or not at all about our salvation. By nature we either do not perceive that we are such great, lost sinners, or if we perceive it, we are unconcerned about it, do not consider this or that sin just so terrible, or are more concerned about earthly comforts and joys, about our temporal well-being than about the heavenly comfort and spiritual joys for our soul. Therefore he who remains in this condition retains a heart closed to the Holy Spirit; his soul remains a dwelling into which the Spirit
Pentecost (1) 271
neither can nor wants to enter. Such a person can not be saved.
Therefore, if a person is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that he can be saved, a forerunner must first come to him, as happened to the apostles. God's Law or the Ten Commandments, which the person by nature either ignores or thinks he has kept tolerably well, must first penetrate man's heart like a roaring hurricane descending from heaven and awaken or startle him from his spiritual sleep. The person must first come to the point where the word: "Thou shalt love God above all things, and your neighbor as yourself" shakes his heart like a clap of thunder, so that in terror the man cries out: Alas! what a great sinner I am! I have loved neither God nor man! This man must arrive at the point where the word: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," Mt 5,48; "Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all," Jas 2,10; "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Lav? to do them," Dt 27,26 knocks him down to the ground' like lightning from God's hand, so that in the anguish of his soul he cries out: I am lost! Oh what, what must I do to be saved?
True, the roaring of the wind was not necessary in the case of the apostles;:for with terror they already had perceived that they were sinners and implored God for comfort and peace for their trembling heart; we hear, however, that the 3,000 who received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, had yet to experience such a roaring of the Law in their hearts. In his Pentecost sermon Peter first held the sins of his hearers before their eyes and called them the murderers of God's Son. "When," we read, "they heard this, they were pricked in their heart." v.37 that is, they were struck as though by lightning; they suddenly recognized that they were lost sinners worthy of damnation; full of anguish and terror they cried out: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
Oh, all of you who today have appeared in the Lord's house to hear the Pentecost sermon ponder this. If you wish to be saved, you also must receive the Holy Spirit. However, if the Holy Spirit is to enter into you, that forerunner, the roaring of the storm, must also precede his coming into your hearts; it must turn you into poor sinners, so that you will cry from the depths of your souls: "Lord, what shall we do to be saved?" Has the bell been such a roaring storm which God himself has rung in your heart and which has driven you to this church today? If not, know that at some time you must make this experience or you will never come to grace, and alas! you will never enter heaven. But blessed are you who know from experience what I mean. To you I will now
II.
show how this amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a prophetic picture of also the means by which the Holy Spirit then enters into man's heart.
My friends, the Holy Spirit did not wait until Pentecost to begin his work. Not only was it the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets of the Old Testament to speak and write; all real good which had been again worked in man's heart after the fall into sin was the result of the Holy Ghost. While he in the past had carried on his work in secret, on that first Pentecost he stepped out of his seclusion, came audibly in the roaring of a mighty wind, appeared visibly in the form of fiery tongues, and now revealed his divine power and glory by the distribution of his most glorious, amazing gifts to people from every nation under heaven. If in the past the Holy Spirit merely trickled down like dew, on this day he poured himself out in mighty torrents. If in the past he had had his workshop almost along among God's chosen people, the people of Israel, he now chose all humanity as his workshop.
Pentecost (1) 272
Why was the Holy Spirit publicly poured out now for the first time? We should point out that we have the redemption established by Christ to thank for the great heavenly gift of the Holy Spirit; that it was not won for us until Christ lived, suffered, died, rose, and ascended into heaven; that we had to be reconciled with God the Father by the Son before the Holy Ghost could do his work openly among men; and that therefore the real means through which he enters man's heart is not the frightening preaching from the heights of smoking and trembling Sinai but the preaching of grace from Golgotha, that is, the preaching of the great deeds of God, the sweet and comforting Gospel of free grace in Christ.
See from this, my friends, what an inexpressibly comforting picture the picture of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples is for us. If the law of our works were the means through which the Holy Spirit had come to them, who would dare hope that he would enter among us also? But since the means was the Gospel of God's works for us poor sinners, who dares fear that only holy men as the apostles could share in the Holy Spirit, but not we poor sinners? No, in the picture of the baptism by Spirit and fire God has shown us that he wants to distribute the greatest of all his gifts, his Holy Spirit, not according to the measure of our merit and worthiness, but according to the measure of his generous, tenderest grace in Christ Jesus.
Who among us here has truly experienced the power of the Law as the roaring of a mighty wind and would not also gladly experience the tender, soft whispering of the Spirit of grace? Do not imagine that you must cause this by your own works, by your own preparation and efforts. Listen to the Gospel of Christ and believe it, and the stormy roaring of the divine Law will soon become silent within you; you will detect the sweet stirrings of the Spirit of grace in your heart.
Who is here who feels his death and desires to receive the Spirit of life? Who is here who feels his weakness and feebleness and wishes to receive the Spirit of pox;er and strength? Who is here who lives on with a restless, peaceless conscience because of his sins and desires the Spirit of comfort, rest, and peace? Who is here who is tormented by doubt in God's grace and his salvation and desires the Spirit and righteousness and confidence ? Who is here who has become tired of chasing after the good things and joys of this world and desires the Spirit of true heavenly joy which is eternal?
All of you who feel the misery in which you lie, all of you into whom the forerunner, the Law, has entered and made you despondent, poor in spirit, and hungry and thirsty for the water of life, you should neither lose courage nor wear yourselves out by your own efforts. You are neither to think that you are too unworthy for the great grace of the baptism of the Spirit and fire, nor that you must first prepare yourself to receive it; you are to do nothing but believe in the certain, true, precious Word that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and you also; then you will immediately discover how God's heart opens for you and how the streams of the Spirit descend and flow into your wretched heart. For you, you who are the most unhappy of all sinners, you are the very ones to whom God's promise applies: "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins." Is 44,22. Yes, you are meant by the call: " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Is 55,1. Oh, that I could today persuade all of you who feel in your hearts that you are worthless sinners not to consult for a moment with flesh and blood but to break through all unbelief and say to Christ: Thou Crucified and Resurrected One, Ascended Lord, you are mine because I grasp you and do not let you, oh my Light, out of my heart. Then Pentecost will come to all of you today. Then the moment a poor sinner dares to appropriate Christ in spite of all the opposition of his heart and conscience, in spite of all the
Pentecost (1) 273
assaults of the world and Satan which he must still feel, the Holy Spirit will immediately hover of that Christ whom he receives in the arms of faith.
III.
That no one deceives himself but can be certain that he also has become partaker of the Holy Spirit, God has in the amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit given us a picture of the results which the Holy Spirit produces by his gracious indwelling.
Which are the results of the Holy Spirit which today we see in the disciples? Chiefly two: 1. A burning heart which was set on fire by joy and delight in God's great deeds for their salvation and the salvation of the whole world; 2. Fiery tongues with which they spoke and testified before all of these great deeds of God.
Scarcely were they all full of the Holy Spirit when they forgot their evil and good works; God's great deeds alone became great and important and glorious and comforting. And when they opened their mouth they began to speak of those things with which their heart was full.
You see here a picture of the results which the Holy Spirit produces in every person in whose heart he makes his dwelling place. The Holy Spirit does not awaken great thoughts of oneself, of one's great holiness, of one's great worthiness; he does not think that he is better than other people. On the contrary! The moment the Holy Spirit enters a person's heart the becomes ever smaller and insignificant in himself; he knows of nothing whereof to boast. But as he knows nothing of his own good works, he no longer despairs because of his evil works and sins; and as small as he is in himself, so great, on the other hand, is God's love toward him, so great God's grace, so great God's patience, so great Christ's redemption, so great and sweet the Spirit's comfort.
But he cannot be silent about the things which live in his heart. The same is true of him as of David: "I believed, therefore have I spoken." Ps 116,10, He must therefore say with him: "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." Ps 66,16. While those who do not have God's Spirit become the most eloquent when they begin to speak of their great deeds or of the things of this world, on the other hand, he who carries the Holy Spirit in his heart becomes the fieriest when the conversation is about what love eternal has done for the sinful world and, above all, what great things it has done to him.
The sermon of the apostles which the Holy Spirit caused them to preach had a double result in their hearers; some, full of amazement, heard their own language; others mocked them and said: " These men are full of new wine;" the testimony of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit also has a double result. When God's children hear those who are full of the Holy Spirit speak of God's great deeds, they also immediately recognize their own language. They say: That is the truth; I have also experienced that. Though such Christians have come together from the most distant regions, they immediately become one heart and one soul, as though they had been nursed by one mother. On the other hand, when the children of the world hear a Christian speak of the great deeds of God, they mock him and say: He is full of new wine; he is an enthusiast; he is out of his mind.
My friends, examine yourselves whether you share in the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost (1) 274
First of all, have you perceived the roaring of that mighty wind which comes from Sinai? That is, has the Law hurled you to the ground and made you absolutely naked sinners? Then have you also perceived the soft, life-giving, and refreshing whispering of the Holy Spirit which entered your heart through the Sweet Gospel? Finally, have you now experienced the results which the Holy Spirit produces in men when he has entered into them? Has that set your heart and tongue on fire to glorify the great deeds of God in thoughts and words? Then have you experienced how true Christians have come to you and said yea and amen to your testimony, but, on the other hand, that the children of this world have ridiculed you as a foolish fanatic?
Oh my friends, do not let the Pentecost festival pass by without having received this Pentecostal blessing. Through the preaching of Pentecost this year God is opening heaven to you in order to let the gracious rain of his Holy Spirit pour down upon men everywhere. Oh, open your heart so that this heavenly rain may enter. If you have received these heavenly gifts, then go as a true priest taught by God and preach with burning heart and fiery tongue to your unenlightened brethren the things which fill your soul, so that your fire may enkindle more and more people. Come on! Pray with me:
Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill the hearts of your believers
And kindle in them the fire of your divine love,
Who by the diversity of tongues
Has gathered the whole world
Into the unity of faith.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen.