"We Are Not Drunk" Sermon: Acts 2:1-21

"We Are Not Drunk"
[Acts 2:1-21]
May 11, 2208 Second Reformed Church

Jesus ascended to the Father. After spending forty days with the disciples -- some five hundred persons who saw Jesus alive in the flesh after the resurrection -- Jesus ascended in His Body, back to the throne of the Son, where He reigns almighty over all.

We saw last week that Jesus made three promises to the disciples: first, that they would be indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Second, that the Holy Spirit would give them the power to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meet the needs of the Church. And third, that they would be witnesses to Jesus and His Gospel both in word and deed.

It was a mere ten days later, as the disciples waited in Jerusalem, that these promises came to pass, during the festival of Passover, on what we now call the day of Pentecost.

We see in the opening verses of chapter two that the disciples were together when the sound of a mighty, rushing wind filled the house where they were, and tongues of fire appeared and then rested on each of them, and "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit" (NRSV). The Holy Spirit, God Himself, indwelled each one of them, just as He indwells every person who has believed since that day. God lives in every Christian.

Then, in verse four, we see power being given to the disciples: "and [they] began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability" (NRSV).

Now, remember, we saw that the power that the Holy Spirit gives is the power to preach the Gospel and to meet the needs of the Church. Here, of course, we are seeing the first example of the Holy Spirit providing power to preach the Gospel. In verses five through eleven, we see that there were Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem. They had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and they spoke a wide variety of languages. This was a problem for the disciples: they knew Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, but not all the languages of the civilized world, so they were unable to preach the Gospel to all of the people there.

We remember that in the beginning there was only one language, but the people had become prideful and began to build a tower that would reach, they thought, heaven itself. God was angry at the sin of humanity, at their pride and presumption, so God caused all the people to speak in different languages, so they couldn't understand each other, and they couldn't continue to build their tower of sin -- Babel (Genesis 11). Since that day, the peoples of the world have been separated by language.

But on the day of Pentecost, God wanted all of the people to be addressed -- to have the Gospel preached to them -- so God, the Holy Spirit, gave the disciples the power -- the spontaneous ability -- to speak in all of the languages of those present. The Gospel cut through the babble, and every person was able to understand in his or her own language. There was no time for the disciples to learn all the languages of the world, so God overcame their inability by giving them the ability to speak in all languages without having learned them. And then they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Many were amazed, both to hear the disciples speaking their languages, but even more so to hear that God came to earth in human form, lived under His Own Law, was crucified, dead and buried, and rose from the dead, and ascended back to God the Father -- securing salvation for all who believe, the forgiveness of sins and the crediting of the perfect keeping of the Law from Jesus to all who believe.

And we learn that over five thousand persons believed on Jesus after they finished speaking (Acts 4:4).

Yet, there were some who said, "These men are just babbling. They aren't really speaking in all languages. They're drunkards, mouthing the few words they know."

Then Peter took center stage and spoke to all, telling them that they were not drunk, in fact they were keeping the Passover and were not eating or drinking until the afternoon. No, Peter explained that what they were seeing was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel.

Little is known about Joel, except that, from his prophecy, he seems to have been a prophet in Judah, the southern kingdom, before the Babylonian captivity. So, somewhere between 800 and 500 B.C. Joel preached to Judah after a disastrous invasion of locusts, and he urged Judah to repent of their sin, lest something worse come upon them -- the Babylonian captivity. In the center of his prophecy, he spoke the words that Peter quoted in his sermon, saying that this prophecy of Joel was fulfilled that day:

"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; even on male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs in the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (ESV).

What does this prophecy mean?

Joel said that these things will happen in the "last days," and Peter said that they came to pass on the day of Pentecost. Therefore, the "last days" began about 33 A.D. -- about two thousand years ago. The "last days" are the days of the Gospel, the days of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

God said that He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh -- men and women, old men and young men, slaves and free. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not based on gender or position. The Pharisees taught that the Holy Spirit only abided with the wise and the wealthy -- and of course, men. But God says that the Holy Spirit indwells everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus Alone for salvation. Including you. God lives in everyone who believes.

Then we read that they will prophesy, and we need to be careful, because the primary definition of "prophesy" has changed. In the Old Testament, we remember that Saul went to be taught at a school for prophets -- that would have be akin to a seminary. He was being taught how to preach, how to present, proclaim, God's Word. And when we read the word "prophesy" up until the eighteen century or so, we ought to understand it to primarily be referring to being able to speak, to make a presentation, not, as we think of it today, as telling the future. The prophets did proclaim the future from time to time in the Old Testament, but that was not their primary function. Their primary function was to call the people to repentance and to teach them what God had said.

So, God is saying that He will use all people, male and female, of every age and station, to tell others the Gospel -- to let others know that there is salvation in Jesus Christ Alone -- that the Savior -- the Messiah has come, and you can be saved if you repent and believe in Him. And that means that God will use you to proclaim His Gospel.

What do we do with the next passage? "And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs in the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day." This is a passage about the future -- it did not take place on the day of Pentecost, but it was something God said, "I will...[do these things]...". When? This is the one place where Peter changes an adjective in the text: Joel says this will occur before the "awesome" or "terrible" Day of the Lord. Peter says this will occur before the "magnificent" or "glorious" Day of the Lord.

The change of adjective is not too difficult: Joel is saying that the Day of the Lord will be horrific for the unbelieving world, whereas Peter is saying that the Day of the Lord will be a Day of Glory for Jesus.

The Bible was completed in the 60's A.D., and it never says that this part of the prophecy was fulfilled., so we cannot say with total certainly what this text is referring to, except that it will occur before Jesus returns. However, we can make the argument that this part of the text referred to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.

Josephus, the Roman historian, records that there were many strange signs in the sky during the year before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, including a fiery comet which stood above Jerusalem for the whole year before the Romans destroyed the Temple (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 2068). Besides these signs in the sky, there was blood flowing in the streets and fire and smoke as Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple for the final time in 70 A.D.

We can understand this would be "terrible" -- all the death and destruction that was caused by Rome. But how was this "glorious"? In this way, the Temple and its sacrifices were done away with as a sign that Jesus had fulfilled all of the Old Testament sacrificial Law, and there would never again be an animal sacrifice, because Jesus, the Greater and Perfect Sacrifice had been offered once on the cross for all those who would believe. That is the point of the book of Hebrews -- Jesus is Greater. Jesus is more Glorious. The Temple and its sacrifices are done away with. Jesus has fulfilled it all. No longer do we need to offered up sacrifice after sacrifice that never really covered all our sins. Now, Jesus, the Glorious One, has done what thousands of animals could never do -- His Blood has cleansed all who believe, forever.

Let us not get stuck on what verses nineteen and twenty refer to, but look to verse twenty-one, which is as clear as clear can be: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (ESV). From the day of Pentecost forward, everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord, everyone who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation, will be saved. Jesus has done all the work, and He has saved us, and everyone who believes until the day He returns will eternally be saved.

Do you believe in Jesus Alone for your salvation this morning? Do you trust in Jesus and His Work to make you right with God? Or are you still offering up good works -- sacrifices -- hoping that you can do enough to earn God's favor? God said if you've sinned once, you're damned, and an eternity of good works will never be enough to clear the slate and merit salvation -- you cannot save yourself. Believe that Jesus has already done everything needed for you, and you will find that you have been saved, God the Holy Spirit lives in you, and you are now given the power to go and tell others.

Jesus Ascended to the Father to complete His Work of Salvation. And on the day of Pentecost, Jesus and the Father sent God the Holy Spirit to indwell everyone who believes and to provide each one with what is needed for each of us to witness in word and deed to those we come in contact with. If you are a Christian this morning, you are called and you have the ability, by God the Holy Spirit, to let others know that our Only Hope is Jesus Christ Alone. There is no other way; there is no other salvation.

Not everyone is called to be an Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament, but every one of us is commanded and empowered by God to let others know. And God knows our every excuse -- I don't speak well, I don't know what to say, I don't know anyone -- but God made it clear on the day of Pentecost that God will not be hindered by our inabilities, in fact, He will gift us as He wills to make us able. God overcomes our excuses and tells us to go -- in our world, in our own way, with the abilities that God gives us -- but go "be my witnesses in Jerusalem and to all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8b, ESV).

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for equipping us for ministry. We thank You that You make us able to tell others about Your salvation. Overcome our fear and our excuses, that You would be glorified as You bring people to Yourself and add to Your Church day by day. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.