What Are You Passionate About?

Scripture: Acts 2:1-21

Introduction

After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3

• I am passionate about the Pentecost and I don’t care that I missed it by a week.
• Last Sunday was technically the Day of Pentecost, but the Spirit had other plans for me.
• You may recall that I was very passionate about the enemy attacks on our church.
• I’m not really that tethered to the church calendar beyond the Christmas and Easter events, but Pentecost means so much to the foundation of the Christian church.
• Pentecost comes from the Greek word, Pentēkostē, meaning “fiftieth”
• It had been 50 days since Easter Sunday which is where the word Pentecost comes from
• Jesus had just spent another 40 days with the disciples AFTER His resurrection.
• I think this is very significant because Jesus went to great lengths to demonstrate the nature of resurrection in HIS kingdom. His physical
• He very much had a body and physicality that enabled Him to eat and drink for 40 days.
• He was definitely not Casper the ghost. He wasn’t ethereal or wispy or alien in any way.
• Furthermore, it is important to set the timeline here. It had been ten days since Jesus left.
• We know Jesus had told them to stay put and stay together from Acts 1:4-5:

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

• So today, considering what happened at Pentecost, what are you passionate about?
• I’m certainly passionate about this church and I’m passionate about all of you.
• But I could only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit.
• There are three things about passion that I see in today’s story:

1. God’s passion in the way He sends the Spirit
2. The Disciples passion after receiving the Spirit
3. Peter’s passion for preaching

1. God’s passion in the way He sends the Spirit

• I don’t know about you, but I don’t know the exact arrival time of the Spirit in me.
• Generally, I equate the effects of the Spirit with those times when I do something good for God’s kingdom that isn’t from myself.
• An example is last week’s sermon; that was 95% Holy Spirit, and I just wrote it down.
• I don’t come down out of the pulpit very often; it tends to scare people; like if the gorilla got loose at the zoo; but He told me to do it.
• God could have sent the Spirit many ways, but He chose to do it with passion.
• The Holy Spirit is promised to ALL believers, not just this first group in Jerusalem.
• But this first time He came in with a bang:

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

• God’s plan was to make sure that this event was unmistakable by making it dramatic.
• Luke captured the event in Acts so that we could all know what happened.
• God was passionate that the work He started with Jesus on earth would continue.
• Jesus promised that God would replace Jesus with a helper in John 16:15-17:

If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

• Pentecost marks the very beginning of God fulfilling that promise Jesus made.

2. The Disciples passion after receiving the Spirit

• The disciples were overwhelmed by the Spirit, and we see in verse 4:

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

• Can you just picture the scene? People would have been jumping around and acting weird – kind of like when we had the wasps flying around in here.
• This was truly a miraculous event as the Holy Spirit came to earth with wind and fire.
• If you believe in Jesus in your heart, then the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you.
• You may be thinking “wait a minute, I didn’t feel anything. There wasn’t any wind or fire, and I didn’t start babbling in a foreign language.”
• Does this mean I don’t really have the Holy Spirit living in me?
• Here’s how you know the Holy Spirit has arrived in you:
• The Christian life is not an easy path, but when you get it right, thank the Holy Spirit
• Because the world around you would crush you otherwise.
• The world around you is mostly under the control of the great destroyer, Satan.
• And, you have a target on your back once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.
• This first time though, the Holy Spirit made a passionate entrance.
• And even though at least 15 different people-groups distinctly heard the disciples speak in their native tongues, the best they could come up with is “They have had too much wine.”
• So why do you think that so much of this story today is about language?
• Think back to Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.  As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

But the Lord came down and said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

• Do you see what happened here? Did you catch that God said “let US go down…”
• US, is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Back to the church calendar for a moment, today is considered: Trinity Sunday.
• It fits nicely with today’s message and is described in the Catholic church Catechism:

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith.” The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin.”

• What God tore apart by confusing language and scattering people now comes full circle.
• As disciples today, it is our passion to reach others for Christ in all that we do.
• The key to once again speaking with one voice as God’s people is the Holy Spirit.

3. Peter’s passion for preaching

• Peter was one of the most passionate apostles we know. I really identify with him.
• Who was Peter? A fisherman.  Was Peter known for giving speeches?  NO
• Peter was bold and fearless and would have been willing to speak, but probably not the most likely one in the bunch to do public speaking. Peter was tough and crude
• I identify with Peter because I’m the last person that I expected to be standing up here.
• And what are the chances that he could so perfectly quote the prophet Joel?
• But he did quote it word for word. How many of you could do that?  Not me
• Peter was on fire with the Holy Spirit and miraculously stood up and quoted Joel.
• How many languages do you think that Peter spoke? Probably Aramaic – maybe another
• And yet, as Peter spoke to this crowd of at least 15 people groups and 15 different languages, each person heard Peter in their own native tongue – simultaneously
• This miracle illustrates the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the language barriers that, He Himself, put into place thousands of years before.
• Did Peter end his sermon with this quote from Joel? NO
• Peter went on to give the sermon that all of us preachers wish we could do.
• Peter went on to give a remarkable message about who Jesus was and what He did
• He accused them of killing Jesus on the cross “with the help of wicked men.”
• He quoted from Psalms 16 and 110 about David’s prophecy of Jesus
• In verse 36 he says:

Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

• When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
• Peter tells them what they should do in verses 38 and 39:

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.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.

• With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Can you see the importance of this today?
• Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
• What preacher wouldn’t want to say they preached a sermon that brought 3000 people to Christ – I’m happy if I just keep you awake!! Billy Graham probably came the closest.
• If you aren’t sure where you stand, search your heart: have you given yourself to Jesus?
• Are you “ALL IN” for Christ? If not, you need to make a decision today for Christ!
• Don’t wait. Make that decision today.  Give your life to Christ.  Do it with passion.