What Happened at Pentecost?

(Luke 24:49)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
This morning,
Saw invitation Jesus gave at Feast
As water was poured out at altar:
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink (John 7:37).

This was invitation for all thirsty,

For all who know world wont satisfy,
Who tired of their sin,
To come to Him,
To receive Him as Savior,
To receive the Spirit He gives
To satisfy their soul.

If you arent satisfied with your situation,

With the things of this life
You thought would fulfill you,
Come to Jesus,
He will give you His life,
He will give you His Spirit,
And He will satisfy you.

B. Preview.
There was one more thing
Didnt look at in verse 39,
That return to this evening:
But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;
for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
What did He mean
That those who believed were to receive?
The Spirit not yet given,
Because Jesus not yet glorified?
If Spirit not given at all
Then how could anyone thirst?
How could anyone believe?

This is the question

Of what really happened at Pentecost.
Was Spirit not present at all
Before Jesus finished His work?
Before He ascended the throne?
Or was He present in a different way?

On one hand,
Answer doesnt make that much difference
Since whatever it means,

3
Were on this side of it
We have the Spirit as now been given.

On the other hand,

It does matter,
If theres something different,
And yet were still expecting
To live as believers did before Pentecost.

Whatever the Lord gave,

He meant for us
Would be helpful to know what it is.

So this evening,
Lets consider two things:
1. How the Spirit worked in His people before Pentecost.
2. And what we should expect Him to do now that Pentecost has come.

II. Sermon.
A. First, what was the Spirit already doing in the hearts of His people before
Pentecost?
To answer this,
Would be helpful to know
What Spirit does in general,
In hearts of His people,
Before looking at the difference.

Saw something this morning,

Of what He does in unbelievers:
He convicts of righteousness, sin, judgment
He raises concern, to awaken, cause them to seek.
He does this directly through conscience;
And through us:
Through apologetics, law, Gospel promises.

But are also particular things does in believers:

He unites you with Christ,
Regenerates you, brings new birth,
Makes Christs life flow through you makes alive when dead.
He creates the faith and repentance in you that justifies.
He gives you heart like Jesus sanctifies you.
He lives in you as the Spirit of adoption gives you confidence to call God Father.
He illumines your mind shows you beauty of right way, so you go right way.
He empowers you gives you love for Jesus and ways, so will obey.
He gifts you gives you abilities to use to serve Jesus.

Did He do any of this in OT? Yes. Consider,

Why did Abel obey and offer a better sacrifice than Cain?
Where did Enoch find desire to walk with God?
How could he please God, so taken up?
Why did Noah build an ark?

Why was he the only righteous man?

Why did he preach to others that they should repent?
How did Abraham believe God?
And with a faith that was reckoned to him as righteousness?
Why was he willing to sacrifice his son and believe God would raise him?
How did Joseph resist Potiphars wife?
Why did he resist her?
How was he able to interpret Pharaohs dream?
Where did David find the courage to confront Goliath?
How did he become a man after Gods own heart?

Did these do these things on their own?

I think you get the idea.
Hebrews 11 is full of examples
Of those who believed God,
And did great things in His name,
As an example to us.

They couldnt have done these things without Spirit:

He gave them this faith,
Faith that believes Gods promises,
Faith that justifies in Christ,
Faith that moved them to follow God.

6
We see something similar in the NT.
There were those who were faithful
Before Jesus came
Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, Zechariah and Elizabeth.

The disciples believed,

They did miracles,
Preached the Gospel,
Saw some converted.
Jesus told them to rejoice
That names written in heaven,
And all this before Pentecost.

We cant say there was no sense in which Spirit was given.

He appears to have been very much at work.

B. So what difference does Pentecost make?

What should we expect now that it has come?
In a word, more.

John tells us that Jesus glorification

Would bring a movement of the Spirit
In our innermost being
Like rivers of living water
Thats what Pentecost was all about.

7
Jesus said, And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you;
but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high
(Luke 24:43).
Not only is there full satisfaction,
There is more power.

Do you see differences before and after?

Consider what Israel was like before Christ came.
Matthew writes, Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He
withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in
Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This
was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: THE LAND OF
ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA,
BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES THE PEOPLE
WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND
THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED. From that time Jesus began to preach and
say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (4:12-17).

There were few believers as we saw: Joseph, Mary, Simeon, Anna, Zechariah,
Elizabeth
This isnt comprehensive list.
Little Spirit means few conversions,
Less influence means less restraint.

This was far cry from the times

Of the great outpourings of the Spirit and revivals in OT.
What happened?

Jews believed the Spirit departed after death of latter prophets

Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi;

8
The prophets who prophesied at the rebuilding of the temple
He may have left much earlier in response to Judahs idolatry (Ezekiel 9-10).

They believed the Spirit wasnt present in the second temple

That there were five things in the first temple
That werent in the second:
The ark with the mercy seat and cherubim,
The fire from heaven,
The Shekinah,
The Urim and Thummim,
And the Holy Spirit
It may be more accurate to say two were missing
The ark and the Spirit.
The Spirit is the Shekinah,
The fire from heaven,
And the One that made the Urim and Thummim work.

The Lord withdrew Him because of their sin,

But He brought Him back through the work of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came,

The ministry of Spirit returned
He was the light that dawned on them.
There was revival,
Gospel preached,

Miracles took place,

People converted.

Yet, even at end of His ministry,

Still relatively few converted,
Israel called out for His death.

But this was to be followed

By an even greater outpouring at Pentecost,
After Jesus ascended to the throne
As a sign to disciples that He had been glorified,
That He was now the Mediator and Intercessor.
He would now empower His people
With extraordinary gifts and graces
For greater works and service
To advance His kingdom.

Perhaps a better way of understanding John 7:39,

Is that the Spirit was not yet given in this way
With this kind of power.

There is greater power available now

Than in OT,
There is greater power now
Than before Pentecost

10

The disciples had Spirit,

But ran when Jesus arrested,
Hid after He was crucified.
Peter had the Spirit,
But denied even knowing Jesus.

After Pentecost,
Peter preached to a crowd of thousands,
Peter and John spoke boldly before Sanhedrin,
The apostles filled Jerusalem with His teaching.
Paul was converted
And evangelized whole Roman Empire.

They werent perfect:

Peter would later be rebuked by Jerusalem leadership
For going to Gentiles they shouldnt have rebuked him.
Peter would later fall into hypocrisy,
And be rebuked by Paul.
John Mark would abandon Paul and Barnabas
On the mission field;
Paul and Barnabas would have falling out
Over John Marks leaving.

But even though werent perfect,

11
There was still greater power.
A greater love for Jesus,
A greater Christ-likeness,
Hunger and thirst for the kingdom of God,
Desire to make Him known,
Fearlessness in the face of enemies.
There was more power,
And so more was done for His glory.
Saw Jesus say this morning, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will
flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).

If you dont have this power

Power to be like Christ,
Power to do His will
But you want it,
Jesus says come to Him,
And Hell give it to you
You will have a love and contentment
That will give you the ability
To break free from this world
And follow Him.

If youve already come to Him,

You already have this Spirit.

12
But if you arent experiencing this power,
You need to know:
The fact that there is more power,
Doesnt mean youll have it automatically.
You must draw near to the Lord
Through prayer, worship, the Word, in faith.
You must seek this power,
Seek to consecrate yourself, devote yourself,
Set yourself apart completely for Him.

You must jealously guard what He gives you;

Remember that the Spirit easily offended;
Hes grieved/quenched when your desires turn to world:
To the riches, honor, and sinful pleasures of this life.
The Spirit wants to move you away from these things,
Give you a taste for things above,
So that worldly things appear as Spurgeon described them
Like hogwash
Slop fit for swine,
Something that has no appeal to you.

If you come to Jesus and drink,

His Spirit will fill and satisfy you,
As the Lord says in Isaiah 58:11, And the LORD will continually guide you, and
satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you

13
will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not
fail.

If youre not experiencing this,

Then youre not seeking Him as you should;
Youre embracing too much of the world.
If youre willing to surrender your life to Him,
Hell give you the fullness of His Spirit.
If you give yourself to Him,
Hell take away your thirst for the world,
That uneasy feeling that youre missing something important;
And He will give you power.

You wont miss anything.

He will fill you,
Satisfy you,
Heal you,
Make you strong,
And you will do
What you want to do most of all:
Bear good fruit for Him. Amen.

http://www.gcmodesto.org