The Works Of The Spirit
Acts 2:1-42
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. John 14:25-26 These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… The high feast of Pentecost is the culmination of the Easter season, so it is good for us to hear what the Scriptures say about all the amazing events of that day. You heard already the reading of Acts 2:1-13. Listen now to the rest of the story, through vv. 42:
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only 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, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized 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, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
How would you know who the believers in Jesus were on the Day of Pentecost and in the days following? You couldn’t see their faith, but you could see their actions. Some 3,000 were baptized, and then they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” You could tell who the believers were by what they did.
So it is with the Holy Spirit. You can’t see the Spirit of God, but you know Him by what He does. The Scriptures are full of the words and deeds of the Holy Spirit. But today, on the Day of Pentecost, God gives us the opportunity to know Him and His Holy Spirit through the mighty works of the Spirit revealed on Pentecost.
First, there were signs from heaven. There was the “sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind” in the place where Jesus’ disciples were gathered. They were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do. He had commanded them “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father”, the sending of the Holy Spirit. How were they to know He had arrived? By the sound of rushing wind. Early in His ministry, Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:8). So, this sound of wind was a sign that the Spirit had come, and that He would continue to blow like the wind throughout the world, converting sinners to God when and where it pleased Him.
Then there were the divided “tongues, as of fire” that sat on each of the disciples. What were they to know about the Spirit from these tongues of fire? Well, tongues are for speaking, of course, and fire is for burning and spreading, like the wildfires that sometimes ravage our land. The Holy Spirit would allow the disciples to “speak with fire.” That’s like what God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “Is not My word like a fire? says Yahweh, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” (Jer 23:29). In other words, the Holy Spirit would be working through the preaching of the Apostles to set hearts on fire – to break through stubborn hearts and bring sinners to repentance and see their own wickedness. And then He would kindle faith in their hearts, a faith that looks to Christ and His all-atoning sacrifice for sin, so that there they might find a gracious Father who forgives sin for the sake of Christ alone.
Finally, there was the speaking in tongues – in different languages that the apostles had never learned, languages that were understood by all the Jews who were visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost from the other countries where they lived. What did that reveal about the Holy Spirit? It revealed that He would accompany the Apostles throughout the world as they discharged their office of speaking the Gospel to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
So, why don’t we see these signs still today? Remember, two of these three signs never happened again: the supernatural sound of wind and the tongues as of fire. The speaking in tongues was given as a sign of the Spirit here and there during the days of the Apostles, as well as other miraculous signs like prophecies of the future and the healing of the sick. The signs were there to confirm the testimony of the apostles, to show the world that the Holy Spirit really was working through their preaching. But, as in all things, once something has been confirmed, it doesn’t need to keep being confirmed repeatedly forever.
So much for the spectacular signs of the Spirit’s work. But the gifts of the Spirit are not restricted to external, miraculous signs. Even more important are His other gifts, many of which we see revealed at Pentecost. Look at the powerful preaching of Peter on that day when the crowds were attracted by the commotion caused by the signs. See the boldness that was lacking before, when he and the others were hiding in fear from the Jewish authorities. And especially note the emphasis in Peter’s preaching on the person and work of Christ Jesus, and how he correctly tied together the Old Testament prophecies and showed how they pointed to Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.
You want Spirit-filled preaching? Spirit-filled preaching points only to Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection which was all done for you – to pay for all your sins which you could not pay for, and to give you the gift of faith to believe in Christ’s work, thereby giving you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in Christ alone.
That is a mark of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus Himself had said: “The Spirit will testify about Me” (Jn 15:26). Or again, “He will glorify Me” (Jn 16:14). Or again in today’s Gospel: He will “teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” Fearless, Christ-centered, consistently Scriptural preaching is a work of the Holy Spirit.
And not the preaching only, but also the Sacraments are tied to the Spirit’s work: “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” What did Jesus say that Baptism is? It is to be born again of water and the Spirit. What did Paul call Baptism? “The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”(Titus 3:5). And what did Luther say that Baptism gives and does? “It works forgiveness of sin, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”
Christ-centered and Christ-delivering preaching. Baptismal regeneration and rebirth. Those are the Spirit’s works, even though they are performed by men. But there’s yet another work of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Remember the response of many who heard Peter’s preaching on that day: “They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They were cut to the heart. In other words, the Spirit-filled words that Peter spoke had an effect on the people. His preaching of the Law – the revelation of their sin, especially their sin in enabling the crucifixion of the Christ – worked godly contrition and repentance in their hearts. And then, when Peter proclaimed the promise of the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name in Holy Baptism, the response was that some 3,000 were baptized on that day. They repented and then received forgiveness.
Now, faith and trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins isn’t something a person comes up with on his own. Faith is a gift of God, St. Paul says; “faith comes by hearing” (Rom 10:17). Or as he writes to the Corinthians, “no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor 12:3). All those who repented and believed the Apostle’s message on that day, and every day after that day, are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work.
And not just the initial faith, but also the continued devotion to God’s Word and Sacraments, the continued devotion to the whole truth proclaimed to them by the Apostles; the deeds of love that followed as Christians loved, supported, and forgave one another. There was also the ongoing repentance of the believers, the growth in righteousness and sanctification, the daily struggle between the New Man and the Old Man, and the inner peace of the believers that Jesus promised to His disciples in today’s Gospel: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” All of these things too are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work.
Preaching and the Sacraments, faith-filled hearing, and all the godly works that follow. In short, the Holy Christian Church on earth is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has built it and the Spirit sustains and preserves it. It is the thing that stands throughout the world as a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s power and working, even as the doctrinal divisions in the Christian Church stand as testimonies to the demon spirit’s working. But still, the Church stands. And still the Church will continue to stand and to thrive—spiritually, if not externally—until the Holy Spirit finishes His work by raising up our dead bodies on the Last Day and giving eternal life “to me and all believers in Christ.”
This is the power of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit working every day in the Church and in the world through the Church, through Word and Sacrament, as we preach and as we hear. You don’t see the Holy Spirit working directly, but without His presence in the Church, there would be no Church, and you would have no faith, no love for God or your neighbor, no hope, and no peace.
But thanks be to God. The Lord Jesus kept His promise and sent the Spirit into the world to bring us into His kingdom and to keep us here. God grant that your Spirit-worked faith be known in the world by your love for Jesus and by your keeping of His word.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
