Pentecost (A)
Acts 2:1-21
May 24, 2026
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The text that I have chosen for this morning’s sermon is the Pentecost reading from the book of Acts.
If I were to give you a quiz about the Holy Spirit, how do you think you’d do? There’s a lot I could test you on, but how about one question. Please don’t raise your hands or blurt out your answer. Ready? True or False: The Holy Spirit isn’t real or a living being but a symbol of God’s power, purity and presence. What did you say? If you said true, don’t feel bad because sixty percent of Christians get this question wrong. The answer is false because the Holy Spirit isn’t a symbol! He’s the third person of the Holy Trinity and He’s as much God as the Father and the Son. He’s all-knowing, all-powerful, and all around. He also plays a pivotal role in the Church and the Christian. It’s not a stretch to say that if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit’s arrival on Pentecost, there wouldn’t be a Church because there wouldn’t be any Christians. But there was a Pentecost and as we celebrate another one, it’s a great day to learn what the Holy Spirit does.
Soon after Jesus picked His twelve disciples, He told them: “When they [arrest you], do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” These twelve men who were really slow learners at times became bold witnesses for Jesus. Those who ran in fear boldly confronted their enemies with God’s truth. What explains the sudden transformation? They were filled with the Holy Spirit! Peter’s first sermon is a perfect illustration of what Jesus promised. The Holy Spirit arrived and immediately the disciples began to preach.
The term we use for the Holy Spirit’s work in both what the disciples preached and what they wrote is inspired. Nothing they said or wrote was something they made up. In his second epistle Peter says that the writings of Moses, the Psalms, and the predictions of the prophets came from God “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit continued to inspire the disciples as they wrote their Gospels and Epistles. The Holy Spirit gave us the Bible, so you can be sure it’s free of errors and falsehoods and therefore utterly reliable.
This matters because you’ve been through hard times. You’ve been emotionally drained. You’ve been hurt, depressed and ashamed. And while the platitudes of others may help for a short time, you need more and that’s where the Bible comes in! You can trust everything God says. When you feel unloved, He says: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is my steadfast love” (Ps 103:11). When you’re depressed or spiritually exhausted, He promises: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps 34:18). When you don’t know what the future holds, He says: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11). In every case, God is the one speaking. The authors of the Bible are writing only what God tells them to write. It’s not David or Jeremiah talking to you, it’s your Lord.
If I had an atheist up here and you wanted to convert him to Christianity, what would you? Berate Him? Show the archeological discoveries that prove Jesus was real? Beg and plead? Will any of these make him a Christian? Of course not! People can’t decide to believe in God because by nature people are spiritually dead. Without faith, God is an imaginary figure, a myth, or a lie. So how is a person brought to faith? Paul says, “We know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our Gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess 1:4-5). Only the Holy Spirit can give faith and life.
The first Pentecost must’ve been quite the experience: the sound of rushing wind, tongues of flame, the conversations in languages they had never leared, and people gathering to see what the fuss was all about. The Holy Spirit drew the crowd and then used Peter and the others to preach the Word of God. The Spirit used Peter’s sermon of Law, “You killed the Son of God”, and Gospel, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” to lead three thousand people to believe and be baptized.
The Holy Spirit’s work now may be considered kind of boring when compared to the first Pentecost, but He’s just as powerful. He works in simpler ways: baptism when water is poured over a baby’s head. His Word when someone is stirred up by what she hears and comes to see the truth and beauty of Christ. He wants you to be saved. Don’t harden your heart against Him, call on Him and you will be saved!
As a believer Paul says you are a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor 6:19). When you were brought to faith God made His home in you. The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell in you, leading you and sustaining you in the faith. He stays with you when you struggle, He lifts you up when your faith wavers, and He leads you home when you get lost.
If only having the Holy Spirit made it easy! He brought us to faith and gave us spiritual life, but that doesn’t mean we won’t sin, does it? We know that’s not true! We forget He lives in us. We defile His temple by the choices we make. We have His Word, but we don’t listen to it. Some of our sins may even start the process of evicting Him from our hearts. When we ruin His temple with our sin, when we refuse to listen to His Word, all is not lost. Your Lord is never far from the repentant and brokenhearted. Confess your sins and pray with King David: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Ps 51:10-12). And you know what will happen? The Lord will create a new spirit in you, He will draw you to Himself, and He will not take His Holy Spirit from you.
Jesus told the disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:23). The disciples are given the authority to forgive sins, and where do you hear the disciples forgive your sins? In the Bible. And it’s not the disciples who forgive you – it’s God. He says, “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me” (Jeremiah 33:8). Saint John says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). Your sins are forgiven because Christ’s death and resurrection are given to you in your Baptism, the Bible, and the Lord’s Supper. You’re forgiven because God’s Word does what it says. When God says, “I will remember their sin no more” He means it. Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.
The Holy Spirit always comes to the individual, which is seen the Pentecost account where each individual is filled with the Spirit. The flame of the Holy Spirit blazed over each head, and each individual spoke by Him. The Holy Spirit also comes to individual men where they are together in a congregation. We have forgotten that we do not sit in church as individuals, each holding their own private devotion. If that was all that was necessary, we wouldn’t need churches. But as we heard last week, the disciples and other followers of Jesus gathered to pray and receive the Lord’s Supper. The early Christians realized that Christians can’t go it alone, we need other Christians. That’s why the absence of Christians from worship harms all Christians. The Church isn’t a social group or a club, the Church is the body of Jesus, tended to by the Holy Spirit, who sustains it and gives it growth.
The Church grows because the Holy Spirit continues to bring people to faith, and He’ll do so until Jesus returns. The Holy Spirit gave Peter and the disciples the words they needed and He gives them to you as well. We tell others about Christ’s love and forgiveness, and you don’t have to worry if you’re saying the right thing. Tell them about Jesus and let the Holy Spirit do the work. The Holy Spirit also rouses us to lead holy lives which display our faith, and through which people may be brought to faith.
If you’ve been watching mainstream news you may not know that the, our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering greatly in the third world. Christians in Sudan and Nigeria are being slaughtered. Christian girls are being kidnapped given to Muslim men as underage wives or sold into sexual slavery. The American church grieves with the persecuted wherever they are. But do you know what’s happening? The Church is growing! The Church in Nigeria is the fastest growing Church in the world. Atheistic China has well over one hundred million Christians. Even in Iran the Church is growing by leaps and bounds. Wherever the Church is persecuted it grows. Perhaps that’s why the Church in America is stagnant and apathetic. Jesus says, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). The Church will always stand because it is guarded and sustained by the Holy Spirit, and no earthly trouble will stop the Church which was bought with Jesus’ blood.
One of my books about the Holy Spirit is entitled The Half-Known God and the title might be accurate. Outside of Pentecost, we don’t talk much about the Holy Spirit, which is a shame. It’s the Holy Spirit who gave us the Bible, brought us to faith, and sustains Christ’s Church. It sounds like He’s pretty important to Christians. While we may not hear much about Him, we praise Him for the gifts He gives and for the preservation of the Church. We praise Him for our faith and for the promises given to those who die in the faith. May He continue to increase our faith, sustain it, and embolden us to tell others about Jesus. And when we struggle with our faith, when we’re tempted by sin and satan, He will guard and protect us. And how do you know? Paul tells us: “You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Amen
Now the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen