The Day of the Spirit

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 105:1-15
• Prayer of Invocation
• Prayer of Confession — from Daniel 9
• Assurance of Pardon — Ephesians 1:7
• Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 17:1-37
• Pastoral Prayer
• Special Music
• Offering
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Sermon
• Benediction — Romans 15:13

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Sermon Title: The Day of the Spirit

Scripture: Joel 2:28-32

I. The Day of the Spirit Is a Day of Expansion

A. God promises to pour out his Spirit on "all flesh" — sons, daughters, old men, young men, male and female servants (Joel 2:28-29)

B. Luke's exhaustive list in Acts 2:9-11 deliberately echoes Joel's language of "all flesh," depicting the whole world present in Jerusalem on Pentecost

1. The Spirit expands outward from Jerusalem — to Samaritans (Acts 8) and then to Gentiles (Acts 10)
2. The Spirit explodes because Christ has finished his work, been raised, and now sits at the Father's right hand, pouring out the Spirit on all he has purchased

C. The Spirit's prominence is tied to the glory of the Son

1. In the Old Covenant the Son was veiled in types and shadows, so also the Spirit was veiled and sporadic
2. Now Christ is enthroned; the fullness of the Spirit comes in fullness (Sinclair Ferguson)
3. Christ's universal authority (Matthew 28:19) extends to all flesh; where Christ reigns, the Spirit reigns (Abraham Kuyper)

D. The evidence of the Holy Spirit is not ecstatic experience but the glorifying and magnifying of Christ — his rule and reign in the heart (John 16:13-15)

II. The Day of the Spirit Is a Day of Explanation

A. Joel prophesies that when the Spirit is poured out, God's people will prophesy (Joel 2:28); on Pentecost they proclaim "the mighty works of God" in languages understood by all (Acts 2:11)

B. In the Old Testament the Spirit worked especially through prophecy — Scripture never originates with man but with the Spirit (2 Peter 1:21)

C. Moses longed that all the Lord's people would be prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them all (Numbers 11:28-29); Pentecost is the fulfillment of that longing

1. The church is a kingdom of prophets — endowed by the Spirit to shine the light on God's final Word, Jesus Christ

D. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of order, not confusion

1. He hovered over chaos in creation to bring order (Genesis 1:2)
2. He equipped the builders of the tabernacle and the seventy elders of Israel to bring order
3. Unintelligible, chaotic utterances reflect Babel — the manifestation of God's judgment — not the Spirit

E. The Spirit explains and teaches the person and work of Christ, bringing peace and order to the church (John 14:26)

1. The mark of the Spirit's presence in a church is the clear expounding of the gospel — regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification — all flowing from Christ's finished work

III. The Day of the Spirit Is a Day of Escape

A. The cosmic judgment language of Joel 2:30-31 — blood, fire, smoke, sun darkened, moon turned to blood — points to the great and awesome day of the Lord

B. Those on whom the Spirit is poured out will escape that day; everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:32)

C. Peter's interpretive change is decisive: Joel says "in those days" (Joel 2:29); Peter says "in the last days" (Acts 2:17)

1. Pentecost inaugurates the last days; all that remains is the final day of judgment when Christ comes on the clouds

D. God has fixed a day of judgment and given assurance by raising Christ from the dead; he now commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30-31)

E. The evidence of the Spirit's reign in the heart is repentance — turning from sin and calling upon the only name by which men must be saved

1. For those united to Christ by faith, the day of the Lord is not a day of dread but of salvation — Maranatha: Come, Lord Jesus