Questions

1. Fill in the blanks from Acts 2. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall _________, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my ________, and they shall prophesy.
2. TRUE or FALSE: The sermon teaches that only ordained ministers hold the prophetic office.
3. According to the sermon, when did “the last days” begin?
4. When Israel became a nation in 1948
5. At the Second Coming of Christ
6. When Jesus rose from the dead, ascended, and poured out his Spirit at Pentecost
7. They have not yet begun
8. Moses cried out to God in Numbers 11 because the ___________of leading the people was too heavy for him to bear alone.
9. TRUE or FALSE: According to Paul in Romans 4, Abraham’s faith being counted as righteousness is the pattern for all who believe. 
10. The sermon argues that to be a ___________for Christ is to exercise a prophetic vocation in the world.
11. The Reformation doctrine that all believers have direct access to God without a priestly caste is called the priesthood of all _.
12. The sermon’s central claim about Pentecost is best described as:
13. The Holy Spirit’s first appearance in history
14. The once-for-all expansion of the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence
15. The replacement of the Old Testament law with grace
16. The end of spiritual gifts for the church
17. Which verse from 1 Peter 2:9 did the sermon use to describe the universal prophetic calling of all believers?
18. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”
19. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood… that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness”
20. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God”
21. “Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you”    

Discussion

1. Before hearing this sermon, how would you have answered someone who asked: “What happened at Pentecost?” How has your understanding shifted or deepened?
2. Read Numbers 11:24–29 aloud together. What strikes you about Moses’ emotional state in this passage? Have you ever felt what Moses felt — a burden that was genuinely too heavy to carry alone?
3. The sermon distinguished between the Spirit’s presence before Pentecost (real but limited) and after Pentecost (expanded to all). Does that distinction make sense to you? What questions does it raise?
4. Peter changes Joel’s word “afterward” to “in the last days.” Why does that single change matter so much? What is Peter claiming about the moment they’re living in?
5. The sermon argues that the “last days” began at Pentecost, not at some future point just before Jesus returns. How does that reframe the way you think about the times we live in?
6. Joel’s prophecy deliberately crosses barriers — gender, age, social class. Why do you think God emphasizes those particular categories? What does that say about who he considers fit to carry his empowering presence?
7. The sermon introduced the idea of a “universal prophetic vocation” alongside the priesthood of all believers. Is this a new idea for you? How does 1 Peter 2:9 support it?
8. The sermon described the well pump (Spirit empowering a few leaders) versus city water (Spirit poured out on all). How helpful did you find that analogy? Where does it work well, and where might it break down?
9. The sermon said: “The question is never whether we have the Spirit. The question is whether we are living in step with the Spirit we have received.” What does it look like in your daily life to “live in step” with the Spirit?
10. If the Spirit’s empowerment is truly for all believers — not just pastors, missionaries, or “spiritual” people — what is one concrete way you could exercise your prophetic vocation (your calling to “proclaim the excellencies” of Christ) this week in your neighborhood, workplace, or family?
11. As we close this series on spiritual gifts, what is the most significant thing you are taking away? Is there a gift, a calling, or a conviction the Spirit has been pressing on you through these weeks? What is one next step?

Sermon Outline

Introduction

This morning brings us to the close of our series, Gifted for a Purpose. Over these weeks together in 1 Corinthians 12–14, we have been exploring what it means to be faithful disciples of Christ who have received a common gift — the gift of faith — by which we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. But alongside that common gift, our Abba Father has given each of us individual spiritual gifts, distributed according to his will.

These gifts are manifestations of the Spirit. They are God himself working in and through us to continue the ministry of the Messiah — for the common good and the building up of the whole body. The motivating foundation for their use is not self-promotion but agape love. From that place of love, we make room for all the gifts of God’s people to be expressed and exercised.

Last week, on Ascension Sunday, we were reminded that Jesus has not only risen from the dead but has ascended into the heavenlies, where he now rules over heaven and earth. It is from that throne that he distributes gifts to his people. And so we come to this morning — Pentecost Sunday — and our message is this:

Setting the Stage: What Is Pentecost?

Pentecost was a Jewish festival — the second of the spring festivals in the Jewish calendar, also called the Festival of Weeks or the Festival of First Fruits. Jews from across the known world had gathered in Jerusalem when something utterly extraordinary took place. We cannot explore every dimension of that event in a single sermon, but we want to understand how Pentecost connects to our series and, more importantly, to us.

Before we come to our text in Acts 2, a brief word from Luke’s Gospel. Luke is the author of both the Gospel and the book of Acts. After the resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to send them the promise of the Father. As we also read in John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the Comforter, the Helper, the one who will lead us into all truth. He tells the disciples to wait — to be still — until they are clothed with power from on high. So God’s people wait. And then God pours out his Spirit upon them.

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1–21 (ESV)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”

And they were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocked, saying, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

I. The Central Claim: Expansion, Not Inauguration

There are several ways to understand what is happening at Pentecost, and it is not just one thing. In one sense, Pentecost is the Spirit descending to fill his people in the inauguration of the third temple. In another sense, it is the proclamation of forgiveness to the nations — a reversal of the scattering of peoples at Babel in Genesis 11. In another sense, it is the beginning of the long-promised regathering of God’s exiled people from their dispersion. Pentecost is all of these things.

But for our purposes this morning — especially as we close a series on the empowerment of believers — we want to focus on this:

Pentecost is the once-for-all expansion of the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence.

Notice what we are not saying. We are not saying that the Holy Spirit was absent before Pentecost and suddenly becomes present at Pentecost. That would be a serious misreading of the biblical story. The Holy Spirit has been at work from creation. He has been active throughout all of salvation history. When anyone has ever come to saving faith in the Lord — in any era — it is because the Holy Spirit enabled that faith.

Every believer here who has come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ has done so because of the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot stand before God and say, “I did that.” The same is true of the saints who came before us. If we believe — as Paul assures us in Romans — that Abraham will be present in the kingdom of God in eternity, it is only because the Holy Spirit enabled Abraham to believe the promises of God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul reminds us in Romans 4 that this is the pattern for all of us.

The same was true for David. For Daniel. For Joseph. The empowerment to follow God faithfully has always come from the Holy Spirit. Joseph did not obey God in his own strength. No one has, post-fall. So the Holy Spirit was present and active long before Pentecost. What Pentecost marks is not his arrival. It marks his expansion.

II. The Prayer of Moses: Numbers 11

To understand this expansion, we have to travel back to a remarkable episode in the book of Numbers. The Israelites are wandering in the wilderness — and, not surprisingly, they are complaining. This time, they have grown weary of manna. They long for the meat and vegetables of Egypt, conveniently forgetting how miserable life under slavery had actually been. They say, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

We can smile at their forgetfulness. But we would do well to recognize that we can be guilty of the same thing — romanticizing our old lives, forgetting the hollowness that actually characterized our existence before Christ. We forget how miserable we were under the dominion of darkness. We forget that we were following after idols and finding them empty. Life in Christ flourishes, but our memory can be selectively short.

Moses hears the complaints of all Israel and he reaches his breaking point. He cries out to God with raw, anguished honesty:

“Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child’? I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.” — Numbers 11:11–14

This is a man at the end of his rope. And we know what that feels like — as parents, as leaders, as people navigating a season that has simply asked too much of us. Moses says, in effect: either rescue me or end me.

How does God respond? He comes down. And when God comes down, there are signs we should recognize — wind, fire, the pillar of cloud that had led Israel through the wilderness. These are the hallmarks of divine presence. As God came down on Mount Sinai, as he came down upon the tabernacle, as he came down upon the temple — so here, God comes down to meet his servant.

And what God does is take some of the Spirit that is upon Moses and distribute that empowering presence to seventy elders. They receive the Spirit and they prophesy — lifting their voices in worship and proclamation as evidence that God’s empowering Spirit has rested on them. But then two men who were not with the gathered group also receive the Spirit and begin prophesying outside the camp.

Joshua, Moses’ faithful assistant, hears about this and he panics. He runs to Moses: “My lord Moses, stop them!” He is jealous for Moses’ honor. He is worried about order, about authority, about things getting out of hand. And Moses’ response is one of the most beautiful and prophetically loaded lines in the entire Hebrew scriptures:

“Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” — Numbers 11:29

Do you hear what Moses is doing? He is not praying for the Spirit to come where the Spirit is absent. The Spirit is already there, empowering Moses for leadership. What Moses is longing for — almost aching for — is the expansion of that empowering presence. Not just a select group of leaders. All of God’s people. That is the wish, the prayer, the prophetic hope buried in the heart of Moses.

And notice what prompted that wish. It was burden. It was exhaustion. It was the weight of leading a people that felt too heavy for one man to carry. And God’s answer is to distribute. To expand. To share. That pattern is worth holding on to as we move forward.

III. The Promise of Joel: Joel 2

Centuries pass. And into that longing steps the prophet Joel, prophesying about a coming Day of the Lord — a day of divine judgment upon God’s enemies and vindication for God’s people. Joel sees darkness before the dawn — blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood. But embedded in that vision of the coming Day is a stunning promise:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” — Joel 2:28–29

Moses had prayed: “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets.” Joel answers: the day is coming when that will be exactly what happens. And notice the barriers that Joel says the Spirit will cross. It will not be just men — but men and women. Not just the old — but young and old alike. Not just the privileged — but servants, the poor, everyone. The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh. All. Not just the select few who hold positions of leadership.

There is a word of profound democratization here. God is not stingy with his Spirit. He does not reserve his empowering presence for the credentialed and the prominent. Joel sees a day when the barriers of gender, age, and social standing will simply not function as they once did as limits on the Spirit’s work. Moses wanted it. Joel promised it. Someone would have to announce its arrival.

IV. The Fulfillment at Pentecost: Acts 2

And now we come to Peter’s sermon. There is a remarkable detail in Acts 2 that is easy to miss. When Peter quotes Joel, he does not quote him exactly. Joel says, “and it shall come to pass afterward.” But Peter says, “and in the last days.”

That change is everything. Peter is declaring, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that what Joel was pointing to has now arrived. Not eventually. Now. Today. This is the moment. The prayer of Moses, the promise of Joel — it is being fulfilled in their hearing.

This raises an important question worth sitting with. We often hear people say, “We may be living in the last days” — usually meaning that Jesus is coming back within a year or two, that the end is just around the corner. But according to Peter — speaking the authoritative word of God — the last days began on the day of Pentecost. When Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and poured out his Spirit on his people, the last days arrived. Whether Jesus returns tomorrow, three years from now, or three hundred years from now, we are already in the last days. We have been since Acts 2. These are the days in which we carry the work of the Messiah forward, proclaiming that Jesus reigns.

And in these last days, the Spirit is poured out on all of God’s people. Here is one way to picture the shift. In the era before Christ, the Spirit was truly present and genuinely active — like a well pump that brings water into a single house. The water is real. The life it sustains is real. But the reach is limited. The Spirit was empowering particular leaders — prophets, priests, kings — for particular purposes. The blessings of the Spirit flowed through those channels, but not yet to everyone.

But at Pentecost, something new has happened. It is more like city water now — a central source flowing outward into every home, every household, reaching everyone. The empowering presence of the Spirit is no longer for the few. It is for all. Which is exactly why, in Acts 2, the tongues of fire do not rest on one person or a select group. They rest on each of them. Every single one.

Think of it in terms of burden-bearing. Moses cried out: this is too heavy for me alone. And God answered by distributing the Spirit to seventy elders so the burden could be shared. Pentecost is the final and fullest answer to that prayer. Galatians 6 tells us that we are all now to bear one another’s burdens — because the Spirit that once rested on Moses and a handful of leaders has now been poured out on every member of Christ’s body. The burden does not belong to one. It belongs to all. And the empowerment to carry it belongs to all as well.

 V. The Universal Prophetic Calling

We often speak of the priesthood of all believers — that beautiful Reformation truth that there is no longer a caste of priests mediating between God and his people. We all have direct access. We all draw near. We all offer ourselves as living sacrifices. That is glorious and true.

But we rarely speak about what we might call the universal prophetic calling of all believers. And Pentecost demands that we do.

In broad terms, the priest brings the words of the people to God — interceding, offering. The prophet brings the words of God to the people — proclaiming, declaring. These roles overlap and intertwine throughout Scripture. But the point is this: because the empowering Spirit has been poured out on all flesh, we all share in a prophetic vocation. Jesus says it directly in Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

To be a witness is a prophetic act. It is to go into the world and proclaim, by word and by life, that Jesus reigns — that there is forgiveness of sins available through him, that the King of heaven and earth calls all people to believe on him and be saved.

First Peter 2:9 captures this with extraordinary compression: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We see the kingly language — chosen race, royal. We see the priestly language — priesthood. And then we see the prophetic purpose: that you may proclaim. This is the universal prophetic empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Not just for pastors and elders. Not just for missionaries and evangelists. For all of God’s people, in every neighborhood, every workplace, every family — to go out as those who have been called from darkness and who now declare the light.

Moses wished that all of God’s people were prophets. Joel promised the day was coming. Peter declared it had arrived. And today, as we gather on this Pentecost Sunday, we stand in that fulfillment. The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit rests on each of us. Not on a few. On all.

Conclusion

Every single believer has received the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Upon saving faith, the Spirit takes up residence. This is not the experience of a spiritual elite. It is the birthright of every child of God.

The question is never whether we have the Spirit. The question is whether we are living in step with the Spirit we have received. Whether we are offering our gifts for the common good. Whether we are bearing one another’s burdens. Whether we are going out as witnesses — as that royal priesthood, that prophetic people — to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Moses stood in the wilderness, exhausted, and cried out for the burden to be shared. God heard that prayer. And the fullness of God’s answer is Pentecost. The Spirit is given. The burden is distributed. The calling is universal.

May we go forth — as a kingly priesthood, called to the prophetic office — to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.