Meditation | Rev. Maarten Kuivenhoven
When we commemorate the feast of Pentecost, we often overlook its preaching. Our focus lies on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but that outpouring is intimately connected to the preaching at Pentecost. The preaching was the means the Holy Spirit used to manifest His power and was essential to the gospel message and the saving of three thousand new converts. It is still central to the mission of the apostles beyond Pentecost and should be the foundation of the church today. So how can we recognize preaching that the Holy Spirit delights to use? Consider five major characteristics.
The preaching looks backward. As the Apostle Peter preached, he did not formulate new doctrine; his preaching was firmly anchored in Old Testament prophecy as it speaks and looks forward to Christ. He went back to the prophet Joel and to the Psalms—Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. The Old Testament Scripture served as a guide to lead the preacher to Christ and it formed the basis of the New Testament. Preaching with this hindsight brings to light the prophecies of Christ and how they are fulfilled and applied to the church today. Such preaching is rich because it mines all of Scripture to find Christ.
Such preaching also looks forward. The Old Testament believer looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. But now as the Spirit is poured out upon the apostles and the church after the first coming of Christ, a new day is dawning, a day of the second coming of Christ. That is why Peter focused on the prophecy of Joel 2:30–31. The prophecy spoke of Pentecost, but in Acts 2:20 it also focuses on the “great and notable day of the Lord.” Again in Acts 2:33, Peter sharpened the focus on Christ’s Second Coming using Psalm 110, “Until I make thy foes thy footstool.” The preaching of Pentecost was focused on that day. It is preaching between the times. It looks back to the Old Testament, to Christ’s first coming, but also spurs the believer and unbeliever to consider the day that is approaching—a day of judgment for the wicked and of eternal consolation for the righteous.
The preaching of Pentecost also exalted Christ. At every turn, the Apostle Peter took pains to point his audience to Christ. It is as if those miraculous signs—the cloven tongues of fire and the speaking in tongues—faded into the background as the King of glory was lifted up. He preached Christ crucified (Acts 2:23). He preached Christ risen (Acts 2:24, 32). He spoke of Christ exalted on the throne of heaven and Christ’s triumphant return and rule over all His enemies (Acts 2:34–35). The preaching of Pentecost testified to the historical reality of Christ, but also the spiritual reality of the necessity of Christ’s coming. Christ is Lord and King of His church, the content and substance of her preaching, and the chief delight of her living members. Is He the sum and substance of your preaching, of your life?
Underneath all is the Holy Spirit, who made this preaching Spirit-saturated. In Acts 2:4 we read, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The speaking in tongues was a special gift for that particular time until the canon of Scripture was complete. There is one thing, however, that the Spirit still continues to do: He fills the preacher with Himself. If you are a preacher, are you a man filled with the Holy Spirit, coming away from communion with God, filled and ready to preach Christ? If you are not a preacher, are you praying that your pastor and his preaching would be Spirit-saturated?And as Peter preaches Christ, we need to keep in mind that the role of the Spirit in preaching is to lift up Christ (cf. John 16:13–14). The power of the Holy Spirit was clear in the effects of Peter’s preaching. “They were pricked in their heart” (Acts 2:37). This work of conviction, regeneration, and conversion can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit ( John 3:8; 16:8). Spirit-saturated preaching leads to Spirit-saturated people and living. Are you transformed by such preaching?
Finally, the preaching at Pentecost convicted sinners. Peter gave his preaching a sharp point in connecting the events in Jerusalem fifty days ago to the hearts and lives of the audience in front of him. “Him [Jesus], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain… whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:23, 32).
All of these characteristics ended in this: “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter’s answer is prescriptive, “Repent and be baptized…save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:38–40). Have you been changed by such preaching? How we need more of this preaching today!
Rev. Maarten Kuivenhoven is a pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a doctoral student at Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Article used by permission of the Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth publication.