Pentecost
Acts 2:1-47
The Book of is a BOOK OF ACTS.
It is a book that records the actions of Jesus through the Christians of the first century in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost is a term derived from the Greek pentekostos, meaning fiftieth, which was applied to the fiftieth day after the passover. It was the culmination of the feast of weeks for the Jews.
In the church Pentecost is the anniversary of the coming of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended, he instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they should receive power from on high.
As a group of 120 were praying in an upper room in Jerusalem... fifty days after the death of Christ, the Holy Spirit descended upon them. This tremendous manifestation of divine power marked the beginning of the church, which has ever since regarded Pentecost as its birthday.
No part of God’s Word has received more prominence in the present-day excitement over the gifts of the Spirit nor has been so grossly misunderstood than the second chapter of Acts. In fact, a correct understanding of this pivotal passage is basic to any serious study of the charismatic gifts. Error and inaccuracy here are bound to be reflected in faulty doctrine and unsound interpretations elsewhere in dealing with relevant Scripture passages.
The paramount questions, therefore, to all who honor the Word and place it above experience are:
1) What is the significance of Acts 2?
2) What precisely does Pentecost mean?
3) What bearing does it have on today’s modern movements?
4) Does Pentecost teach a crisis experience of power subsequent to salvation?
5) Does speaking in tongues have anything to do with enjoying such an experience?"
*Careful scrutiny of God’s Word is necessary to answer these and similar questions highlighted in our day.
That brings us to our text for today.
TEXT: Acts 2:1-13, read all.
NOTE: (PP - 3)
I. THE POWER - VV. 1-13.
In future messages we will study:
II. THE PROPHECY - VV. 14-21.
III. THE PREACHING - VV. 22-36.
IV. THE PEOPLE - VV. 37-42.
V. THE PRODUCT - 43-47.
In Acts 1:8 we have the Promise of Power.
The Promise – "You shall receive power"
The Plan – "You will be my witnesses"
The Place – "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost"
In Acts 1:12 and 1:14, we find the Prerequisite of Power (Read).
1) Obedience – stayed in Jerusalem, waited.
2) One Mind – Unity.
3) Devoted to Prayer – Sanctification.
So, obedience, unity and prayerfulness result in God’s blessing
in fulfilling His promise of power.
Does any of this make any sense to us today?
Can we believe this for our church, for our time?
We must:
1. Recognize that Bible truth is always relevant to the present situation.
2. Acknowledge that Biblical principles can be drawn from the pages of Scripture to guide our lives today.
3. Decide to believe and obey the truths presented and allow them to change the way we live.
4. Discipline ourselves to the reality that if there is no continuing growth in our spiritual life and expanding integration of Biblical truth in the way we live... we are not right with God.
I. THE POWER - VV. 1-13.
If we want power to face the challenges of today,
we must be: (V. 1)
1. "All together" - one accord, one mind, *Acts 1:14.
2. "One place" - on the same page, in the same place.
Same direction, same goals, same mind set, same mission, same vision. (Our Vision, Our Goals have been clearly explained in the Tri-Fold printed the first year I came as Pastor and explained before I was ever called as Pastor.)
Illustration:
How many have ever been in the military? (Hands)
How many are familiar with what is called "boot camp" even if you were not in the military? (Hands)
Do you know what one of the main objectives of "boot camp" is?
To get everyone on the same page. To train the soldiers to walk in sync. To teach the new recruit what is really important in the military.
Why?
So they will all be on the same page, so they will all be headed in the same direction, so they can have the maximum effectiveness in battle.
Friends, for us to be most effective in the spiritual warfare we are faced with every day, we must all be on the same page, headed in the same direction. We must have one mind, unity in our diversity.
3. We must be developing a heavenly mindset. We must all be seeking the same Biblical mindset and spirituality. We must seek the mind of Christ - Phil. 2:5, Col. 3:1-3, Rom. 12:2.
The Devil’s tactic is to divide and conquer. United we stand… divided we fall. We need to stand together in the battle for the Lord.
4. Our goal should continually and openly be... to be like Jesus.
PRINCIPLE for Life Today:
Unite in a Christian sub-culture and support group so you can combat the forces of evil that surround you. Unite in mind and in spirit through the local church.
It is in the Christian community that we can find strength and help to face the problems we encounter.
It is in the safe harbor of Biblical values that we can be assured of God's blessing in the midst of the storm.
*The people in Acts faced a world of opposition:
1. The Jewish religious system.
2. The Roman government.
3. The cultural bias of the time - Jew had no relation with Gentiles, especially in religion. Now Gentiles were coming to the God of Israel.
4. Note... they found their strength in the company of those who believed.
APPLICATION
Are you united in mind and spirit with this local body of believers?
Are you contributing to the support of others as they face the evil around them? (How? – Answers)
Are you discouraged as you face your problems all alone?
Unite with us to face your difficulties and challenges.
B. The Spirit entered with such power He came with noise, wind, and fire. He "filled" all who were there. They spoke in other languages. (VV. 2-4)
1. To be filled means:
a. Diffused throughout their souls.
b. Permeated completely.
c. Soaked through and through.
Question:
Have you ever been filled with the Holy Spirit?
2. The Evidences of the Holy Spirit’s Coming In Acts 2.
a. Wind.
1) A sound as of a rushing mighty wind was the first evidence of the Spirit’s coming.
2) It came suddenly so that it could not be attributed to any natural cause, and it came from heaven, which probably refers both to the impression given of its origin and also to its actual supernatural origin.
3) It was not actually wind but rather a roar or reverberation, for verse two should be literally translated "an echoing sound as of a mighty wind borne violently."
4) It filled all the house which means that all of the 120 would have experienced the sensation since so many people would of necessity have been scattered throughout the house.
5) This was a fitting evidence of the Spirit’s coming, for the Lord had used this very symbol when He spoke of the things of the Spirit to Nicodemus (John 3:8).
b. Fire.
1) The audible sign, wind, was followed by a visible one, fire.
2) Actually the tongues which, looked like fire divided themselves over the company, a tongue settling upon the head of each one.
3) This, too, was an appropriate sign for the presence of the Holy Spirit, for fire had long been to the Jews a symbol of the divine presence (Exod 3:2; Deut 5:4).
4) The form of the original text makes one doubt the presence of material fire though the appearance of the tongues was clearly as if they had been composed of fire.
c. Languages.
1) Finally, each began to speak in a real language which was new to the speaker but which was understood by those from the various lands who were familiar with them.
2) This was the third piece of evidence.
3) These tongues were evidently real languages (vv. 6–8 ) which were spoken, and the imperfect tense, "was giving" (v. 4 ), indicates that they were spoken in turn, one after another.
2. The Effects of The Holy Spirit’s Coming in Acts 2.
a. Baptism.
1) The most important effect of the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost was the placing of men and women into the body of Christ by His baptism.
2) Our Lord spoke of this baptizing work of the Holy Spirit just before His ascension (Acts 1:5), and it is clear from His words that this was a ministry of the Spirit thus far unknown [even to those to whom He had said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22)].
3) If the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not something new to men until the day of Pentecost, then the Lord’s words in Acts 1:5—and especially the future tense of the verb "ye shall be baptized"—mean nothing.
4) Although it is not specifically recorded in Acts 2 that the baptism of the Spirit occurred on the day of Pentecost, it is recorded in Acts 11:15–16 that this happened then, and Peter states there that what happened at Pentecost was the fulfillment of the promise of Acts 1:5.
5) However, it is Paul who explains what this baptism (not to be confused with what is meant in Acts 2:38) accomplishes when he writes, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor 12:13).
6) In other words, on the day of Pentecost men were first placed into the body of Christ and that being accomplished by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
7) Thus, since the church is the body of Christ (Col 1:18), the church could not have begun until Pentecost.
Effects of the Holy Spirit’s coming:
b. Bewilderment.
1) Certain visible effects of the Spirit’s coming were evident in the crowd which gathered as a result of the phenomena connected with His coming.
2) At first the people (including Eastern or Babylonian Jews, Syrian Jews, Egyptian Jews, Roman Jews, Cretes and Arabians) were amazed.
3) Literally the text says that they stood out of themselves with wide-open astonishment (v. 7 ).
4) This is a mental reaction showing that their minds were arrested, confused, flabbergasted by what they observed.
5) Next they were perplexed (v. 12 ). This is a strong compound word from an adjective which means impassable and hence the word comes to mean to be wholly and utterly at a loss.
6) The amazement meant that they did not know. The perplexity meant that they knew they did not know.
7) Not knowing is always a blow to man’s pride; consequently this crowd, driven to find an answer to what they had seen and heard, replaced their ignorance with criticism (v. 13 ).
8) These are merely normal reactions of Satanically-blinded minds to which the things of God are foolishness (2 Cor 4:4; 1 Cor 2:14) and should not surprise us if they occur today.
9) The offense of the cross has not ceased.
Illustration
A "candid camera" television program portrayed a scene in which a motor had been removed from a car. The car was towed to the top of a hill and allowed to coast down the hill and into a service station with a lady from the program steering it.
When the attendant went to check the oil you can imagine his amazement at making the "missing motor" discovery. With disbelief and frustration he exclaimed, "Lady, you have no motor!"
This is the same the amazement, the same perplexity of the crowd in Acts 2.
Application to Christians:
It is just as foolish for us to think of ministering without God’s power as to try to drive a car without a motor. The Lord was teaching the disciples their helplessness apart from the Holy Spirit. For us to try to function for the Lord without the motor of the Holy Spirit is ridiculous. We may coast down a hill but when we must climb the mountain, we will be without power.
C. Read Acts 2:4.
1. The filling with the Holy Spirit is separate from the baptism of the Spirit.
2. The Spirit’s baptism occurs once for each believer at the moment of salvation (cf. 11:15-16; Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 2:12), but the Spirit’s filling may occur not only at salvation but also on a number of occasions after salvation (Acts 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9, 52).
3. An evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was other tongues (heterais gloµssais; cf. 11:15-16).
a. These were undoubtedly spoken living languages; the word used in 2:6, 8 is dialektoµ, which means "language" and not ecstatic utterance.
b. This gives insight into what is meant by "tongues" in chapters 2; 10; 19; and in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
4. This event marked the beginning of the church.
a. Up to this point the church was anticipated (Matt. 16:18).
b. The church is constituted a body by means of Spirit baptism (1 Cor. 12:13).
c. The first occurrence of the baptism of the Spirit therefore must indicate the inauguration of the church.
d. Again, Acts 2:1-4 does not state that Spirit baptism took place at Pentecost. However, 1:5 anticipates it and 11:15-16 refers back to it as having occurred at Pentecost. The church, therefore, came into existence then.
D. Pentecost signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit from heaven to take up His residence upon the earth in the newly formed church.
1. Although He was and is omnipresent as God, and present among men in all ages, so definitely was the new age to be characterized by the Spirit’s intimate presence, that our Lord in the Upper Room Discourse (John chapters 13–16 ) just before His death, declared that the Father would send the Spirit from heaven and that He would arrive upon the earth to take up His residence in the new people of God on the earth.
2. Jesus said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide (menei, keep on remaining) with you for ever (eis ton aio„na, throughout the age)" (John 14:16, italics added).
3. Jesus continued, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient (fit, proper) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come (has arrived), he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:7–8, italics added). "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come (elthe„, has arrived) he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13, italics added).
4. These prophecies of our Lord unquestionably had Pentecost in view and were fulfilled in the events of that great day.
a. In light of this it is irrational for a regenerated believer to expect Him to enter into him, when the Spirit of God already permanently indwells his redeemed body (1 Cor 6:19; Rom 8:9) and is promised never to leave him (John 14:16–18).
b. Since the Spirit was given and received at the beginning of the church to inaugurate it and the blessings of the gift were poured out upon God’s new people then, we do not have to ask for the gift as if He had never been given or to attempt to receive Him when He has already been received for many centuries, and His benefits have been made available to every Christian since His original bestowal in Acts 2.
D. We are exhorted over and over in the epistles to "walk in the Spirit", "to be filled with the Holy Spirit", to yield to the control of the Holy Spirit.
This is the FRESH POWER THAT THE CHURCH NEEDS TODAY!
"Power" represents chiefly the Greek words dynamis and exousia.
1. Exousia means derived or conferred ‘authority’, the warrant or right to do something (Mt. 21:23-27).
2. Dynamis is ability (2 Cor. 8:3) or strength (Eph. 3:16), or it may mean a powerful act (Acts 2:22) or a powerful spirit (Rom. 8:38).
3. Christ had all authority given him by his Father (Mt. 28:18) and he used it to forgive sins (Mt. 9:6) and to cast out evil spirits (Mt. 10:1). He gave authority to his disciples to become sons of God (Jn. 1:12) and to share in his work (Mk. 3:15). Jesus came to his ministry in the power (dynamis) of the Spirit (Lk. 4:14), and his power was operative in healing miracles (Lk. 5:17) and he did many mighty works (Mt. 11:20).
4. In the Acts we see the power of the Spirit operative in the life of the church (4:7, 33; 6:8; cf. 10:38).
5. Paul looks back to the resurrection as the chief evidence of God’s power (Rom. 1:4; Eph. 1:19-20; Phil. 3:10) and sees the gospel as the means by which that power comes to work in men’s lives (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18). (*Authority.)
Take note of the power and authority that is ours in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 1:18-23
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
E. What happened in Acts 2 was a miracle of the power of God.
(VV. 8-13)
1. They spoke of "the mighty deeds of God" - (V. 11).
2. They were witnessing - (Acts 1:8).
3. The "multitude" began to question - (V. 12).
*The purpose of the power given in the Person of the Holy Spirit is that people be brought to God in salvation, sanctification and worship.
Some have avoided the name charismatic but, "charismatic" simply means to respond to the presence of the Holy Spirit. It means to receive and to try to express the Holy Spirit’s message in the present age. In this since, we all need to be "charismatic".
4. Some mocked them. (V. 13)
PRINCIPLE for Life Today:
Speak of the mighty deeds of God. Praise Him openly for His goodness and His grace to you.
a. The Holy Spirit wants to use us to transform men, to teach others and to build His church. But so often self gets in the way.
b. The power of the Spirit is present in the life of every Christian but often He finds our lives clogged with all manner of fleshly desires so that a full flow of His power is impossible. Drastic action is in order to allow Him free course. We should never be satisfied in our ministries to operate as "mere men."
c. We can invent new church structures, learn modern techniques, and originate challenging programs, but these in themselves are not enough.
d. These may win people to our organizations, but not to the living Christ.
e. We need men and women abandoned to God, contagiously radiant because in their inner lives a conversation goes on with Him who is Lord.
f. We need people who fill one’s soul with a free, spontaneous worship. In their presence your spirit has wings; you sense the very presence of God.
Do we not have more to praise God for than these first century Christians? YES... then let us praise Him.
Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and used of Him to win people to Christ.
*PLAN OF SALVATION*
People need to see a difference in our lives so they will come to Christ.
APPLICATION for the Christian:
Do people see the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Do people marvel at what God is doing in us?
Are people being saved because of the power of God in us?
END