Acts 2:1-13
Notes
Transcript
Holy Spirit Coming at Pentecost
Holy Spirit Coming at Pentecost
Good morning everyone.
I want to say thank you for praying for us this week as we were gone, we had a lovely trip, it was a good getaway and we enjoyed it so very much.
The warm weather, sunshine and beautiful seas…um-mm so beautiful.
Well, as you know our Upward season is underway and I need your help. I need people who could share 5 min, a simple bible story for the children and their families or simply a testimony of how you came to faith in Christ.
Would you be willing to do that?? It is a beautiful opportunity to have an impact on those around us. To share for Jesus, and bless others.
Please think of doing this for the glory of God.
Today we come back to the book of Acts, and we are going to pass over the choosing of Matthias at the end of chapter 1. The 11 choose him but he will not be an apostle, He is a servant, a lay leader if you will and we know this because God will choose Paul as the 12th and last Apostle in Acts 9.
But coming to Acts chapter 2 we have the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world at Pentecost and I want share this with you my friends. So lets open our text this morning and lets look at the first 13 verses.
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
So lets set a little back ground here.
We left off last week with Jesus ascending back into heaven. But before going he told them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the promised comforter… and so they did...
Remember after the resurrection, Jesus was here 40 days. He taught, encouraged and gave instructions for his disciples and others to follow.
And so they waited together and prayed together waiting for the Holy Spirit’s entrance in the world.
And we know how long they waited after Jesus ascension, they waited 10 days, so it has been 50 days since the resurrection.
And while waiting, the Holy Spirit showed up and they were filled and empowered…
So lets consider this first thought ....
1. They were Together...
I start with this thought today and you might think today, they were together, what is really significant about this, the wording itself only occupy’s one verse.
The truth is this, if God chose to have it recorded in His Word, then I would hold to the assumption that it is very important.
So what we do see from this passage.... Act 2:1
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
A. We know when this event took place, it took place just 50 days after the resurrection of our Lord.
The disciples have gone from feeling all is well to witnessing Jesus being arrested and crucified. They witness His burial and they witnessed his resurrection.
He appeared before them the evening of the resurrection in the upper room and then a few days later Jesus appeared to them again in the upper room so that Thomas could see and believe.
And over the course of the 40 days from this resurrection to His accession back to heaven we know that he appeared to more than 500 people
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
So we know that many saw Him, witnessed that He was alive and well, even bearing the scars of His crucifixion.
And remember last week, He told them to wait for the coming of the promised helper, wait in Jerusalem until He comes to you… then Jesus returned to the Father..
So 10 days have passed,,, it is 50 days since the resurrection, it is Pentecost, the Feast of First Fruits, this was the time of the year and many were in Jerusalem to celebrate and sacrifice to the Lord.
B. So not only when, but where the Holy Spirit’s coming happened.... The disciples, but I am sure there were many more who were in the upper room with them, many believers were meeting together, Mary the mother of Jesus, James his brother, perhaps Mary and Martha and Lazarus may have been there with the disciples of Jesus.
And where is this crowd , from everything we know from church History, we know they were it city of Jerusalem, in the upper room. And remember this would be the home of John Mark, that young disciple who will later be used of God to record the writing of the Gospel of Mark
This was part of his families home, this large hall that is called as the upper room is where the disciples and these other followers were gathered..
They are together not only waiting on the promised Holy Spirit, but mostly likely out of fear were together trying to stay out of the way of the religious leaders who have been attacking them
C. The last thing I want you to see is this, they were obedient.
The disciples and the others who followed Jesus are in the upper room waiting for the promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit to enter the world.
Jesus told them to wait and they are doing just what, they are waiting and praying for the one whom Jesus promised
That is important, I heard a guy the other day, someone asked this gentleman what was the secret to life, He said “Obey the Almighty, always ..Period.”
I thought to myself Yes, what if we did just that, what if we did just what Jesus told us to..
Obedience is better than Sacrifice my friends...
So, How obedient are you? 100%, 90%, Less ....... I don’t need to know, God already does...
So let move to our second thought for today...
2. The Holy Spirit Entrance....
That day as they were waiting, just as Jesus told them too. One of the most marvelous events the world has ever witnessed took place.
Let look at the text again...
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
So imagine the scene with me.... Just here at Pentecost, the Feast of First Fruits” from their fore fathers first harvest in the promised land. The first great celebration from the Passover, God is getting ready to send the “First fruits of Salvation” to those who believed and followed Jesus there.
And it is right here that we find 3 statements that we need to pay attention to my friends...
As these early believers and the disciples where in the upper room, suddenly there was this....
A. Sound came from Heaven: The sound of from heaven was like that of a violent blowing wind. Can you imagine that sound my friends?
I remember more than 20 years ago we were having supper one evening and suddenly as a storm was happening the tornado sirens went off, we all gathered in this little space in the hallway were it was safe, I will never forget the sound of the wind as the tornado passed by a few blocks away .... it was deafening were we lived, I would not imagine if we were right there. Without a doubt, we knew the wind was blowing…
There in the house as they were there praying together, waiting for the promise of God, the wind blew..
They knew something was happening in their midst...
B. It filled the House: That wind came from heaven, but it filled the house, the upper room .... The presence of that wind was so thick, so strong,.
The wind could be not only heard but felt, sensed in every corner and every spot, they knew this wasn’t some ordinary wind, this was a godly force in their midst as God’s Holy Spirit made His entrance into the world.
But not only did the wind fill the house, it filled the people there… The first time the Holy Spirit came as the mark, the outward sign of their salvation.
C. Tongues appeared: As the believers where there in the upper room, waiting, praying and expecting something from the Father above ....as that mighty rushing wind enters the home, before you know it those in the room experienced the fire of God upon their lives.
The Scriptures tell us that tongues, literally flames of fire, as they flames lick in the air, they were seen above the heads of each person but no one is burned. No one is hurt.
But each person is filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
It is here at Pentecost, were we find God’s Holy Spirit entering the world and conducting the ministry God has planned for him in the world.
Now as we have seen the place where this began and the supernatural event as God’s Holy Spirit entered the world, now we come to my last thought for today...
3. The Holy Spirits Work...
Now at this moment we know something wonderfully strange happened, those dear believers in the upper room found that the Holy Spirit was resting like flames of fire upon the heads of each person.
The description is like tongues of fire, licking up in the air as a flame does in a fireplace.
Now, look back at our text....
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
The passage tells us some wonderful things taking place that day....
First, The Holy Spirit entered every person, we have already talked about that a little but the idea is simple. The Holy Spirit indwelled or filled each person.
And Secondly, with the Holy Spirit having taken up residence in each person’s life, we see that the miraculous work of God begins to take place immediately. Verse 4 tells us that each person began to speak in other tongues.
Now what does that mean, people have a lot of ideas on tongues but here is what is taking place… They spoke in the languages of other nations.
The Holy Spirit filled each person and gave each person the ability to speak in the language of another nationality present in the world.
C. Every Person heard in their native Tongue.... here is where it is special, as the Holy Spirit filled each of those upper room believers were able to speak in another language.
Here is what we know about the speaking of tongues in this passage.
Look at verses 5-8 again
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
So Jewish men from other nations were there and suddenly they began to hear their native tongues being spoken and as the church came out to them, well these people were astonished.
The question they asked was this… are these just Galileans? It is kind of like, “...aren’t those speaking just dumb county hill people?....”
They were astonished at what was taking place… And what is taking place, well my friends, God is doing a miracle for the world to hear Peter preach which we are gonna talk about next week..
The miracle is always to authenticate the message of God. God is at work, the Holy Spirit came into the world and as we say … God was on the move to take the gospel to the world, and that is what is happening my friends, the Gospel is going to the world...
Friends, God is always working and always moving...
Still to this day God is at work, in the lost world but also in our lives.
What is he doing in your life, how is he leading in your life?
If you hear God speaking in your life will you say yes to Him today?
Pray....