Acts Series (3)

Acts 2 CSB

When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.” Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence. “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

When we hear the word Pentecost we often thank of acts chapter 2 and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost goes back to the Old Testament and was a Jewish holiday that took place after the Passover. Jewish tradition also taught that Pentecost marked the day when the Law was given to Israel. The Jews sometimes called Pentecost “the season of the giving of the law” but its most known is the first fruits, where they were celebrating the first fruits of the wheat harvest. As the Israelites celebrated Pentecost in the Old Testament they offered to God the first fruits of the wheat harvest but in the New Testament on the day of Pentecost, God offered to his church the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. by offering to God the first fruits of grain, the believer bore witness that whole field and crop belonged to God, whose continued blessing was requested through the sacrifice itself. Similarly, Christ places the spirit within the believer is a pledge that the whole person, body and soul, belongs to him. He will continue to care for that person. On the Old Testament Day of Pentecost Israel God received the first fruits from the wheat harvest on the New Testament Day of Pentecost the Church received the Spirit of God in fullness. Can you imagine how the disciples must have felt after Jesus ascends into heaven and tells them to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power from on high. They pray and as far as they knew it was gonna be later that afternoon that they received that gift but little did they know it was going to take 10 days. You can imagine they would have thought after it didn't come that same day the it would probably have come in three days and then after it didn't come in three days they probably thought well surely it'll come on the 7th day knowing how God is about numbers and then it didn't come on the 7th day and so they wait in obedience to God and they remain united in prayer until the 10th day when everything changes. God used this time to break them down and then to build them up. We can imagine how their patience and kindness and compassion was tested during this time, yet they all stayed together.

What this passage tells us about the gift of the Holy Spirit is;

· The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to us.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit is worth waiting for.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit comes as He wills, often not according to our expectation.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit can come upon not only individuals, but also upon groups.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit is often given as God deals with the flesh and there is a dying to self.

When I quit smoking the Holy Spirit would come on me so strongly story about dying out to self.

In the first chapter of acts I established that there was three things the we saw in the first chapter and would continue to see all throughout the rest of the book of acts and really the whole New Testament. Those three things was that

They remained obedient to God

They remained in prayer to God

They remained in fellowship together

and they were on a united front. They were all with one accord in one place: They were gathered together sharing the same heart, the same love for God, the same trust in His promise. This shows us that before we can be filled, we must recognize our emptiness; by gathering together for prayer, in obedience, these disciples did just that. They recognized they did not have the resources in themselves to do what they could do or should do; they had to instead rely on the work of God. Verse two tells us suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven and it filled the whole house where they were staying. The whole point is that, through the spirit, some of the creative power of God himself comes from heaven to earth and does its work there. The aim is not to give people a ‘spirituality’ which will make the things of earth irrelevant. The point is to transform earth with the power of heaven, starting with those parts of ‘earth’ which consist of the bodies, minds, hearts and lives of the followers of Jesus—as a community: notice that, in verse 1, Luke stresses the fact that they were all together in one place; the spirit comes, not to divide, but to unite. The references to “wind” and “fire” are significant. The word for “Spirit” is the word translated “wind” here. It also means breath. Both “spirit” and “wind” or “breath”—mean  “to blow, to breathe.” The sound like the blowing of a violent wind … from heaven points to the power of the Holy Spirit and the fullness of His coming. So Luke is telling us the God is breathing his spirit into the men and women who were in the upper room that day. The wind also stood for the power of God in a literal sense but also it is showing how powerful the spirit of God is within us. A hurricane a tornado is driven by wind and they are some of the most powerful forces on earth and church when the Holy Spirit of God is at work in each one of us and we're on fire for God we are powerful because of that spirit that lives in us.