A Crowd Is Formed
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Introduction:
Every Sunday we go back in history
This is our history.
How did the Church begin? Well, It began on Pentecost. Well what in the world does that MEAN???
proved his diety
preached his kingdom
promised his spirit
Pentecost:
Greek word that means “the 50th part / sequence of something”
To the Jews it was the name of one f their feasts. (50 days after Passover)
The OT gave it several names:
Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23)
Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34)
Day of First-fruits (Numbers 28)
Purpose?
Commemorates the first fruits of the wheat harvest…
Commemorates the giving of the Mosaic law… (B/c the law was given about 50 days after the Exodus)
The timing of the this is critical! The Spirit was given on Pentecost… and has fulfilled these PICTURES from the OT.
Leviticus 23 … You need to read. Where you learn about the feasts of the Lord given for Israel to celebrate. And really, these feasts are just PICTURES of the work of Christ!
1. Passover… It is a picture of the death of Christ
He was the perfect Passover lamb, the one true sacrifice for sin
Thats why 1 Corinthians 5:7 “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”
The next day…
2. First-fruits… It symbolized the harvest to come, and is a picture of Christ’s resurrection which came immediately after His death
1 Corinthians 15:20 “20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”
50 days later came the 3rd feast
3. Pentecost… It celebrates the wheat harvest
They did this by offering 2 loaves baked with leaven.
The crop isn’t finished by this time of year but it’s anticipated and celebrated at this time.
So whats the connection… Pentecost to Jesus.,
Pentecost, in Acts 2, is when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee / down payment / engagement ring of our future complete inheritance, and is another “kind” of first-fruits.
Ephesians 1:13–14 “13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
And so the Church is born… and is a kind of first-fruits of the full harvest of all the redeemed
In relation to out topic, Jesus promised 2 great events:
The Church
Matthew 16:18 “18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The Holy Spirit
John 14:16–17 “16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
In chapter 2:
1-4: The evidence of the Spirit’s coming
5-11: The explanation of the Spirit’s coming
12-13: The effect of the Spirit’s coming
Acts 2:5 (NASB95)
5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
“Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem… ”
Some interpret as pilgrims, others as residents.
Most likely a combination of both those visiting Jerusalem and those dwelling there.
“… devout men… ”
The feast of Pentecost is one of the 3 feasts that are required for Jewish males to attend every year… so in that alone, we can see these men are devout.
Devout, in the English, means: deeply religious, showing deep religious feeling or commitment, totally committed to a cause
But the tragedy is that many of these religious / devout men were trapped under the law, seeking righteousness.
Being devout saves no one. Only being a disciple of Christ saves.
Examples of devout men:
Simeon… “This man was righteous and devout, seeking the consolation of Israel” Luke 2:25.
Cornelius… “He was a devout man and feared God with all his household” Acts 10:2.
Ananias… “A man who was devout by the standard of the law” Acts 22:12.
These are people who handle spiritual matters carefully.. they are god-fearing, reverant.
Alexander: “Its introduction here is not unmeaning, as it shows that the effusion of the Holy Ghost was attested by the most competent and trustworthy witnesses, Jews of the most serious and perhaps most bigoted character, who at the same time represented every nation under heaven.”
“… from every nation under heaven”
Not the entire world, but the Jewish dispersion throughout the civilized world.
The gospel was always to come to the Jews first.
Matthew 10:5–6 “5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The Jews, who knew God, would be the first to embrace their Messiah
Reversal of what took place in Genesis 11 when God confused the language of men at Babel.
Scattering / Uniting
Confusion / Comprehension
One, an Act of Rebellion / Act of Submission
For the praise of men / For the praise of God
And it’s on this occasion that we’ll see 3 things in the text.
Gathering of the crowd
Composition of the crowd
Response of the Crowd
The GATHERING of the Crowd (Acts 2:6-8)
The GATHERING of the Crowd (Acts 2:6-8)
Acts 2:6 (NASB95)
6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
“And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together…”
Why do crowds gather today?
football games, concert, worship services...
We gather in ANTICIPATION… we gather to SEE whats happening.
Here the Jews are gathered in Jerusalem for the feast, but now they hear something.
It’s more likely that the “sound” here is the sound of the violent rushing wind… and when the Jews came together they were THEN bewildered by the words that were spoken in their language.
God drew them with a supernatural sound, then bewildered them with more sounds from Spirit-filled men!
I think within this we can find application for ourself.
Does God have your attention?
He uses a variety of sounds, so to speak, to draw you in:
trials / difficulties / hardships / men / women / preachers / evangelists
“… And were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.”
Bewildered: a verb which means to be confused or perplexed, unable to think clearly.
Language = Dialect.
Phrygians and Pamphylians spoke Greek
Parthians, Medes, Elamites all spoke Persian
Acts 2:7 (NASB95)
7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
“They were amazed and astonished…”
“Amazed”
Overused today.. highlighters for my Bible
But in the BIBLE:
It’s the same word used to describe those who saw the lame man walk in Acts 3.
It’s the same word used to describe those who saw Jesus cast out an unclean spirit in Mark 1.
It’s the same word used to describe those who saw Jesus heal the paralytic in Mark 2.
It means: to put out of position, to move or to change.
So when you walk into a gas station… meh
But when you walk into Buccees… okay this is something!
“Astonished” just means: surprised, to wonder or marvel
“… saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?”
Galileans were considered to be unintelligent by most Jewish standards.
And today we think the same thing about Northerners!
No accent, no outdoors skills, have to order food in on thanksgiving.
I’m kidding! But the reason I use that illustration is, Galilee was North of Jerusalem, and was in many ways a land of the Gentiles.
They speak different, act a little different, and to see them proclaiming the Word of God in various languages and dialects? Now thats something to behold!
Acts 2:8 (NASB95)
8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
So this is a VERY SPECIFIC dialect…
God’s revelation, His word, is not bound to one particular language.
We don’t have to know Koine Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic or latin.
God’s Word is made available to us no MATTER our dialect… it is for the whole world.
“The gathering of the crowd”
May we all gather at the feet of the cross!
The COMPOSITION of the Crowd (Acts 2:9-11)
The COMPOSITION of the Crowd (Acts 2:9-11)
Acts 2:9–11 (NASB95)
9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, [those won over from paganism by Jewish missionary efforts]
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
“The composition of the crowd”
What’s fascinating about this list, is that it’s all-inclusive
mainland / islands / desert / plains
Devout Jews had made their treck from hundreds of miles away!
In every passage of scripture that you read, the FIRST question you have to ask yourself is… what does this tell me about God?
In this case… we have the Jews assembled, on unique Pentecost day. And with that it mind I think it’s clear to see:
GOD… desired His TRUTH to be spread to all nations.
Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… ”
That’s WHY there’s a composition of Jews mentioned here!
“… We hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
15 regions listed
“Mighty”
Psalm 71:19 “19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done mighty things; O God, who is like You?”
Mighty deeds:
created the universe… gave us His Law… spared His people… sent His Son… who died by OUR hands… and redeemed the souls of those who follow Him!
The GREATNESS of God!
How GREAT thou art!
Its the greatness of God that awakens the lowly Christian
1 Timothy 1:17 “17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Our great LIGHT / SHEPHERD / PHYSICIAN / PROPHET / HIGH PRIEST / KING / GOD / HOPE
Psalm 145:3 “3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.”
Revelation 15:3–4 “3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.””
The RESPONSE of the Crowd (Acts 2:12-13)
The RESPONSE of the Crowd (Acts 2:12-13)
Acts 2:12–13 (NASB95)
12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
““What does this mean?”
You may remember this question from the philosophers in Athens when they told Paul in:
Acts 17:20 “20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.””
There were many of these devout Jews that were sincerely seeking the truth.
Their primary reaction was: “What’s going on?!” … they were perplexed, couldn’t comprehend what was taking place.
Soon they’d get their answer.
God is described as: Ephesians 3:20 “… He who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”
But others wouldn’t accept what was taking place.
“But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
You may remember the words of Paul when he wrote:
Ephesians 5:18 “18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” … It’s companion verse bing:
Colossians 3:16 “16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…”
When a man becomes drunk, they lose control… when a man is filled with the Spirit… he becomes self-controlled. Theres a contrast there.
They were mocking.
Its what the Pharisees did all through the ministry of Christ!
When Jesus preform signs and wonders which they SAW… they said:
Surely this isn’t the Christ
He casts out demons in the name of Beelzebub
He contradicts the law.
There are those who mock today, do they not? To the extent that a MIRACLE from HEAVEN wouldn’t budge their hearts from the hog-pin of evil they lavish in.
Acts (The Response of the Crowd (2:11b–13))
If the element of faith is lacking in a person, even the most profound miracle, will lead one to rejection
“They are full of sweet wine”
Some thought they were drunk. They weren't filled with alcohol, no, but they were filled with the Spirit of God
They turn a supernatural event into a natural explanation… as do skeptics of the Bible today.
“Surely that COULDN’T happen!”
One day every knee must bow and tongue confess.
May the Spirit draw me to my knees in adoration and in love for Him.
As we come to an end, WHY did Luke expound on the events of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13?
It’s when the Church began.
It’s when the Church was empowered for it’s mission.
Everything in chapter 1 was in preparation for this moment,
The coming of the Spirit
The witness of the Jews
The proclamation of the gospel
The spread of the truth
3.
Just as Pentecost was the festival of the firstfruits, Luke wants us to see, these are the “firstfruits” of the harvest in the Spirit
4.
It inaugurated the final period in God’s plan of salvation. He acted decisively and definitely in Jesus Christ to create a people for his own.
What a great and mighty God we serve today.