Acts #2

The Spirit Comes to Stay

Thank you guys, and thank you Kristi & Eloise for that wonderful music, but before we continue in our studies of the book of Acts tonight, please if you would:

“Join me in a word of prayer.”

Tonight will be our 3rd lesson studying the Book of Acts. We first had a brief intro into the book, and last week we covered Jesus’ ascension back to Heaven and the disciples choosing Mathias to replace Judas as one of the 12. Tonight we’re going to discuss the Holy Spirit coming on the “Day of Pentecost”, and Peter’s first sermon to the crowd of Jewish onlookers after the arrival of the promised and prophesied Holy Spirit.

We’ll start of by reading the first 13 verses of chapter 2.

( Read text)

Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus had tried to tell His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to replace Him as their guide after His departure back to Heaven, in chapters 14 and 16 of the gospel of John. After His resurrection, just prior to His ascension back to heaven, He instructed the apostles to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. He hadn’t set any kind of time frame, but their wait was only ten days. The coming of the Holy Spirit was a miraculous event. It transformed the lives of the 12 apostles and initiated the establishment of the early Hebrew church, and eventually the church as we know it today. “The Body of Christ”.

The annual Jewish celebration of Pentecost was significant in both an agricultural and a historical sense. It was originally known as either the Feast of the Harvest or the Feast of Weeks, either one, and was the middle of three annual Jewish harvest festivals. Pentecost means “fiftieth,” and relates to the fact that the event was held fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover week as stated in Leviticus chapter 23. During the years prior to the birth of Christ, Pentecost also came to be celebrated as the anniversary of God giving Moses the Jewish Law at Mount Sinai, because that event was thought to have taken place fifty days after Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.

It’s no coincidence, that God’s promise of His “New Covenant” with Israel was offered on the day of Pentecost. He had promised according to prophesy to send His Spirit as stated in Ezekiel 36:27 (“27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”) and He also promised to put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts according to Jeremiah 31:33 (“33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”). But as we all should know, but sadly most Christians don’t, the promise of the “New Covenant” is yet to be fulfilled. Unlike what most churches and preachers teach, the “New Covenant will not be fulfilled until Christ’s 2nd coming when the nation of Israel will finally accept Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. Christians today are not part of the “New Covenant”. Christians today are part of the “New Creature”, “The Body of Christ”. God specifically made the “New Covenant” with the nation of Israel as stated in the verse we just read from Jeremiah 31:33 (“33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:) It doesn’t say a word about gentiles. You dear friends are not Israel. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that the Church today replaces Israel as God’s chosen people, even though Israel has temporarily fallen. The apostle Paul clearly states in Romans chapter 11 that Israel will return to prominence during Christ’s millennial reign, with the 12 disciples judging the 12 tribes of Israel as in Luke 22:29–30 (“29 And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”).

Sorry I got sidetracked there, but getting back to our text in Acts 2. While all the Jewish people were ready to celebrate the harvest, on the Day of Pentecost and the 12 apostles were all together in one house, suddenly a great sound like the rushing of a mighty wind filled the room where they were together. There was no mistake that something supernatural was going on. Then something like, what Luke describes as tongues of fire, came to rest on each one of them, and they were all filled with the “Holy Spirit”. This was not literal fire as some teach it, but something like tongues of fire as Luke put’s it. And each one began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them power. Languages that could be understood by the listeners, by the way. The bible says there were multitudes of Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost from all over the then known world and that there was a huge crowd of them around the house were the disciples were speaking in the different languages. The crowd was amazed because they could each hear the wonderful news about Jesus in their own native language. This was clearly a divine miracle performed by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The crowd was totally amazed that the men speaking were a group of uncultured and unschooled Galileans mainly fisherman. I’ve heard it taught by some that the miracle was, that the onlookers heard the news in there on language. Have you guys ever heard that? Well I’m telling you right now my friends that was not the miracle. The Holy Spirit had filled the 12 apostles not the surrounding crowd.

Luke’s list of the Jews represented in Jerusalem during Pentecost included fifteen different groups that were named, geographically from the east to the west in verses 5–11. The fact that they all heard the news that the kingdom was at hand clearly explained in their own language represented the universal message that was sent from God to the whole nation of Israel.

Reactions to this amazing miracle were mixed however. Many people were amazed and perplexed. After all, these were the same men who had been too afraid to admit even knowing Jesus during His trial and crucifixion. Yet here they were boldly proclaiming the wonderful things God had done. After receiving such new supernatural power, the apostles would never be the same. Yet, a lot of people in the crowd weren’t so impressed with the apostles and looked for other explanations as to what was going on, such as them having to much wine at 9 o’clock in the morning.

Peter, after a while finally stands up to address the crowd, and we will read together what he had to say in verses 14 thru 41. (Read the text)

Peter made it clear that what the crowd had witnessed was not the result of having too much wine to drink, especially not at 9 o’clock in the morning. Peter then used three passages from the scriptures to explain what was going on.

The first was from Joel chapter 2 as Peter quotes in verses 16 thru 21. (“16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth below: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’). If Peter would have known that God was going to put a 2000 plus year break in His prophetic program with Israel, he would’ve stopped the quote of Joel at the end of verse 18. Because verses 19 thru 21 still haven’t taken place some 2000 years later, while verses 17 and 18 were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Peter had no idea of the dispensation of grace that Jesus was going to reveal to the apostle Paul in which we currently live in today.

Peter’s boldness however on this occasion is striking. He had already stood and raised his voice to address the large crowd in verse 14, but while it was one thing to quote scripture, Peter’s additional remarks held his Jewish listeners accountable for their actions. He told them that Jesus, sent from God, may have been crucified by the Romans, but it was the Jews that handed Him over to them, and they were the ones responsible for His death.

But if the truth were to be known, it was the sin of each and every individual that has ever lived that was responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. Sin had to be paid for.

The second passage Peter quoted is from Psalm 16 in verses 25–28 (“25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’”). Although this poem was written a thousand years before Christ and contains statements that apply literally to David, one portion could not possibly have referred to him. In Peter’s speech, he pointed out that David’s tomb was there in their midst in verse 29 so David’s body had certainly seen decay. Jesus was therefore the Holy One referred to in the Psalm, who had overcome death and been prophesied about long ago.

Peter’s third old testament passage he quoted in verses 34 and 35 was from another Psalm of David, Psalm 110:1 (“1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”) David is saying that God invited another person, someone greater than himself, to sit at His right hand in Heaven. Peter again clarifies that this significant individual is none other than Jesus.

Someone might wonder how Peter is all of a sudden such an expert in spiritual insight and theological knowledge, being able to realize that Jesus was the fulfillment of so many Old Testament prophecies. But I’m here to tell you, that the reason is, that Peter was filled with the supernatural, limitless power of the Holy Spirit. Unlike today with the Spirit assisting us in understanding scripture, discerning right doctrine, recognizing the attacks of satan, over coming sin, and giving us the assurance of salvation, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts was very different. The Holy Spirit empowered the apostles with supernatural powers beyond anything that’s ever been seen since. The power to heal people, cast out demons, speak in languages they didn’t even have to learn, the knowledge of all the old testament scriptures without needing to study them, and most importantly, given exactly what to say at the exact time God wanted them to say it. The Holy Spirit gave Peter and Paul the power to even raise the dead. They performed basically the same miraculous signs that Jesus did to prove to Israel that they were representing God, and that Israel needed to listen to their message and accept their offer of the coming kingdom. But of course as we know, most of Israel never did.

Jesus spent numerous sessions with His disciples during His post-resurrection appearances discussing the kingdom of God that was at hand. In light of the resurrection, the apostles began to grasp a better understanding of what had to happen. And with the presence of the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to clearly summarize the facts surrounding what had happened because his listeners rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

It was very painful for most people in the crowd to hear that the man whose crucifixion they had called for just weeks earlier, had been made both Lord and Christ by God Himself. Peter made it very clear to them they were the cause of all that happened. Remorse and guilt came over the crowd, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, brothers what must we do? And this introduces us to one of the most controversial verses in our Bible. Acts 2:38 (“38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”) The controversy of this verse stems over water baptism. This verse has been taken out of context more than any other verse in the Bible during this era of modern day Christianity. It has been attempted to be explained away by so many churches and so many preachers, that most Christians don’t know what to believe. Some churches claim a person has to be water baptized in order to be saved, and some churches say baptism has nothing to do with salvation. Which is it, which group is right? If they understood, that the Bible is God’s progressive revelation on how He deals with humanity, they would realize they’re both right. God deals with humanity in different ways during different times in history as the very 1st verse of the book of Hebrews tells us. Hebrews 1:1–2 (“1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”).

(“briefly” explain dispensational Bible study)

MOVING ON:

In one day the Hebrew church membership increased twenty-five times its original number, and new Jewish members were added to it every day. In a modern setting, such growth might create numerous problems. Yet in its earliest stages, it seemed that the new and growing Hebrew church was doing everything right. Mainly due to the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, that was being pouring out at that time. Many churches today try to use the early Hebrew church of Acts 2 as their model for worship, in discipleship, in showing care for others, in evangelism, and in serving. The Godly awe that filled the people of the early church was reflected in their attitudes, relationships, giving, and every other aspect of their lives. But churches today that are using the early church of Acts 2 as a model for their ministry really need to consider what we talked about earlier, the fact that the ministry of the Holy Spirit today has changed since God has given us His final and complete Holy instruction guide for living, called the Bible.

In our post-modern world, of the twenty-first century, our churches have many of the same challenges that the first-century church faced. Christianity is again becoming a minority voice among the other beliefs in our nation and our world. In some countries, Christians are persecuted with the same cruel intolerance as the members of the early church were soon to face as we’ll see in the coming chapters of the book of Acts. What can we learn from their positive examples to make our body of believers stronger today? What can be done collectively, as a church? What might you do personally, to make a difference? Something for us to ponder on this coming week !!

Lets pray together:

As Kristi and Eloise are getting us ready to sing our last hymn tonight, and as we’re considering all the things we will soon be learning together about the church in the book of Acts, and if you have never honored God before by asking His Son, Jesus, to come into your heart and be your personal Lord and savior, this would be the perfect time to do just that. God has made that so easy for us to do. The Bible says that anyone, and I do mean anyone, who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED. It doesn’t matter what your past might look like. Remember the apostle Paul, before the Lord saved him on that road to Damascus, how he persecuted the church, and had the Lord’s people put in prison and even executed. And remember King David who commited adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed in battle. Those two “Great men of God” commited terrible sins, and the Lord forgave them, and even chose them to do great things for Him. The Lord doesn’t care about our past, He just cares about our future. And He wants everyone to spend that future with Him in eternity, in that place He calls heaven. Don’t wait another second. If you have any doubt at all about your eternal security, or what’s going to happen to you when you die physically, I beg you to get it settled right now. Don’t wait another second. Get it taken care of right this minute, right here,--- just quietly, with your eyes closed, heads bowed, and your heart’s toward God, just pray a little prayer like this..............Just pray......

Please, as we’re singing our last hymn, if you need to, just pray that little prayer I mentioned as we sing. And God will save you !! Lets sing together.