What Happen at Pentecost

What Happen at Pentecost

Acts 2:1-6 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

What Happen at Pentecost

Introduction

· The village atheist who didn’t believe in God. He was not interested in church. And there was only one church in the village. It was cold and dead, a social club, with nothing really going on, no impact on the community at all. One day the church building caught on fire and the whole town ran toward it to help extinguish the flames, including the village atheist. Someone hollered out, “Hey, this is something new for you, the first time we’ve ever seen you running to church!” He replied, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the church on fire!”

· Pentecost the day the church was on fire!

· The day Pentecost buried the old dry bones of religious ceremony and ushered in a new day with a shocking baptism of fire.

· The Phenomenal Power of Pentecost, the day the church was born.

· What took place fifty days after the resurrection of Christ?

· Pentecost always fell on the first day of the week, symbolizing, even in Old Testament typology, the end of the Sabbath and the Consecration of a new day for a new dispensation……..Pentecost,

· It was also known as the “Day of the first fruits”, Numbers 28:26 or the “feast of the Harvest”, Exodus 34:22. or the Feast of Weeks ,Deuteronomy 16:10.

· God ordained and commanded His people to observe three annual festivals, Passover, Pentecost, and the Day of Atonement, as divine appointment to honor and remember His presence, provision, and protection.

· The day of Pentecost had come fifteen hundred times before. Verse 1, “Now it was fully come..”. It had come and gone, come and gone, ever since Moses instituted the feast. But now it had come to stay.

· God keeps His personal promise. The Holy Spirit comes to the believer because God promised Him. Jesus remained with the disciples forty days after His resurrection. He vowed: "I am going to send you what my Father has promised"

· The Father promised His Son to send the Holy Spirit. Jesus told them: "wait for the gift my Father promised"

· So in our text, we find the disciples together. They’ve been told by the resurrected Lord to wait in Jerusalem to receive power from on high.

· Not only, God keeps His personal promise.

· But,

· God keeps His conditional promise. "Wait for the gift." The only contingency on the promises is that of waiting expectancy. Waiting is not wasted. The only key to effective activity is that of receptive passivity—wait for the gift.

· Here in Verse 1, “They were all with one accord in one place..”. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.

· Picture this today, if we’re told go wait in a room, imagine what would be going on in the room. Someone will be on the cellphone, texting, playing on their smartphone, on FaceBook, or just looking around.

· “They were all with one accord in one place..”. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

· There is a union. There was a totality of unity. Nothing so hinders the coming of the Spirit in power as does division among God's people. "They were all together in one place." To experience the Spirit's power we must be in the location where we meet God and in union with other believers.

· Mercifully, the disciples had no such distractions. They are occupied, listening, praying, and worshipping. Waiting for the Phenomenal Power of Pentecost. The minute, the moment, the movement.

But they were together, and God showed up!

I. The Awesome Sound (Unusual)

Two things:

A. They Heard it Suddenly

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind..”

· "a sound like the blowing of a violent wind"

· Something resembling a rushing hurricane.

· God first got their ears to pay attention.

They heard it suddenly!

· This sound was not of earth, but of heaven, and it was symbolic.

· It announced the presence of the Holy Spirit.

· And suddenly- “af no”, unaware unexpectedly. The word suddenly if used three times in Acts.

· “A sound as a rushing, mighty wind.” “A sound like the blowing of a violent wind.”

· The wind is another of those divinely chosen biblical symbols of the Spirit of God. God uses wind.

· Genesis 8, God made a wind to pass over the earth.

· Genesis 41, God used an east wind.

· Exodus 10, God uses a strong west wind.

· 1 Kings 3, Lord said, Ye shall not see wind.

· Psalm 135, God bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

· Job 30, “Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it.”

· Ezekiel 37, Prophecy unto the four wind.

· Jonah 1, God use a great wind to arrest Jonah.

· The wind Jesus talks about with Nicodemus, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh.”

The Awesome Sound, They Heard it Suddenly!

· The blowing of the wind breath life in them.

Not only, They heard it suddenly..

B. They Experience it Sitting

“And it filled all the house where they were sitting.”

· It was something they heard, experienced while sitting, not only when, but also where? The sound filled the entire house!

· Where they were siting.. Location!

· Many want manifestation without location.

· We must be in the Location where we meet God and in union with other believers.

“And it filled all the house where they were sitting.”

· It was localized upon the house, where they were sitting.

· Charles Finney: “When the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in, if the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.”

· The church has buildings but little boldness.

· The church has numbers but little nerve.

· The church has comfort but little courage.

· The church has status but little spirit.

· The church has prestige but little power.

· What happen at Pentecost is they didn’t listen to outside wind. It filled the house where they were sitting.

· The Awesome Sound (Unusual)

·

II. The Awesome Sight (Visual)

Verse 3, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”

Three things about fire:

A. It spreads

· Fire begins with a small flame but it spreads. It can devour a forest or consume a city.

· A church on fire can changes generations for God!

Think about what could happen in our community if we had some people on fire, a church on fire for God like that.

What will it take to get some fired up men at our church?

What will it take to get some fired up women at our church?

What will it take to get some fired up youth at our church?

What will it take to become a church on fire?

What does it take to start a fire?

· A good wind, a flame, and something to burn.

· A fireman wants to contain fire!

· It spreads!

Verse 3, “And it sat upon each of them..”

· The word is singular, not plural.

· Spread through their ranks.

· Joel said, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.”

Not only does fire spread..

B. It burns

“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.”

· The cloven tongues are parting asunder. The idea is that a single tongue appeared and then began to split and divide itself, resting upon of the disciples.

The awesome sight, it spreads, it burns..

But, fire..

C. It Illuminates

· For countless centuries fire was man’s only source of light. It enabled him to work and walk.

· It illuminates in the upper room. The disciples saw the Awesome Sight (Visual).

· They saw a visual manifestation what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

· They all had one experience from one source, but each individual had a personal experience.

· The fire of God is a symbol of divine presence.

Not only spreads, burns, illuminates..

· Abraham saw a burning lamp.

· Moses beheld a burning bush.

· Solomon had build a temple and the fire of God descended.

· They see God, and their lives are prepared: they feel his fires, and are not consumed.

· “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire: and it sat upon each of them.”

The Awesome Sight (Visual)

III. The Awesome Spirit (Vital)

Verse 4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”

· Two things: that which was “spiritual” and “evidential”

· On the day of Pentecost all those present were filled with the spirit.

· Filling is different. It is conditional.

· The spirit filled them. They were completely filled! Full!

· Before, they were cold, dead, and empty. Something was missing. But they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

· When you are full, there is no room for anything. They were completely occupied by the heavenly power.

· There is a difference between a empty man and a full man.

· The first thing we want as a church is to be filled with the Holy Ghost.

· Out of a full church the world shall receive salvation, but never out of an empty one.

IV. The Awesome Speech

A. It was connecting

Verse 5, “And they were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.”

B. It was clear

Verse 6, “Now when this was noised abroad, their multitude came together, and were confounded because every man heard them speak in his own language.”