Arrival of the Holy Spirit

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

I. Introduction

A. At our launch I preached from Acts 1 on the promises that ignited the church – Mainly the promise of the HS

II. The Spirit comes with great power (1-3)

A. Explanation

1. The day of Pentecost – it is all part of God’s timing and plan

a. Death – Passover – He was the perfect sacrificial lamb

b. Resurrection – after three days

i. Jonah - three days in the belly of the fish (Matthew 12:40)

ii. The resurrection was on the third day - In creation, the first third day was the creation of life in vegetation. The second third day (6th day) was when God created man and gave him the covenant to be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1)

iii. Abraham traveled three days before coming to the mountain. On the third day, he followed God’s command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac - A foreshadowing of God’s sacrificing His own Son. (Genesis 22:4)

iv.Israel at Sinai - God told them on the third day He would come down to Mount Sinai to be with the people (Exodus 19:10-11)

c. The ascension

i. 40 days of waiting on Moses to bring the law down from Sinai (Exodus 34:28)

ii. 40 years in the desert before being led to the promised land

d. Pentecost – the fiftieth day after Passover

i. Pentecost was the celebration of the giving of the law – But it is the exact day that the Spirit came to signify a new covenant

ii. At the giving of the law, 3000 Hebrew people were killed for their idolatry while on Pentecost 3000 were saved (Acts 2:41)

2. The sound of a mighty rushing wind –

a. In the OT the word for Spirit is also the word for wind and breath

b. It reminds us of Ezekiel 37:1-14 – A picture of the Spirit coming into the army of bones and giving them life

3. It filled the entire house where they were sitting – The complete presence of the Spirit

4. Divided tongues as of fire – Much like the pillar of fire in the Exodus

5. Rested on each of them – Each of the believers assembled received the HS because each of them was saved and called to share their faith

B. Application

1. God has a perfect timing and Plan

2. The church is dependent on the power of the Spirit for its growth

3. We are given the same Holy Spirit to use in the building of His kingdom and doing His work

III. The Spirit comes with a specific purpose (4)

A. Explanation

1. All filled with the HS – This is the promise of the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36:26-27

2. This is a moment that everyone should have been anxiously awaiting, and yet they seem to be caught by surprise

3. This is the real power

a. To break the chains of sin

b. To live in true righteousness

c. To begin the church

d. To do spiritual things

4. The first action in the power of the Spirit - began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance – They began to speak in the languages of the people around them – This is a reversal of Babel when God separated the people through language so they would disperse throughout the world. Now, God was calling His people together under the Kingdom of Christ

B. Application

1. The purpose of the Spirit’s coming is to change people – They will share the gospel and 3000 will be saved

2. The Spirit comes to empower His church to do His work and do it boldly

3. We have this power

IV. The Spirit comes with a wider purview (5-11)

A. Explanation

1. Jews in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven - Probably both natural-born and proselyte Jews, but they do not have faith in their Messiah

2. The disciples were speaking in Tongues –

a. not angelic, but in known languages of the people around them

b. This is a supernatural work of God so people may hear the gospel and come to faith in Jesus

3. The speakers are Galilean – Not well educated. From a backwoods part of Israel. No one would have thought these men knew all these languages

4. Through this work of the Holy Spirit, people from many different nations, tribes, and tongues are saved

B. Application

1. For a Jewish crowd, this was eye-opening that God Would be sending a signal that the gospel was for the whole world

2. For us, it is a signal that the gospel is for anyone who would confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9)

3. The gospel is for anyone and everyone and we need to begin sharing it with everyone

V. The Spirit comes to part

A. Explanation

1. Two groups

i. All were amazed and perplexed – They saw a literal miracle

ii. Others mocking said they were filled with new wine

2. Why would they not all believe –Some do not want to see the movement of God – they are slaves to their sin, dead in their transgressions and sin and they are blinded by Satan and cannot see the glory of the gospel of Christ

3. Jesus predicted this problem – John 3:16-21

B. Application

1. The Holy Spirit will bring the power of truth to the church, but some will still reject it. They will reject it because they love their sin and darkness more

2. We must share in the power of the Holy Spirit because He can change hearts and lives

VI. Conclusion

A "Bonehead of the Day" e-mail reported on a newfangled toy recently released for distribution:

A U.S. company has an action figure called Invisible Jim that is selling briskly in Britain for about $2.80 apiece. Why is it called ''Invisible Jim?'' Because all you get is the packaging. There is no Jim.

''Lack of darting eyes'' and ''realistic fake hair,'' ''as not seen on TV,'' and ''camouflage suit sold separately'' are some of the boasts made on the package. The company says they have received no complaints about the empty boxes.

A spokeswoman for the distributor says that when the first shipment arrived they thought there was some mistake at the factory that they sent the packaging without the product.

Good marketing, good packaging, empty box. Sounds a lot like temptation and sin

Mt 12:40

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Ge 22:4

On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

Ex 19:10–11

10 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Ex 34:28

So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Ac 2:41

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Eze 37:1–14

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Eze 36:26–27

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ro 10:9

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Jn 3:16–21

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”