Acts 2:1-13 Mothers day (2)
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning everyone and happy mothers day.
if you have your Bibles we will be in Acts chapter 2 starting in verse one as our story conitinues
We started walking trhough Acts a few weeks ago. Luke is reading someone named theopolis a detailed account of all that happened in Jesus life.
We see after Jesus was killed and crucifed he rose form the dead. He spent 40 days opening the dispcles minds to all things concering him in the OT. and then He ascedned into heaven.
last week we saw the disciples gather together in unity and prayer waiting for the coming promise of the Holy spirit. In this waiting time we see Matthis is selected to replace Judas
and it’s right after this our text for today takes place
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
The day of Pentecost had deep significance in Jewish tradition. It was 50 days after the Passover, when God gathered the people of Israel together at Mount Sinai and entered into a covenant relationship with them.
Originally, it was the middle of the three annual Jewish harvest festivals, called either the Feast of Harvest, because it celebrated the completion of the grain harvest, or the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, because it took place seven weeks or fifty days after the Passover, which was when the grain harvesting began.
what we lost in Jesus we get back in the SPIRIT BUILD
What man has broken God has made it better
instead of eden. New Heaven and New earth
Jesus Better- Christ was limited in realionship
and it’s here as the people of God celelberate this feast of harvest the didsicples are still gathered. and then something unmistakable happens
WE are told From heaven an sound like a might rushing wind came and it filled the entire house
It’s heere there is no doubt about what’s happening.
It’s most likely something they could hear and fill
but in case that wasn’t enough divided tongues as fire appear and rested on each of them. and they were filled with the HOLY SPIRIT
there is a lot of talk about what this means and what it doesn’t
Could you imagine. If it wasn’t enough to see Jesus killed and come back to life and then ascended dinto heaven
now this.
and I think it’s helpful to consider what God is doing here.
Ultimently the picture we see is to be filled with the holy Spirit means to have something more powerful then yourself form outside of you come into you.
It’s a divine power
and while that’s important is becasue the world today will actually say everything wrong with us, every problem we expierence comes from outside of us and if you just look withing for strength, reslence, wisdom, self determantion you can overcome whatever problems you face
and sure there are things that are outside of our control that do cause suffering, that do cause pain, because of someone elses sin
but Christinity flips this idea on it’s head.
Keller put it this way. “Christianity says your main problem comes from inside you, and out there God has the power to give you what you need”
that is such good news.
because something knid of fundemental to our nature outside of Christ can be to be self-centered, and the center of our universe.
right when I was growing up it was this idea that we had to do everything to battle low self esteem.
and being an only child(in case you couldn’t already tell)
meant the universe really might have cnetered around me. Even in youth sports we prepatuited this idea by coming up with this idea no one was a loser. Everyone won and you could get a trophy no matter what. That’s fine.
but then when something happens we often thnink. It’s someone elses fault. It’s someone elses problem.
but once again this pasage is teaching us to say no the porblem is inside of me it’s in here. There is an emptiness and a void I can’t seem to fill
but out there the power of God has the power to fill me.
and as the power of the spirit comes from heaven all of a sudden tounges of firse sepereted and rested on them all
this is increadible signficant. In the OT when God’s glory prensence,
and his special presnece shows up it shows up often as fire
In Genesis 15 when God is making a covenant with Abraham. He appears as a blazing torch.
When he apprears to Moses for the first time in the wilderness He appears in a burning bush?
After the exodus when the people ware lead out of slavery he lead them by a pillar of fire by night
in Ezekiel one Zeek has a vision of the glory of God and he sees fire everywhere
and what you begin to realize is when you see the fire of God and the presence of God in the OT it was overwhelming. Sometimes fatale
and now you see something here right. On pentecost. God presence is now resting on every single believer.
the God in the burning bush is now resting on each person at penecost.
they are truly lights of the wordl, they are truly burning bushes
the glory of God, the presence of God is now come into every single beleiver
His presence is resteing on them.
and this can be a lot right. It can seem strange some of this passages. When we think about God as fire. When we think about this picture some of you might ask did this really happen.
and my answer would be yes. We can trust this account. First Luke is working hard to get every detail of the story correct
2 if we really belive in the virgin birth, if we really belive in a crucified, risen and ascended saviour we can trust this is exactly what he said would happen in John 14-16
If Jesus truly is alive then anything is possible.
and when you think about this group. It’s still not the most likely group of people. There were apostles who were called out, set apart and trained by Christ
but they aren’t the only ones getting the Holy Spirit. it rested on each one there that day. Luke tells us there were 120 people in this room
the spirit rested on male, female, trained and untrained, the Spirit of God rested on everybody
and it would be fair to ask what does this mean? what does fullness of the spirit feel like or look like. And while you will see the filling of the spirit expressed in many ways throughout scripture there is something common about all the places you see this.
Keller and ALlister begg helped me think about this
if you go back to Jesus baptism it’s recorded that he hears a voice saying, This is my son in whom I’m well pleased
In other wrds the Father is saying you are my son and I delight in you.
that’s the work of the spirit at Jesus baptism and you may think well of Course that’s Jesus
but in Romans 8 we are told that when the spirit of God comes into our hearts the Spirit actually bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God
however in Romans 8:16
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
How awesome is this! and then Paul writes in Galatians 4:6
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
In other words the Holy spirit comes and tells you about his love for you, his delight in you and the fact you are his children
that’s rich and powerful
It’s what Jesus promised in John 14-16. He say’s I am going away and i’ve told you a lot but when I leave the HS is going to come and manifiest or show it to you
If we aren’t careful we can be tempted to make the filling of the spirit something mysitical or magical
but in the most real and profound way
what we beging to see in scriputre is that when the HOLY SPIRIT comes you will know in your head and it will be made real in your heart the things God says about you
that you are his
that you are loved
and that he delights in you
and all of a sudden these realities birth a fire and freedom in your life that’s unstoppable
Thomas goodwin has a great illustration of this that I will bring into today
Baby decdication example-
when the parents held there children today did that make them more of a son or daughter than before they picked them up?
no not in a legally sense.
However Goodwin would say this. While legally there is no difference between a child be in a parents arms or jsut in the stroller he would say objectlvy on difference
but subjectively expereientaially, existentially all the differenc ein the world
when a child is in their fathers arms they are expierence there fathers love, they are expirencing sonship
and that’s what happens when the HS comes down on you and I in fullness
You began to sense the fathers arms. You began to become assured of who you are
and what starts in yoru head comes down into your heart making all of this more real
To know and beleive someone all powerful, all knowing, all wise loves you like this, delights in you
and has gone to the most amazing lengths and depths to save us. That ultimently at an immmersable cost to himself.
Jesus dying on the cross taking our palce for our sins
to really beleive that and know it deep within your soul takes the power of the holy spirit
It’s that fullness that helps us know
when he says I will never let you go.
nothing in heaven, earth, or time will ever make him lose you
he will always hold onto you and he will eventually take all bad things in our lives and make them right
and in heaven he will glorfyi you and he will perfect his work in you
that’s the power and fullness of the spirit
and it allows us to cry out Abba father
and as His spirit rest on us we rest in HIm
and while i’ve been studying this week i’ve been asking what does this even look like? Like how can i know I’m full of Gods spirit
and Luke tells us what it looks like in verse 13
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
apparetnly it looked like to the thosuands of people celbrating the feast of pentecost that the followers of Jesus were drunk.
that’s what it looked like
Paul brings this together in Ephesians 5:18
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
When someone has drank to much they become a different person. They loose there inhabitions, there seems to be a recklessness or fearlessness to the way they live.
and that’s most likely why the people that day thought it was some sort of new wine
there was a joyful fearlessness
men and women who 50 days ealery had one of there worst days are different.
50 days ago. They were running for there lives. They were afraid. One of their best friends Judas had betryaed them.
Jesus had been arrested beaten and killed
All of them fleed
after the resurection we are told they are all together locked away in a room scared
Peter had denied Jesus
things were bad.
So how to you go from that to speaking the gospel without inhibition out in public?
Gods presences fills you
They were too happy, to joyful to be scared of anhyone or aything
this continues to be the pattern in acts as these disciples of Jesus are arrested, beaten, jailed and killed for their faith
Gods presnces gave them an unstoppable hope and joy
and that’s why the people thought they had new wine
but where new wine would have been a depressant. It would have made them stupid
it would have made them less aware of who they werethe spirit does something different
The SPirit of God gives us joy through intellegince. It gives us wisdom
The spirit actually shows us what is real
that if the only thing that matters is what God thinks of you.
that the one who has the power to create stars by his very breath loves you, that he will do anything for you
that he has given up everything for you and he will never let you go
you are more aware of reality not less
you understand how we have a God who restores and reedems all things and peoplje for his glory
and as they were filled they began to speak in other toughts as the spirit enabled them to
THIRD MARK OF BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT IS THE GOSPEL> THAT YOU APEAK THE GOSPEL
HELP ONE OF another know jesus by sharing the gospel and our lives
our mission is birthed out of penetcaost
when you are really filled with Gods spirit you aren’t just thinking about how blessed you are. Or your own happiness
no you are thinking more about Gods mighty works
you are thinking more about the gospel
you want to tell more people about Jesus
you can speak the gospel in ways you coulnd’t before
it’s what Paul says in
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
there is the power of God that is working through Gods people that is transforming the world
and what’s awesome is when the gospel is first preached it’s preached in every single laguage at once.
it is what verse 11 means when it says they began to speak in other launges here in acts the gift of tougnes is the gift of people eharing in there own lauange
and the people are bewildered when this happened. 15 different laugane groups.
and a group of people from Galillie mostly uneducated are someohow speaking their launge
and the beuty of this is by a deliberate miricale God made sure there was no laguage and no culture that has precedence over any other in the christian faith
that pride had no place among crhistians
that one culture can’t say to another we are better because of our culture
A former muslim from harvad really drove the grace of this truth home for me this week
Lamin Sanneh says as far as Muslims are concred God only speaks Arabic
all of Gods words were in Arabic. All his communication. so when you want ot hear Gods real word.
REVERSE OF BABEL- TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT”S HAPPENE
REVERSE OF CURSES
HUNGER AND THIRST FOR REIGHTOUNESS
HWha
