Filled with the Holy Ghost
This Way: Missions in Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
Introduction
Introduction
In our passage this morning, we see the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. We saw last week the Promise of the Father and this week it is fulfilled. Let’s learn what occurs when people are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The mission of the church is the same mission given to the Eleven during the forty days that Jesus was on earth after His Resurrection. Jesus commissions them to take the good news of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus for all mankind to each and every person. We see throughout the book of Acts that those Eleven, and the others who were part of the church at Jerusalem, went everywhere preaching this gospel. In our series on missions in Acts, we will study several of these chapters to learn about missions in the local church.
Do you give to support missions? Do you have a heart for those here in Virginia, the United States, and the world that have not accepted the free gift of salvation? Evangelism comes from a heart that has been changed by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for sin. Missions comes from that same heart that has caught the command that Jesus has given us, His church.
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Together, we need to ask God to gives us, as a church, a desire to send and support those who are going to the lost people around the world just as we go to those here in Virginia. This is the focus of our series on “This Way” in the book of Acts.
We saw last week that the coming of the Holy Spirit was the next step for the people of God. They had spent 40 days with Jesus after His Resurrection and He has now ascended. In the rest of the verses in chapter 1 of Acts, we see the church gathered praying and waiting. The disciples cast lots for the person who would replace Judas and finish the Twelve Apostles out as well. Together, these verses show the centrality of prayer and waiting.
This principle of prayer and waiting is found throughout the Bible. We see the prophets and psalmists emphasizing prayer and waiting on God to act. When there are times of uncertainty and obedience in our lives, we need to pray and wait on God.
In chapter 2, we are going to see that the church is no longer waiting but is now witnessing. This is the age that we live in today. Our job is to give the good news to the lost around us. This must begin as a desire and a examination of our own hearts and our priorities.
Many people write books on how to grow your church. Many will tell you what is important to making your church become what we see in Scripture. What should always be the starting point and the foundation for any strategy is what the Bible teaches. In chapter 2, we see that moving from 120 people to 3000 people in one day is not based solely on the obedience of God’s people, though that is a part. The difference between the 120 in the upper room and the 3000 at Pentecost is the Presence and Power of God the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, there is not the needed ability to obey the Great Commission. Missionaries go to the lost people around the world with the ability and working of the Holy Spirit. We need that here today as well.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Power from Heaven! (Acts 2)
“We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God.”
Vance Havner
Declaration
Declaration
We live in a world that is more digitally connected and ethnically diverse than ever before. The arrival of the Holy Spirit gave power to the church to speak of the greatness of God. Today, we must use every means we have to spread God’s greatness to those who do not know. Three characteristics describe the Spirit-filled church in Acts 2.
1. Unity Preceded Power
1. Unity Preceded Power
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
We see the first characteristic of a Spirit-filled church in verse 1. The continuation of chapter 1’s emphasis on the Promise of the Father is carried into chapter 2 as the background of the event about to take place. Waiting is sometimes hard to take, yet God uses waiting to test our obedience to Him.
Chapter 1 gave the Promise of the Holy Spirit being given to the church in verse 8.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
After the Ascension of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, those who were gathered returned to Jerusalem to obey the command to wait on God. This would have been a time of sadness and loneliness. This would have seemed like a long 10 days. Perhaps, some may have felt that there were other things more important than waiting. Yet, we see the 120 gathered in the upper room and they are praying.
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
The same word “accord” is found in verse 14 that is found in verse 1 of chapter 2. They were “of the same mind” because they were waiting and praying. Waiting on God involves seeking His purposes and working in our heart. Together, we will be unified when we are praying together for what His Will is!
Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
The first characteristic of a Spirit-filled church is unity. Are we unified as a church? We want to see people come and be a part of our church. We want to see God exalted in King William. We ultimately want to see the Gospel of God’s Grace preached to each person in our county. Yet, we must be unified in seeking God. Are we waiting and praying that God will do something, something He has promised He will do? The church in Acts 2 shows us that Unity preceded power.
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
2. Speech Resulted from Power
2. Speech Resulted from Power
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
The second characteristic of a Spirit-filled church is that their speech resulted from power. The Holy Spirit is the ability to give the Gospel. We see in this passage that a message is about to be delivered to the ends of the earth.
Verse 1 begins by saying that “the day of Pentecost was fully come.” What is Pentecost and why was it important? Pentecost was to be the feast of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. This feast was celebrated by command and was found in Lev 23:15-21 and Dt 16:9-11. Studying out the cultural and religious background of a passage can help us see what God is teaching in His Word.
This wheat harvest was the a time that they would give a peace offering of the first fruits of their grain to God. This was an important picture of thankfulness and dedication to God. We do the same thing when we give our tithes to God. Jesus was referring to this harvest when He turned the idea of harvest from a physical event to a spiritual one.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
In the New Testament, the idea of sowing, growing and reaping is often connected to the preaching of the Word of God and the growth of a Christian. Here on Pentecost, the giving of the Holy Spirit sees the first fruits of believers in the world. God uses His people to preach the Gospel and see 3000 people saved. How does this happen?
Verse 2 through 4 gives us a description of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. There was a sound of wind that filled where they were. There were “cloven tongues like of fire” on each person, excluding no one. The people were filled with the Holy Spirit and spake.
By this simple event, we see there is now a new age in history. God dwells with His people. He dwells inside those who have believed in Him!
The result of the arrival of the Spirit in verse 4 is that the people speak according to what the Spirit leads them. The word “tongues” in verse 3 is connected with bits of fire that looked like a tongue. The word “tongues” in verse 4 is the same word that means languages. The Holy Spirit worked in the believers to speak languages that they did not know before.
The Holy Spirit allowed the people to speak in tongues. It is important for us to distinguish what the Bible says about speaking in tongues from what some churches teach today about this subject. The Bible seems to distinguish two types of speaking in tongues. One is found here involving the Holy Spirit giving the believer to speak in an actual language that they did not already know. This was for the purpose of giving the Gospel to the lost people in Jerusalem.
The second form of speaking in tongues is found in 1 Corinthians 12-14. This form really involves two gifts of the Spirit: the speaker and the interpreter. Without a person to interpret, speaking in tongues in this form indicates the person is “mad”. Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is clear that this form of speaking in tongues has ceased.
The first form, found in our passage, was a one time event that coincided with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. One more time in Acts, this occurs with the arrival of the Holy Spirit to certain believers in Acts 19:6. Today, we do not speak in tongues as they did at Pentecost.
Verse 4 tells us that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that they were given inner power that enveloped every area of their being. The command of Paul is to us today to be the same and it also connected to speech.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Because of the Spirit-filled church’s speaking, a crowd gathers in verses 5 and 6. These were Jewish people gathered to celebrate the feast. They heard the speaking and came to investigate. Their reaction is of confusion and wonder.
The sound and the actions of the church brought together an audience. The Holy Spirit was drawing men together to hear the greatness of God. Today, the Holy Spirit will point unsaved men to the truth of the Gospel as well.
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
The amazement of the gathered men is that they can hear these “Galileans”, or uncultured and accented men, speaking their own language from where they had grown up. This is what a missionary does today. He or she goes to the country to learn the language that the people use daily. We are not called to spread “Western culture” or modern technology. We are not to go to the untold millions with roads and buildings. We are preach to them in their own tongue the “wonderful works of God”. Too many “missionaries” have gone with other purposes that, while noble, are not biblical. The Holy Spirit spoke through the believers to these men who were in need of salvation through Jesus Christ. Paul speaks of this in describing his calling in Ephesians,
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
We see in verses 9-11 a list of the locations that these gathered people had been born. This list gives us the beginning of the spreading of the Gospel to people of all nations, not just Judea or Galilee. The Gospel is a message for the world.
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What does the Holy Spirit give as speech to the believers here? Verse 11 says they spoke of the “the wonderful works of God.” This Greek word is the “greatness” of God. The greatness of God is shown by His actions. Most recently, Jesus had given His life for the sin of the world and He had been raised again. God’s greatness is in saving His people. We see this word used in the Greek translation of passages of the Old Testament as well.
And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, Who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!
Every one of us is a sinner. Jesus came to take all of the sin of the people in the world on the cross in our place. His death is the ultimate proof of the greatness of God. How could a perfect God send His only Son to die for imperfect man? The answer is not Sovereignty or Wrath. The answer is only Love. God loved the world and gave Jesus for you. God is first of all Holy and His love flows out of that Holiness as He required a perfect sacrifice for sin. Jesus is the sacrifice for you and for me, for all mankind.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The second characteristic of a Spirit-filled church is speech resulted from power. The Holy Spirit spoke through the church the greatness of God to the people gathered. This is the same today as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to give the Gospel to the world.
3. God Had the Control
3. God Had the Control
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
The third characteristic of a Spirit-filled church it that God had the control. In verses 12-13, the listeners ask if the men are intoxicated. If someone is under the influence of fermented grape juice, they will are controlled by something other than themselves. This is similar to being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The “new wine” in verse 13 was closer to grape juice due to the time of the year and where it would have been in the fermentation process. The Bible is clear that alcohol has a negative influence on the drinker. The Proverbs make a distinction between wisdom and foolishness.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Instead of being intoxicated, the believers were filled with the Spirit. The verses following show the message of Pentecost in the sermon of Peter. The Holy Spirit points to Jesus instead of alcohol’s debauchery.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
One writer makes the contrast clear,
The Message of Acts b. Glossolalia
Nor, we must add, did the believers’ experience of the Spirit’s fullness seem to them or look to others like intoxication, because they had lost control of their normal mental and physical functions. No, the fruit of the Spirit is ‘self-control’,14 not the loss of it.
Is God in control of your life? Is He the One who gets the glory? The Holy Spirit will lead if we allow Him. The flesh will lead if we do not. Whatever path you choose will determine your choices and the consequences daily in your life.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
The third characteristic of a Spirit-filled church is that God has the control. Will you allow God to have control of your life? The illustration of alcohol is here compared to the Holy Spirit. We can choose today whether to allow the flesh or the Spirit to be the controller of our lives and church.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We live in a world that is more digitally connected and ethnically diverse than ever before. The arrival of the Holy Spirit gave power to the church to speak of the greatness of God. Today, we must use every means we have to spread God’s greatness to those who do not know.
Some may say that the story of Pentecost is a fairy tale. Others may say that Pentecost could happen even today with a baptism of the Spirit. The Bible says that this was the first and only time that this occurred. Through the Holy Spirit, the message of God’s greatness was preached to the world.
Will you allow God to have control in your life? If you are a Christian, you have the same Holy Spirit living inside. All we need to do is to allow Him to use us for His glory. Charles Spurgeon encourages us,
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XXVII The Pentecostal Wind and Fire (No. 1,619)
Remember at the outset that whatever the Holy Spirit was at the first that he is now, for as God he remaineth for ever the same: whatsoever he then did he is able to do still, for his power is by no means diminished.
Will you commit today to listening to the Holy Spirit when He works in you to give the Gospel? When He says to give an invitation to church, will you? When He says to go out on soul-winning, will you? When He wants you to speak to an unsaved co-worker, will you? The Holy Spirit speaks through those who will allow Him to have control.
God can do great things through His servants today. Missionaries go to the nations of the world with the power of the Holy Spirit to tell of God’s greatness. We too can go and support those who are faithfully obeying Jesus’ command to preach the Gospel.
And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, Declare his doings among the people, Make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: This is known in all the earth.
