The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentacost
Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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As we dive into Acts
It is just a record of the acts of those first believers and the first church as we know it
If you will recall from last week this is the in between time
and during that time we must be about the Fathers Work
However
Or But
We hear we must be about the fathers work and we think lets get to it
We start to hurry about the Lords Work to the point people become checkboxes to accomplish rather than souls to be saved
People are not a checkbox and then move along
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.
We have read this and boy is it true
If a church gets out in front of God then our prayers start to be God bless this instead of God is this of you
Our prayers then become God use this instead of seeking the Lord before we got there
Again this is what happens when we are left to our own selves
As we see in Acts
Jesus has just died and risen
Jesus has just ascended
They were given their duties to be about during the mean time
And so
Put yourself in that situation
You are given a direction
I am a planner so I am working to get ahead if you will and yet as we see in Acts
They are waiting for the Holy Spirit
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
After Jesus died and came back to life
They were to wait for the baptism with the Holy Spirit
Then in the mean time Jesus gives them the Great Commission again
To be about the Fathers work
But church we need to understand that we must wait to receive the Holy Spirit then go about the fathers work
This is something He promised us before hand that he would send us
That we would have a helper as we go about the fathers business
Don’t for once think that you are to do ministry alone
Or that you are to do this Christian life thing alone
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Jesus promises that we will be given a helper
That we will have someone to help guide us as we do this thing called life
To give us wisdom to do what He has called us to do
To give us courage to be bold with the Gospel
Church we have a helper to go about ministry
Let that settle in
Especially those who are ministry leaders
Who are new to ministry
Who might be overwhelmed with ministry or the people of ministry
You have a helper as you go about ministry called the Holy Spirit
They are promised a helper
They were waiting for the Helper
They knew and understood the need for the Holy Spirit in their lives and in their ministry
The people had a history with the Holy Spirit
Remember in the Old Testament
21 The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
The Spirit of God would also settle in the Holy of Holies
A cloud of cover the Holy of Holies
Church this would have been passed down from family to family
From generation to generation
So now they are waiting in Jerusalem for the coming of the Helper
For the coming of the Holy Spirit
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
Church the Holy Spirit comes on then like a violent rushing wind
and scripture says they are now filled with the Holy Spirit and because of that they start to do things they wouldn’t or have never done
So it must be the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work
And church that is exactly what is happening
It is the Power of the Holy Spirit at work in them
Please understand it has nothing to do with them
As one commentary puts it “The Holy Spirit does not attempt to improve human nature into something better but lays the axe at the root of the trees and declares that we must become new creatures and that by a supernatural work of the omnipotent God.”
Church that is the power of the Holy Spirit at work in these men
Those are regular men
Those are uneducated men
And yet because of the Power of the Holy Spirit in them because of the work of Jesus on the cross and in the tomb
They are currently and about to do things only the Holy Spirit could do
7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” 14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
Because of what has happened and the coming of the helper and the violent rushing wind
Those in the city are starting to hear and come to see what is going on
And they are shocked because of what is happening
They are seeing these uneducated men speak in their own landuages
They are is a lot of shock because nothing like this has ever happened
Sure they had seen people prophesy before
But to see a number of different people start to speak in different languages
And then people hear them in their own languages and them understand them
Church I think we would be most shocked as well
These were regualr joes to say the least
there was nothing special about these men
They were uneducated
Except they had the Power of the Holy Spirit
Please hear me
You and I are regular joes just like them
You are special and loved but like the disciples you are just a regular joe
In fact you may be uneducated just like them
Or what is even scarier is you might be extremely educated and think you know everything
And yet it is only through the Power of the Holy Spirit that you are able to accomplish what He can do
Remember church you and I bring nothing to this
It is the full power of the Holy Spirit at work
Church this is what happens when we wait for the Helper
This is what happens when you and I recieve the power of the Holy Spirit
We are through the Power of the hOly Spirit in our lives able to flee from sin
We are able to do things only the Holy Spirit can accomplish
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
This is a snipet of the sermon by Peter
Church let that sink in
This is a guy who about a month and a half early had denied even knowing Jesus
This is a guy who we would go there is no way he would able to speak these things
Yes he was uneducated
But seriously some of us can relate to the shame we think he must have been expeirncing after denying Christ
No way he would get up there and speak to a bunch of people we would think would want Him dead
And yet church this is Peter speaking to them
Please hear me this morning
This sermon is not the work of Peter
It is only the Work of the Holy Spirit at work through Peter
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Those listening to the sermon were so moved by the sermon
Scripture says they were pierced to the heart
They were so moved by the sermon by Peter
That doesn’t happen because of Peter
that doesn’t happen by amazing and awesome speeches
When you hear a speech you get excited and can cheer
When you hear a sermon because of the Power of the Holy Spirit it reaches the heart and moves you to action
It so moved them to action they ask Peter what they need to be doing now
Peter explains they need to repent and be baptized
To repent is to change or turn
The Holman Concise Bible Dictionary says this
“The biblical concept of repentance involves making a radical change within the heart, turning from sin while simultaneously turning to God, which is openly manifested through acts of justice, kindness, and humility.”
I really like how John MacArthur puts it
“Repent this refers to a change of mind and purpose that turns an individual from sin to God. Such change involves more than fearing the consequences of God’s judgement. Genuine repentance knows that the evil of sin must be forsaken and the person and work of Christ totally and singularly embraced Peter exhorted his hearers to repent, otherwise they would not experience true conversion.
To repent is to make a radical change
To repent is to change our hearts to God
To turn our hearts, and mind and lives to Christ
Church once we have repented which is to turn from the junk
Then the Holy Spirit enters our heart and because of the Power of the Holy Spirit our lives are forever changed
We are freed from sin because of the Holy Spirit that now lives inside us
Because we have repented and believed in Christ
It is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to flee from sin
Our lives are forever changed and church because of that salvation we are to look different than before
That is salvation
3000 people got saved that day because of the Power of the Holy Spirit
And church it is the power of the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the disciples in the upper room
And poured out on those that day who repented of their sin
Turned their hearts and minds and lives to Jesus and believed and they received the Holy Spirit
Because of that power they were forever changed and it was evident in their lives
We have the rest of the Bible to see how those lives were changed because of the power of the Holy Spirit
And church noticed what happened after those 3000 people got saved that day
They continue to gather together and sat under the teaching and preaching of the apostels
They were discipled
That is what happens after we are saved we plug into to be discipled
Older believers more mature believers you are to be ready when those who come to know Christ through salvation to disciple them to grow them up in the Lord
It doesn’t end with salvation but rather it begins with salvation
So as we come to a close this morning
We want to invite you to know Jesus this morning
If you are here and never repented of your sin and trusted Jesus would would invite you to do just that
You are welcome and I would encourage you to come and speak with someone at the front and they can show you through scripture how you can know Christ this morning
Or maybe you already know Christ but have either gotten lazy in our walks or gotten out in front of the Holy Spirit in our lives
Maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer at the alter running back to Jesus
Would you be obedient in how you respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit this morning
The alter is open
