Acts 2:5-

Recap:

Last time we were together…

we looked at the day of pentecost here in acts 2,

the day that believers are first baptized by the Holy Spirit

And we actually studied this on the actual calendar day of pentecost!

which was last Sunday!

Amazing!

Something that we mentioned last time was…

that the day of pentecost was the same day as the feast of the firstfruits of the grain harvest…

where Jews would offer up to God the first of their harvest for the season…

we made mention of the fact that this offering was given with leaven…

similar to how the people come forward after Peter’s sermon,

full of sin, full of guilt but ready to be saved, and the firstfruits of the church!

Beautiful!

We made the application that just like these sinful people came forward, we also can come to Jesus no matter how messed up our lives are and he will take us in!

After that we saw the Baptism of the Holy spirit and we defined it as:

the Spirit’s initial work in a believer’s life, beginning the relationship, and- like water baptism- is not a repeated act.

And we finished it off with…

If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then let faith (trust for God) fill your heart, then lay aside sin in your life that would quench the spirit, and ask him to fill you as you completely surrender your life to the will of God.

Faith

Repent

Ask

Surrender

To be filled with the Spirit!

Now as we continue, we are going to see how the Holy Spirit equips and enables the believers to be the people God called them to be and fulfill the call God gave them to make disciples of all nations!

V. 5-13

Okay, so here in this little section of scripture

what we see is the first gift given to believers by the Holy Spirit…

As we look across the NT at the gifting of the Holy Spirit,

you will find that one gifting that the HS gives is the gift of tongues…

The Idea behind the gift of tongues is most basically the Idea that a believer speaks in a language that they do not already know…

For example- me speaking chinese (IDK chinese), or even in a language of angels (1 cor 13:1))

A language that is foreign to the believer.

Here in this passage, we see that gift at work…

that as the believers are filled with the H.S…

They are supernaturally enabled to speak the languages native to those in Jerusalem…

Now this a amazing and beautiful on a number of levels…

here’s one reason…

number one:

there were jews here in Jerusalem that spoke all kinds of languages

because of an event called the diaspora (the skattering) many jews had left Israel and had kids who grew up speaking the language of other nations…

but something special brought them all to jersualem 3 times out of the year…

the three feast in the OT that were mandatory to come to Jerusalem for…

the passover, the feast of weeks (pentecost), and the feast of tabernacles…

and so jews from all over gathered together at jerusalem for this feast and now they hear this huge gust of wind and now all these people speaking in their own dialects…

not just their own language but with their right accents and everything!

If you think back to why we have languages and the tower of Babel…

why did God confuse people’s languages?

Genesis 11:5–9 NKJV

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The Lord confused their languages because the people were in united rebellion against God.

they wanted to become great and reach to the heavens!

They wanted to prove that they didn’t need God and they could be great without God…

this is the essence of every society that deny’s God…

God wanting to spare humanity, confused their languages and scattered them across the earth

delaying their destruction

that we inevitably see in the destruction of Babylon in Revelation…

But here in Acts we see the opposite

just as rebellion caused God to confuse the languages

hearts of obedience caused him to unify…

for what purpose…

that the Gospel of God would be spread!

And notice what it is that they are saying…

v.11 “The wonderful works of God”

They are praising the Lord!

They are not using the gift of tongues to preach the gospel but it is entirely used to communicate with God in a special way…

to praise Him

and any time you look in the bible at the gift of tongues it is to praise and glorify God!

It is a communication to God…

and believers and other people can be blessed by it if they are given the interpretation.

And something I want us to notice…

v.12-13

here you see, two responses to a powerful work of God…

Faith and faithlessness

One amazed and curious

another shrug it off with a lame excuse

Which one will I be?

will I be a person who shuts down any works of God that is deeper than my understanding…

or

will I be one who wonders at the work of God?

who like a Barean searches out if this is biblical and looks to know God better in the new ways he works and has a heart of faith?

You will find those two camps today!

which one will you be?

well anyway God uses this, along with the sound of the rushing wind to get the attention of the nearby foreigners

and now they have an audience by which they can preach the gospel…

and so…

V.14-39

Okay so…

in this section of scripture what we see is the first act of the church…

and it is a sermon, a gospel presentation

made by Peter as the representative.

V.1

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them”

for a moment I would like us to consider the life of peter…

many times in the scriptures we see Peter sticking his foot in his mouth and doing things that we would be eternally embarrased to do…

take his denial for example:

Matthew 26:69–75 NKJV

Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Why do we think that Peter denied Jesus here?

Fear of being killed?

Fear of the opinions of others?

I think we can all to some extent sympathize with that fear…

the fear of the opinons, the responses, the thoughts of others…

it can be crippling and stifling.

But look at Peter now…

Here in our passage here in acts…

do you think that their opinons are on his mind?

do you think he cares what they think?

no!

he cares about their souls, and filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit…

Peter is able to lay aside the man he was and take up the man that he was always ment to be…

And that is a miracle work of the Holy Spirit…

to make useless people, useful and equipped for the kingdom…

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.””

One of the most gifted speakers in church history was John Chrysostom—the name comes from a Greek word meaning “golden tongued.” John was sent from Antioch to what was then Constantinople where he preached fearlessly in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. His denunciation of the lavish extravagance of the rich and ruling class and his condemnation of excess infuriated many, including Empress Eudoxia who arranged for him to be exiled.

When he was told of his fate, Chrysostom responded: “What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. Will it be the loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out. Thus all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes, and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear. Riches I do not sigh for. Death I do not shrink from.” 

Far too many today are more worried about what people think than about what God thinks. The desire not to offend others (which is not a bad thing in itself) is often elevated to be the most important thing. As a result, many shrink from speaking the truth.

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25

So if you feel like Peter before pentecost then take courage…

the Holy Spirit can make you into a man of God, a woman of God who can do what is mighty for the glory of God.

Take me for example

I studder

I fear

I don’t know the first thing about running a youth group

I don’t have the wisdom, the heart, the strength, the knowledge, the skill…

I am litterally the least equipped person for this job and yet… God!

and he can take was is nothing and make it useful for him… for His glory!

The question then becomes well then how?

How was Peter filled and changed?

Well we see that Peter has faith in the words of Jesus…

that he died, rose again, ascended to the father…

and when Jesus told them to wait becuase they would receive the promise of the father…

he trusted, thats why he was obedient…

So you see Peter has…

1. Faith

2. Obedience

And then you also see that Peter knows that he is not enough…\

It is evidenced by the fact that he doesn’t seek his glory anywhere else in the book of Acts…

he is not telling people that he is the great peter, who walked on water and saw jesus transfigiured

but he was the broken peter who screwed up, denied jesus, and is unworthy to be used in the plan of God…

3. He was Christ focused.

It wasn’t about him

glorifying himself

or others seeing what he could do…

it was about leading other people to the risen King, who redeem him and who he knows can redeem them as well…

Okay so moving on we see that Peter quotes three passages of scripture to show the people the truth about Jesus and Christianity…

1. Joel 2:28-32

2. Psalm 16:8-11

3. Psalm 110:1

The first thing that he defends is the work of the Holy spirit…

notice how in v.12 we see a question asked by the people…

“whatever could this mean”

Peter answers that here in v.14-21

Peter quotes this passage of Joel because it clearly teaches the doctrine of the Holy spirit being poured out…

and talks about the trib period.

showing them that this a preview of coming attractions…

What shall we do?

lets preach the gospel!

V.

Pray.