Pentecost Fire
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Pentecost
Pentecost
A very controversial subject
the first biblical account of people speaking in tongues
This is one of the spiritual gifts
certainly not the only gift
People often wrongly believe that this gift must precede any of the other gifts
Some wrongly believe that this gift is evidence of salvation.
Although this is not the only gift, and it is not a requirement of salvation, it was an is an important event, and an important gift
We should avoid rejecting truth just because we do not understand
We should also be sensitive to people who either believe differently, or have not yet received this manifestation of the Spirit
I will attempt to show from the scripture that this gift, and others is available to all who believe
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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Pentecost = the greek name for the Jewish feast of weeks, derived from its coming 50 days after passover
The birth of the Church
They were all in one accord
They were all in one accord
One of the the most important things for the Church
If we want o see a great move of God in our City
If we want to be part of any great move of God
If we want to be used by God, and have the gifts He has given us used
Then we must learn to be in unity
They were in one place, and in one accord
One Accord = Greek “homothymadon”
With one mind/purpose
By common consent, unanimously
Together, in unity, of one mind
Too often we can read through these stories and skip over these important details
These people, 120 or so, were gathered together, with one purpose
they were not each seeking their own purpose
They were seeking God together, waiting together
Too many churches and well meaning people fail because they cannot agree
6 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.
God tells us that if we are of one mind, one language, there is nothing we purpose that is withheld
Jesus also tells us that a house divided cannot stand
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
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just because they were in one accord didn’t mean that they agreed on everything
As we read through this book we will see that there were a good many things that they had not yet come into agreement on
Some things they hadn’t even thought through yet enough to agree
And some of them even had prejudices that they hadn’t dealt with yet, as we will see in later chapters
But just because these differences existed didn’t mean that they were not able to set these differences aside in order to be in one accord
We Do not have to always put the focus on our differences
As Christians there ought to be a good many more things that we agree on than we disagree on
yet we have such a tendency to focus on our differences
Or to not focus at all
What are some of the ways that people are divided in the churches today?
What are you thinking about while people are praying?
Does the church join the vision of the Pastor and leaders (Jim McCourt story)
Do people believe together, or do some doubt the very things they are preaching and proclaiming and praying about?
How many times is a person leading in prayer and most of the people are thinking about lunch, or daydreaming?
In the book of Acts we will see that people often lifted their voices together
24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
This may be one of the reasons why that music is so very important in the church
Very few things can get many people thinking and saying the same thing at the same time like a song
This can certainly be evident in a negative way with so much evil music today
Many times it seems that manifestations of the Spirit occur while in the Worship part of the service, or immediately after
Yet, there are so many times where people come to worship like they are watching a show
With all the distractions we have today like smart phones, people are often even on their phones, or daydreaming during worship services nowadays
This is true in individual groups, and in the church as a whole
What would happen here if we all were truly in one accord?
What would happen in Springfield, Ohio if God’s people were truly seeking HIm, in one accord?
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
Then there was sound from heaven - a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit
Like a rushing mighty wind
Spirit is often compared to “wind”
In fact, in both Hebrew and Greek, the same word is used for Spirit and Wind (“Ruach” and “Pneuma”)
This no doubt was a symbol of God’s power being outpoured
Jesus had compared the Spirit to Wind in john 3:8
This sound, no doubt load, “rushing and mighty” was a sign of the vast power being manifested here
Also likely attracted the attention of the multitudes nearby
This “rushing” might also be considered to portray how rapidly the Spirit’s influence would spread. - thousands that day, then within fifty years of that day the gospel had spread to every country in the known world
There appeared divided tongues, as of fire
There appeared divided tongues, as of fire
This verse has nothing to do with speaking in tongues
we will get to that shortly, but that is not what is being described here
There appeared something like fire, in other words, a bright light, manifesting power and glory
the Glory of God had appeared
And divided tongues - like fingers, or individual parts
A tapering flame - (Webster’s lists this as one definition of tongue)
So, imagine something like a great cloud of glory, or fire, with appendages coming out from it to each person
Luke referred to “it” as singular, and the tongues as on each of them, as many
there is one Spirit, but many diversities of the operations or ministries, but the Same Lord
It “sat upon” each of them. It did not flicker away from them, but remained, an abiding presence.
So While they were all in one place and in one accord, this miracle happened
and they all saw it and they all received - it sat upon each of them
There were many different ways this gift would manifest - but all received
We can also do the same thing today
we can seek God in singleness of heart and mind
While God may use each of us in different ways and at diverse times, it is Still the Same Spirit, and from the same anointing
They were all filled
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
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They were all filled with the Holy Spirit -
They began to speak with other tongues - as the Spirit gave them utterance
They all spake, not necessarily at the same time, but as the Spirit gave utterance
This has become such a controversial subject in the church -And it should not be so
As we read on we see that there were actually two miracles occuring here
There was the gift of tongues, as each person was speaking in tongues
There was also a gift of interpretation as people were hearing this in their own language or dialect
There should not be so much controversy about this issue: It happened, the bible says it happened, and it was good
It says that they were speaking “the wonderful works of God”
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
It is also clear that they were speaking in tongues, not specific languages, since some people hearing it thought they were drunk
Peter, while filled with the Spirt explained that this was fulfillment of prophecy
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
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The Bible says that this gift is available to all believers
referring not only to the gift of tongues, but also the gift of the Spirit
That doe snot mean we should “force” this gift on people
It also does not mean that people who are not speaking in tongues are not saved
There is so much misleading teaching on this subject
most of that is because of personal bias - and experiences
Our opinions should be based on the Word
Being on either extreme, past the truth is equally wrong
So consider a few things about tongues:
This was definitely public - multitude came - 3,000 saved
This was glorifying to God (wonderful works of God)
The bible tells us not to forbid to speak in tongues
The bible says that if we only speak in tongues, or use tongues in place of preaching or prophesying, it is like a clanging symbol
Paul said that “in the Church” (or while preaching) he would rather speak five words with understanding than ten thousand in tongues
Paul also said that he spake in tongues more than all of them
The bible also says that it is better that we would prophesy
It is unfortunate that most of the people pointing to this verse to challenge tongues don’t believe in present day prophecy either
There is a good deal written about this topic in
unfortunately many people read through this chapter only taking out the parts they think supports their bias, rather than keeping the whole in context.
Some people claim that there are not tongues today, while others claim that you must speak in tongues to be saved, and others claim that if you don’t speak in tongues you don’t have the Holy Spirit
The bible says that we should covet to prophesy and not to forbid to speak in tongues.
The important thing is that the purpose was to Glorify God, and to proclaim the gospel
When the people had taken notice, Peter began to speak
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
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From verse 22-40 Peter preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, in a way that connects with the people who were present.
That is the purpose in the miracle
To empower the people to proclaim the message and enable the people to receive it
to turn the people from the power of satan to the power of God
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
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The point that Peter concluded with is the same point we need to make to the world today:
Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
You can be a disciple today
There were three thousand souls added that day alone!
3,000 who also received the gift of the Holy Ghost
This promise is to you, to your children, to all who are afar off
there are so many who are still “afar off”
but you can be brought near today
With many other words he “exhorted them” saying “save yourselves from this untoward generation”
we need to be bold enough to “exhort” these days
You must be saved from this generation
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Now fear came on every soul
Oh if only people today had “fear of the Lord”
Who will not fear thee and glorify thy name!
They were together, had things in common
they sold possessions and distributed to the needs
they continued daily
You must stay saved - you must continue, stedfastly
They did so with gladness and simplicity of heart
Praising God and having favor.