Pentecost

I Will Build My Church: Luke & Acts Series  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  51:44
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The Moody Bible Commentary a. The Coming of the Spirit (2:1–4)
Pentecost means “fiftieth” because the Feast was on the 50th day after the Feast of First Fruits (Lv 23:16). It was originally one of three harvest festivals, but in early (intertestamental) Judaism it was commemorated as the anniversary of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai because it was thought that God gave the law to Israel 50 days after the exodus. Pentecost would come in May or June on our calendar. It is possible that God gave the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to contrast with the law. The law was an external means of restraining Israel from sin, but in the new era of the church, the Holy Spirit would provide internal power for believers to live righteously (Jr 31:33; Ezk 36:26–27).
David Brickner states: “Like all the biblical feasts that God gave to Israel, God intended Pentecost to help His people remember what He’d done in the past. Remembering what He’d done in the past would help them recognize His continuing care in the present… and that’s what the people needed in order to put their hope in His promises for tomorrow.
God’s people today have the same need to remember what God has done, and that is why Pentecost is meaningful to both Jews and Gentiles who trust in Jesus. …”
Consider Luke’s narrative in Acts 2:1-13 of this event almost 2000 years ago...
Acts 2:1–13 NASB95
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 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. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
The people in Jerusalem are gathering together to celebrate a festival! A festival celebrating and remembering firstfruits… What no one could imagine, including the apostles, is the harvest that was to come with the coming of the Holy Spirit!

The Promise Fulfilled!

Verses 1-4 inform us of this miraculous coming… God’s timing is never by happenstance…
Passover event in Exodus… Christ death
Giving of the law… Imagery here with the indwelling power of the Spirit
First fruits celebration… with the harvest to come and the image Paul gives of Christ as the firstfruit of the Resurrection… SO MANY PICTURES !!!
God had promised this...
In the OT through his prophets like Joel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and David and others
It had been promised by Christ as He walk among them and after His Resurrection
God had come to indwell believers… something the world had never experienced before!
God came with a noise… I think of Elijah and God wispered
When God whispered Elijah proclaimed!
When God announced His coming this time His followers each proclaimed!
We see here that there is an audible and visual representation of the coming Holy Spirit… Like tongues of fire!
God was making it known this was Him working, nothing short of a miracle!
Resting on each one there… these were already followers of Christ
There was a filling that occured here… like fire!
Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to consume you?
Fire does a purifying work, scripture speaks to this many places
Have you ever seen what happens with fire when wind comes with it… watch out!
Wind and fire has come and God is going to do an amazing work in and through His Church and Hell cannot stand in the way or stop it!
they began to speak in other tongues” this was a work of the Spirit in them. WHY?

God’s Mighty Deeds Proclaimed

Verses 5-13 gives us a glimpse of how God set things up for His message to go forth...
These are devout religious Jews who come to see what the commotion is… they hear the noise too!
Imagine their surprise!!! They are hearing their mother tongue… NOT the trade language of Greek but the language they were born with!
Most bibles have a world map in them… the nations, and peoples, and languages listed here encompass most of the known world at that time!
All there for the feast and celebration
Tongues over and over here in acts 2 are referencing spoken languages
The miracle is not in the hearing but in the speaking by those who are believers!
They are hearing these things and amazement and wonder consumes the people...
Two natural responses when we hear about God clearly
SOME… what does this mean… OTHERS… mock “they are tipsy”
Both groups need to hear the Gospel

The Gospel is Proclaimed!!!

Verses 14-36 Peter’s Powerful Proclamation (I love how verse 14 begins… “BUT PETER”)
Any number of excuses could have been given that day...
They didn't even listen to Jesus why me
I mess things up when I speak
I messed up, denied Christ, He can’t use me
They are already making fun of us, what’s the use… and on and on the list can go “BUT PETER!”
Using Scripture (God’s Word holds power people!!!) Peter shows that Jesus was the messiah the promised one...
Peter explains what they are seeing is not drunkeness but the fulfilled promise of the coming Spirit
In their midst scripture is being fulfilled
Verse 32… Peter states they are witnesses of Him risen. Oh church the power of personal testimony!
The people were given God’s word, they heard His word… and God worked! That day God built up His church...

The Response to the Gospel...

Acts 2:37-42
Acts 2:37–42 NASB95
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?” 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. “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.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Repentance is needed 180 degree turn
Baptism… identifying with Christ
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:4 The Spirit’s baptism occurs once for each believer at the moment of salvation, but the Spirit’s filling may occur not only at salvation but also on a number of occasions after salvation
It is through Jesus only that comes the forgiveness of Sin
The Holy Spirit is not earned, it is a gift
Paul would make this clear in Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB95
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It is for everyone for ALL!!! (young, old, Jew, Gentile, slave, free)
It is not enough to hear His Word, one must receive it!
3000 did that day, God worked through His church… the fire of the Holy Spirit consumed the hearts of the people
The harvest was ready, and these were just the beginning! Luke will show us how God’s Word about His Son would spread across the world
Growing…
Devotion to teaching, learning, growing
Fellowship cannot be understated for the necessity of the believer’s walk with God
Remembering Him and Prayer...

DAY BY DAY...

Verse 47 closes with a powerful statement you and I need to remember… Acts 2:47
Acts 2:47 NASB95
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The Lord is doing the work of building His church
You and I are called to testify, to witness to others what He has done for us!
Day By Day… wow let’s begin to allow God to work in our lives Day by Day!
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