Women in the Word Part 2

The Infusion of Power to the Church

This morning we are remembering an important start to the early church. The day the church received POWER!

I am thankful for the Power of Pentecost. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit and all that brings to the church.

I am thankful for what the Holy Spirit brings to my life and that personal experience with the Holy Spirit has transformed my life for the better.

I love how God had a plan that was executed so perfectly and when we read His word we see that handiwork unfold.

This morning we are going to look into the Old Testament and then into the New. I love how God ties both of these testaments together powerfully through the gifts of the spirit!

Joel 2:28–32 NKJV

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

We will also reference Acts 2:1-47 but we will not read all of that this morning.

Pray: Lord let our desire be like in the prophecy of Pentecost so that we can have another experience with the full power of the Holy Spirit coming into our lives!

Back in the Old Testament we were told there would be a Pentecost.

The prophets of the OT told of what was to come and in the NT we see it come to pass and thank God for His goodness and expert plan.

Pentecost Prophecy

In our text we see that the spirit of God will not be restrained by age, gender, religious groups or ethnicity.

The Spirit was poured out on ALL flesh!

Revelation by the Spirit will occur in dreams and visions.

Joel talks of Eschatology here, which is the study of the end times or last days. When he says the “in those days” which means in the day of the Lord. He will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth.

These are things too keep watching for. These are evidences of His hand on His people.

There is also an invitation to saving grace and mercy through Israel that is ment for the entire world which expands the divine blessings to anyone who will call on the Name of the Lord!

Also in Joel’s prophecy there is mention of early and latter rain which is named as a part of the restoration that God will provide from the destruction.

The early rain means the former rain according to the NKJV.

Joel 2:23 NKJV

Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.

The early rain is what causes growth in the fields. Then Joel goes on to talk about continual rain, which helps the seed to continue to grow and blossom.

Then the he talks of the Latter rain which is the rain that comes for final prep for harvest. All relating to how the power of God is poured out on His people to prepare for what is to come.

Then we move into the New Testament where we see these things that Joel talk about come to pass.

Upper Room Entry

We all love Acts 2 or at least I believe we love it. Where we hear how the Holy Spirit comes. It is a refreshing thought process when we think of what Pentecost is about and how Acts 2 reveals it.

Acts 2:1–4 NKJV

When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Joel’s prophecy is 500 years before this time and it came about during the Jewish feast of weeks.

Note the word “fully come” in verse 1 this is to imply a theological fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.

There were 120 people gathered together in one place. These were both men and women. The fact that there were men and women there was evident in verse 14.

Acts 1:14–15 NKJV

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,

They were all there in “one accord” take a look at these words here pantes homo is what it means in Greek which means all together - there was a clear sense of unity among them.

We want to see a move of God there needs to be unity present. We need to all come together no matter the age, race, gender or ethnicity. We have a common thread that brings us together and that is God. We ought to let that be the thing that keeps us unified always!

This 120 were not only in one location this went further than physical togetherness. The unity just did not occur it came as a result of the 40 days between the resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus and where Jesus commanded His followers to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Promise of the Father.

What did they anticipate?

The feast of weeks which was a Jewish feast that was happening next.

The feast of weeks is about the harvest

The word Pentecost means “50” and it just so happened to come 50 days after Easter!

after the resurrection and before the ascension we have no idea what Jesus told the people in that 40 day period other than He spoke to them of His Kingdom.

Jesus also opened up the prophets to them

there were numerous OT passages shared with the disciples during that 40 day period

specifically the passage relating to His death, resurrection and eternal reign.

So this just so happes to be Joel 2 which states how all this is fulfilled.

Acts 2:5–12 NLT

At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

In Acts 2 the disciples don’t seem surprised or amazed that they are speaking in new tongues but the crowd was amazed.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 was manifested by a loud noise and it came about suddenly like a mighty rushing wind from heaven.

Then there was a divine presence that filled the whole room where they were sitting.

Tongues of fire that sat upon each of them

His presence was upon each of them evenly divided

There were visible and audible evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. They had to speak what they were given.

Acts 2:5-13 describes that there was a multitude of people all together in one place. The response of the multitude was:

Confusion 2:6

Amazement 2:12

Perplexity 2:12

Questions - what does this mean? 2:12

Mockery - 2:13

When you think about it, this was a pretty normal reaction hey?

Not much has changed since that time regarding how people respond when the spirit comes upon us and tongues are spoken.

Peter’s Message

Acts 2:14-36 this is where Peter and the 11 disciples are together with others. There is a sense of unity among them clearly. Peter did not hesitate to reference Joel 2:28-32.

This is Peter’s first Pentecost Message the second is in Acts 3:12-26 where he addresses the men of Israel.

Peter immediately draws attention to Jesus of Nazareth, he reminded them of the one they crucified and that He rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection and risen presence was common knowledge in Judea and Galilee. There was no need to explain it to them. Peter was able to get right to talking about Joel’s Prophecy.

The message talked about the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ victory over death, and Jesus’ ascension. Peter referenced Joel and Psalms

Psalm 16:8–11 NLT

I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

The message brought clarity, declaration and opportunity for the Holy Spirit to convict the multitude.

The response of the multitude was amazing!!!!

Acts 2:37 NLT

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter’s words cut their hearts - Pierced their hearts. This is such a powerful dipiction of how the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. This is what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do in John.

John 16:8 NIV

When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

Friends, when the gospel is preached the Holy Spirit is present and working to pierce the hardened heart of the sinner.

Hebrews 4:12–13 NLT

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

This shows the word of God is powerful and the human heart and soul is transformed by it.

There were two questions that came from Pentecost:

What does this mean?

What shall we do?

Answers:

Proclamation

Response - repentance -=Transformation!

Then in Acts 2:40-47 we see what happened!

There was a new community formed immediately why?

Because the Holy Spirit did a work and the people responded to the gospel and the church grew from 120 to 3120 which is multiplication by 30

You talk about a powerful time? Imagine seeing 3000 people coming to know Jesus! What an amazing sight!

Conclusion:

We are to remember that Pentecost is about the birth of the church! For everyone! It is more than an invitation to prepare ourselves at the feet of Jesus. The more we understand His word the more we are ready for what the Lord is preparing us to do in this season.

On this Pentecost Sunday may we remember and be encouraged to be filled with the spirit and use this gift. The initial evidence is important and should not be neglected.

It is equally important that we remember the infilling of the Holy Spirit empowers us as witnesses of Jesus.

God’s empowerment of the 12 apostles was just the beginning.

He gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us! Not just those 12 men.

Men and women were filled with the Holy Spirit

Men and women were gifted with the Spirit

Men and women were speaking God’s truth.

The birth of the church is a moment in history where God’s plan of unity and equality is unleashed.

The words of OT prophecy are boldly proclaimed to the crowd.

God’s plan is clear - in the kingdom of God there will be no discrimination from race, gender, age or social status.

God will pour out His spirit on ALL people to prophesy, and speak His word on His behalf. This plan was not an afterthought on God’s part. It was planned and calculated perfectly and it is for ANYONE.

Anyone here is:

Jew or Gentile

Woman or man

Young or Old

Slave or Free

You!

There are areas where injustice exists but Pentecost reminds us that these struggles are not from our own frustration. God is calling us - the church- back to who we were orginally made to be.

The Holy Spirit is the precious gift given to all people and God calls based on gifting not gender!

Equality is the very truth that the Holy Spirit spoke over the birth of the church and we are to respect it, repeat it and represent it wherever we go!

The image of Christ is found in both male and female. To refuse to see God in both is to do away with a major part of the plan of God. Which means you would only be embraching half the plan and we would never want to do that! Imagine only believing half of the Bible?

Sons and daughters will be recipients of the future divine blessings to Israel in the OT. The early church is the fulfillment of these hopes.

Two questions we need to respond to this morning:

What is the Holy Spirit doing in your life? in our midst?

What is our response to His activity?