Acts 2:1-13
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we have spoken of the Holy ghost’s impact on our lives and the importance it has
As we look once again in Acts we can see how the spirit had an immediate impact on the believers of Christ
Each of us who have been saved have experienced the Holy Spirit convicting us and then guiding us and we all know how terrifying that feeling is the first time you experience it
The Holy Spirit is a spectacular gift and a necessity to the advancement of the kingdom
This is why Jesus found it so significant that the spirit dwell on earth
And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
So lets set our scripture up, the day of Pentecost had came, this was the day that all Jewish men were going to be coming t Jerusalem.
As they stood there gathered in one place scripture says Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting”
Now when discussing the spirit I want us to know something
The spirit is not here to make a show but he is here to make himself known.
I do not anticipate that this wind that is spoken of was a breeze
in fact scripture calls it a rushing mighty wind.
So the spirit was making its presence known
Not for sake of making a show but for the sake of doing a great work in Jerusalem
The spirit came into Jerusalem and in verses 3-4 scripture says
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
There are many theories as to what the reference of cloven tongues and fire represent, some say it was the representation of the tower of Babel in reverse
Regardless the truth that we do know today is that the Holy Ghost was making his presence known to Jerusalem via the speaking of tongues.
Scripture teaches that the Holy Ghost gave them all utterance which is to mean he gave them a spoken word.
Now a couple things I want us to notice here is first that the spirit did not fill the men of God with gibberish
Rather the spirit filled the men of God with languages from across the world.
In verse 4 scripture said “they began to speak with other tongues”
This means they began to speak different languages
The miracle in this great work was that Christ had given the men the ability to share the truth of his word in Jerusalem to all present
That being said I am going to be blunt and honest about some appalachian mis conceptions regarding the gift of speaking in tongues before we continue
The speaking of tongues is only done through the assistance of an interpreter
If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
2. they must be led by the Holy Ghost and not through a ill conceived decision to speak in tongues
Just as our scripture today we recognized that the spirit led the men
You cannot wake up tomorrow and say “I am going to speak in tongues today”, no it has to be the spirit leading you to do so and cannot be based on our own decision
3. Also if the gift of tongues is truly present it will not present itself in the form of gibberish but it will present itself in the form another language
4. If the tongues that are being draws attention to you and not to Christ then you are not speaking with the gift of tongues but rather you are speaking in gibberish
5. there needs to be a reason
The spirit can certainly still work in the gif of tongues but will only do so with a purpose. We presently see the speaking of tongues here in acts as a means in which the word of God would be shared across language barriers.
I share this with you because churches across our Appalachian region of southwest Virginia find themselves speaking gibberish and drawing attention to individuals through bad theology and simply a laziness when it comes to understanding the scripture
See in verse 5 the miracle that was done through the Holy spirit is beginning to be recognized
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
What these verses are showing us is that the great miracle that happened was simple astounding
In looking at these 3 verses backwards verse 7 said they were all amazed because everyone who spoke in tongues were Galileans
meaning the ones who spoke in tongues all spoke the same language
Yet in verse 5 we earn that present with them were devout Jews from every nation
The ones present spoke many different languages yet they all heard their individual language from the ones who were speaking in tongues
The great work here certainly is similar to the tower of Babel in reverse where here we see the spirit of God leading the mean that had many different languages to all understand the same thing from men who did not speak their language.
In fact it was so shocking to them that in verse 8-10 it is reiterarted with power by the scripture saying
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
This was a big deal for the ones gathered here
The spirit had made his presence known.
He had done a great work through the people.
Many nations heard the same message that day through the proper and scriptural working of the gift of tongues
Finally in verse 11-13
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
Certainly their was still confusion
Why did the Holy Spirit do this?
Many questioned it and some just blamed it on being drunk
The truth for us today however is that through the greta work of the Holy Spirit the word of God has no boundaries
I encourage you to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit use it to lead your lives
See the Holy Spirit is convicting the lost and leading the saved closer to Christ
If we rely on the spirit we can be led to Christ
J.I Packer states “The Holy Spirits main ministry is not to give thrills, but to create in us Christlike character”
Most of us are here because we have a desire to be Christlike
It happens through the spirit
Now find yourself to be usable for the spirit by keeping yourself clean from sin
By committing yourself to Christ and departing from the ways of this world you may find yourself usable by the spirit
In conclusion, The spirit was brought here to lead us
It is now our time to allow it to lead and to allow it to do a great work.