Signs of the Coming of the Holy Spirit-Part One

DECEMBER 5, 2021 STUDY NOTES ACTS 2:1-2 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT—PART ONE INTRODUCTION In a previous message we studied the Promise of God the Father to send the Holy Spirit And the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit and how often their promises were given We saw how important the fulfillment of their promise really was We studied the results and the benefits of the Coming of the Holy Spirit Acts 2 is a most important study of scripture, truths that we need to learn as Christians today Learning of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the early church is important to us today We must learn what the Holy Spirit wants to do and will do in our life today Too often the present ministry of the Holy Spirit is a neglected study for Baptist churches The ministry of our individual life and the ministry of the church depends upon His ministry We must learn the truth of a verse that we will refer to many times in our study of Acts, Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Through our study in Acts we will learn the meaning of “be filled with the Spirit” THE DAY OF PENTECOST Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. At the time of His ascension Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem, Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. Jesus had told them what they were waiting for, Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Jesus did not tell them how long they would have to wait, He said it would be in a few days Jesus had promised to send the Spirit after He had ascended back to the Father, Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. It had been 10 days since the ascension of Jesus The disciples knew that the coming of the Spirit could now take place The Day of Pentecost was an annual feast held in Jerusalem, the name Pentecost means “fiftieth” It was celebrated 50 days after the Feast of First fruits, Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: The new offering of the wheat harvest looked forward to the coming of the N.T. Church, Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. The day of Pentecost was also known by several other names Each name represented something special to the Jewish people Each name placed a special emphasis upon the importance of the feast Pentecost is also called the “Feast of weeks,” Deu 16:10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Page 1 of 4 Pentecost is also called the “Feast of Harvest,” Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. It was a celebration of the harvest, thanking God for His faithfulness to provide It was also called the “Day of Firstfruits,” Num 28:26 Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: They gave their first fruits in promise of the whole belonging to God It was not the same as the “Feast of First Fruits,” which was the third spring feast The “Feast of First Fruits” was in recognition of God’s provision for that year’s harvest On the Feast of First Fruits the priest waved a sheaf of grain before the Lord On the Day of Pentecost, the priest presented two loaves of bread before the Lord God had instructed them to “bring two loaves of bread for a wave offering,” Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. Those two loaves represented the beginning of the N.T. Church One loaf represented the Jewish believers, the other loaf represented Gentile believers On the Day of Pentecost, described in Acts 2, there was a great harvest of souls, Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Believers united into the “Body of Christ,” a body of Jews and Gentiles united together, 1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. That which unites all believers into the “Body of Christ” is the “Baptism of the Spirit,” 1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. What great truths we find in the calendar of Jewish feasts, revealing the Person and work of Jesus In the Passover we find the picture of the Perfect lamb, His death as the “Lamb of God,” Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Jesus was crucified during the Passover week Passover pictured the cross of Jesus which delivered us from the slavery of Satan and sin In the Feast of First Fruits we find the picture of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, 1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. In the Feast of Pentecost, we find the picture of the formation of the N.T. Church At Pentecost, the Jews celebrated the giving of the Law Today, because of the Day of Pentecost, in Acts 2, we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit Today we pray for what we call “Pentecostal Power,” today we sing of “Pentecostal Power” Our prayer is for the Holy Spirit to be in control of our daily life Pentecostal Power can be ours through the Holy Spirit at any time and any place The day of Pentecost was fully come, For many years the Jews had celebrated the Day of Pentecost But this particular-Day of Pentecost was the one God had appointed, the one God had set aside God had promised that this day would come, Jesus had promised that this day would come The “not many days hence” of Acts 1:5 had come The day for the Coming of the Holy Spirit had arrived They did not have to wait any longer for the “promise of the Father,” Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. Page 2 of 4 they were all with one accord in one place. Ten days from the time of His ascension was the Day of Pentecost and the disciples were waiting They had obeyed Jesus, they waited together in body, mind, heart, will, soul, and love for God They shared the same desire to be obedient to the words of Jesus All of which should be true of us today, and we find truth that can apply to us today But the Holy Spirit did not come because they were all with one accord in one place The Coming of the Holy Spirit was not based upon the faith and obedience of the disciples The coming of the Holy Spirit was according to God’s timetable and not the faithfulness of man The same will be true when Jesus returns to the earth, Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Jesus will return whether you are saved or not Jesus will come whether you are living a faithful Christian life or not Acts 2 is not teaching conditions which must be met before you can receive the Holy Spirit You receive the Holy Spirit when you receive Christ into your life You will experience the Spirit’s presence and power as you commit your mind and heart to Him The “one place” may have been the upper room, Act 1:13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. Or they could have been gathered somewhere in the Temple area The “all that were together” was those described in Acts 1:13-15 which totaled 120 disciples, Act 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 120 were physically gathered-together as followers of Jesus Christ 120 were spiritually “all together” waiting for the Promise of the Father They would soon be united-together forever in one spiritual body known as the “Church” Which is the “Body of Christ” united together through the baptism of the Holy Spirit The promise to send the Holy Spirit is fulfilled and confirmed by signs AN AUDIBLE SIGN Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The disciples did not know the exact time of the Holy Spirit’s arrival Jesus had said that it would be in a few days (Acts 1:5) It happened “suddenly,” all at once, quickly, surprising, and without warning There was an audible sign, “a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind” They did not feel the wind, they heard a sound like a wind, but there was no wind They heard a roar that sounded like a violent, rushing wind, like a windstorm The physical evidence that the Holy Spirit’s coming had been fulfilled was a great noise The sound of a great noise represented the Spirit’s presence and power Was the sound heard only by the 120 disciples or did all of Jerusalem hear it? Something attracted the attention of a crowd, Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. It was probably the sound as of a rushing mighty wind that brought the crowd together Later we will see what the crowd witnessed as they gathered near the disciples of Jesus The sound they heard came from heaven, it was a supernatural sound, the sound of God’s breath The sound was heard all over Jerusalem, but God’s breath fell only upon the 120 disciples Wind is one of the emblems of the Spirit found in the O.T. and the N.T. Page 3 of 4 In the Hebrew and Greek language, the same word is used for “wind” and “spirit” In Ezekiel 37 there is a prophecy which has to do with the nation of Israel Ezekiel was taken by God to see a valley filled with dry bones, Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, The Spirit of the Lord transported Ezekiel into the realm of spiritual vision God asked Ezekiel, Eze 37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Is there any power to bring these bones to life? Ezekiel said, God, only by your power Ezekiel was told to prophesy over the bones, Eze 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Ezekiel obeyed and a divine miracle occurred, Eze 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. A noise, a shaking, an earthquake, a time of shake, rattle, and roll Nine times through verse 10 the same Hebrew word is found, translated spirit, wind, and breath The four winds, which the prophet called breath, are the divine breath of the Holy Spirit Then in verse 14 we find the word translated Spirit again, Eze 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. Ezekiel and the nation of Israel will know that the Lord has performed and fulfilled His promise In the N.T., Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the New Birth, Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Jesus used the wind as an explanation of the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit, Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. The wind stands as a symbol of the influence and power of the Holy Spirit Such power and influence could only come from Heaven Ordinary winds blow from the north, south, east, west, or from a combined direction of them all Remember there was no wind, only the sound of wind, but they knew it was coming from heaven The working of the Holy Spirit is always of God, the very breath of God The sound of the wind was the audible sign that God’s promise to send the Spirit was fulfilled In verse 3 we have the visual sign of the Spirit’s arrival and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The room was completely-filled with the holy noise which came from Heaven In verse 4 we are told that the 120 disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit There may be something significant about the mention of them sitting The point being that they were doing what Jesus had told them to do, “wait in Jerusalem” Traditionally, Jews prayed either while standing or kneeling, here they were “sitting” The emphasis is not placed upon their praying, but upon their waiting as Jesus had said The coming of the Holy Spirit was according to God’s plan and timetable What happened on the Day of Pentecost was not because the 120 were seeking and praying They were all a part of what happened that day Today all believers experience the present ministry of the Holy Spirit The present ministry of the Holy Spirit had its beginning in Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost We will learn of the present ministry of the Holy Spirit in our study of Acts There is a song we need to learn, a song we need to sing often in our worship services And not just when we observe the Lord’s Supper Page 4 of 4