Signs of the Coming of the Holy Spirit-Part 2

DECEMBER 12, 2021 STUDY NOTES ACTS 2:3-4 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT—PART TWO INTRODUCTION Last week we looked at the audible sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit, 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 audible sign was the sound from heaven which sounded like a rushing mighty wind The wind is always unseen, we do not see the wind, but we know that it is there We feel the effect of it, we see the results of it, we know when the wind comes On the Day of Pentecost, they did not see the Holy Spirit, but they knew He had come They felt the effects of His coming, they saw the results of His coming The Holy Spirit is an unseen power, but we sense His presence, and we experience His power The audible sign of His coming on the Day of Pentecost was a sound from heaven In verse 3 we have a visible sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit A VISIBLE SIGN Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. The verse begins “and” suggesting that we have another physical sign of the coming of the Spirit The visible sign of “cloven tongues like as of fire” Biblical signs point out the truth of something, here the proof is that the Holy Spirit had come God gave a sign to the ear, the sound as of a rushing mighty wind God gave a sign to the eye, cloven tongues like as of fire The sound of the wind was the evidence of the power of God within the Holy Spirit The power that would dwell within the believer which Paul describes in, Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, The cloven tongues of fire, was the evidence of God’s presence in the person of the Holy Spirit “Cloven” means the tongues were divided up, separated, and distributed among all the disciples Divided out and sitting upon each disciple, each one had received the same from the same source Every disciple present received personally what the Holy Spirit came to do that day They saw what looked like “tongues of fire,” and the flame was sitting on each of them The use of our literal tongue is to communicate with others through language To make known to others what we are thinking, explaining to others what we want them to know The signs of the sound as of wind and the tongues of fire explained what God was saying The tongues like as of fire represent the truth that the Spirit will speak through believers That which was being explained was the fulfilled promise of God The evidence that God had sent the Holy Spirit as promised The evidence that the promise of Jesus was being fulfilled, Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Jesus had made another promise concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit, Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you So, what are we to learn from these words, “Like as of fire?” Page 1 of 4 The Jews knew that “fire” had been used as a symbol of the presence of God before When God appeared to Moses, Exo 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. When God gave the Ten Commandments, Deu 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, In Acts the emblem is not just fire but “tongues like as of fire,” which is significant God was revealing to the disciples that He would now speak through them by the Holy Spirit The NT church is to be a “speaking church,” which began at Pentecost (Acts 2:6-11) Some Bible scholars apply the “tongues like as fire” to the baptism of fire found in, Luk 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Which is not correct, listen to Jesus just before he ascended back to the Father, Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Jesus said nothing about the baptism with fire which refers to God’s wrath yet to come, Luk 3:17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. Jesus said nothing about actual fire being a part of the believer’s experience in Acts 2 In Acts 10 when Cornelius and his household were baptized with the Holy Spirit, Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Peter gave a report of that experience to the church in Jerusalem, Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. And he repeated the words of Jesus, Act 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Again, there is no mention of the baptism with fire All N. T. believers are baptized with the Spirit the moment they are saved Those who have rejected Christ will experience the baptism of fire The baptism of fire will occur at the time of the return of Christ Which will take place within the time-period known as the “Day of the Lord” The tongues of fire that sat upon the disciples was not for the purpose of judgment Acts 2:4 will tell us that it was a visible sign of this new ministry of the Holy Spirit The disciples would now speak as the Spirit gave them utterance The cloven tongues as of fire sat upon each of the disciples, not one was left out and it sat upon each of them. Revealing to them that God had united them together “In-Christ” Jew and Gentile were united together into the N. T. Church, the Body of Christ Which Paul calls a N. T. mystery, Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, A mystery that we can now understand, Eph 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) A N. T. mystery is that which was previously unknown but now made known by the Holy Spirit, Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; So, what was this mystery that had been made known through the Spirit? Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Jews and Gentiles becoming fellow heirs of the same body began on the Day of Pentecost The N. T. church had its beginning on the Day of Pentecost FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT Page 2 of 4 Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. In our study of Acts, we will find the influence, power, and success of the early church Even though they faced severe persecution thousands were won to Christ Churches were established throughout the Roman world, Jew and Gentile were united together How could the early church have accomplished so much success for the Kingdom of God? In Acts 2:4 we have the answer, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” Which means, they were being controlled by the Spirit, they were under the influence of the Spirit The power of the Holy Spirit was working through them They were able to do that which was beyond the normal activity of man, they did the unusual How powerful could the church of today be if we “all” came together “filled with the Spirit? What kind of an influence could we have if we “all” went away today “filled with the Spirit?” We have been given the same promise of power that they had, Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. We too have the power to carry out the Great Commission, Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: We too can teach the world about Jesus, Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. They had been baptized with the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, and sealed by the Spirit In addition, they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” The Day of Pentecost in one sense was a unique experience, fulfilling God’s promise All of which does not need to be repeated, it was a once for all occurrence The “sound as of a rushing mighty wind” does not need to be repeated The “cloven tongues like as of fire” does not need to be repeated The N. T. church had its beginning, all-of the disciples were baptized with the Spirit They were united as the “Body of Christ,” the local church was now prepared to minister That which must be repeated is they “were all filled with the Holy Spirit” All believers who were present were filled with the Holy Spirit, there were no exceptions Today we are commanded to be continually filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Something happened because they were filled with the Holy Spirit Which was the evidence that the Holy Spirit had come upon them It is the “filling of the Spirit” that enables Christians to serve God, to be a witness for Christ The modern church of today has tried many means, methods, plans, and strategies for service Attempting to serve God and reach the lost world for Christ, manmade methods have no power The power of service for God comes from God through the Holy Spirit I recently read of an illustration that makes a strong point for the church of today There was an ice storm, the news media announced, “churches closed today due to lack of power” The power to open the doors of the church and fill the pews comes from the Holy Spirit Pay close attention to Acts 2:4, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, “and began to speak with other tongues” They were all continually speaking with other tongues, repeating what they were saying There are many questions and many different opinions concerning this verse Why were they speaking with other tongues? Exactly what was the meaning of tongues? What was the tongue speaking that day? The reason there are different opinions is because of what some want these verses to say The same reason why there are many other passages with different opinions Some come to the Bible with their mind made up before they read a passage Page 3 of 4 Don’t read the Bible looking for a verse that says what you think it ought to say Read the Bible to learn what it says and then go away with your mind made up The answer to the questions of this verse, are found within the context of the passage We are told why they began to speak with other tongues, because the Spirit gave them utterance “As the Spirit gave them utterance,” utterance means the sound of words Which means that coming from the disciples was the sound of words And the words were discernable because they were words of known languages (Acts 2:6-11) But they were not known by the disciples until the “Spirit gave them utterance” The “Other tongues” on the Day of Pentecost were words of known languages Words that could be understood, the crowd perfectly understood what they were hearing They were not words that could not be understood, there was no need for an interpreter The tongue speaking on the Day of Pentecost was not an “unknown tongue” It was not the same as that found in the Church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 12-14) In Corinth the hearer could not understand what was spoken without an interpreter On the Day of Pentecost, they spoke in foreign languages, which they had not previously learned The wonderful works of God were shared with all nations at one time in their native language There is a relationship of being filled with the Spirit and “speaking” often found in scripture, Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Next verse, Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Put the two verses together, continually be filled with the Spirit and continually speak Godly The Spirit will reveal His influence upon you through your speaking, Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Put together, Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Compare that verse with what Barnabas said about Saul’s testimony, Act 9:27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Because he was filled with the Spirit he spoke boldly of Jesus, Act 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. We find the same with Paul and Barnabas, Act 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. (Last verse of chapter 13) Act 14:1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. Read within their context the verses stating the filling of the Spirit: Acts 2:4; 4:8,31; 6:3,5; 7:55; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9,52 Jesus had commissioned his disciple to witness to the world (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus promised that through the Holy Spirt they would receive power to witness (Acts 1:8) Those promises were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) The language of every nation of the civilized world of that time was heard (Ac. 2:5-8) Everyone in Limestone County has not heard the “Gospel of Jesus” Pray that you will continually be filled with the Spirit and continually speak for God Listen to the song and pray that what you hear will be your own personal experience Leave today and live tomorrow with the evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life Page 4 of 4