Fulfilling Through the Filling (Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 5:18)

Setting:

The setting takes place in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, which is 50 days after the passover and also 50 days after the crucifixion.

Jesus has risen from the grave and He has been appearing to His followers for 40 days in His resurrected body. Before He finally ascends to Heaven He gives one last command to His followers. Then His disciples respond to this by coming together and praying and God eventually does a great and mighty work through them all.

As I read this passage in my own personal devotional time, I had to self evaluate. God probed my heart with a question… “Are you living your life FILLED with the Holy Spirit?”

I. The Commission to be Fulfilled (Acts 1:8)

Acts 1:8 (KJV 1900)

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.

A Loved One’s last Words are often something that people hang on to for the rest of their lives. Maybe you have been by the deathbed of someone who was special to you and maybe they said something before they passed away and it has always stuck with you.

EXAMPLE: My Great Grandmother Ruby, when she passed away, I was very little, probably 5 or 6 years old. But my mother often tells me the last thing Grandma Ruby told her before she passed… she simply signed “I Love You”, and that has always stuck with my mom until this very day, she has never forgotten that. My aunt Kristi says she’ll always remember how she said she could see heaven and how beautiful it was right before she passed away. Someone’s last words are often the one’s you hang onto the tightest.

Here in Acts 1:8, these are the last words that Jesus said before ascending into heaven. He gave a command. He told the apostles and those that were with them to go and reach the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. He told them to start where they were and then expand to the rest of the world.

This was not anything the disciples hadnt heard before, but one that Christ had commanded on several occasions in the gospels and wanted to remind them of one final time.

Matthew 28:19–20 (KJV 1900)

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 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.

Mark 16:15 (KJV 1900)

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Luke 24:47–48 (KJV 1900)

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.

John 20:21 (KJV 1900)

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

While the Disciples were distracted and thinking about other things Acts 1:6 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus had to remind them once again of His great command to reach the world for Christ.

The restoration of the Kingdom of Israel was not a bad thing to be concerned about, but it was a distraction from their main purpose.

I know that I oftentimes get distracted from my purpose by many things. And often times those are good things, but they become a problem when they take my mind off the goal, which is reaching the world with the gospel of Christ. And oftentimes we as the church also get distracted by a great many things that are good, but they are not our purpose! We exist as a church to glorify God in all things, but also to evangelize the world!

They were given a daunting task that seemed impossible. How were these few believers going to reach the uttermost parts of the earth all by themselves? Jesus gave them the key in the beginning of verse 8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”. The key was the power of the Holy Spirit! Something else Jesus had mentioned before in the upper room (John 16)

If we as the church are going to fulfill our purpose of evangelizing the world, we are going to need the Holy Spirit. We are going to need the filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives because only He can provide the necessary power to evangelize our communities, our states, our nation, and ultimately our world!

II. The Means of Fulfilling It (Acts 1:14; 2:1)

Right after Christ gave this commission and ascended to Heaven, the disciples gathered together in the upper room and were in ONE ACCORD. Then in Acts 2:1, they are seen STILL gathering in one accord! This is about 10 days time.

What does it mean to be in One Accord? It paints the picture of a symphony or orchestra. Everyone in the body of Christ is different, we are different “instruments” so to speak. But when we all come together and pray and have the same goals of being right with God, and being obedient to God, and seeking His face, God does some miraculous things. We are all playing different instruments, and playing different notes, but ultimately we are all playing the same song!

So while the disciples all had different talents, different personalities, and different backgrounds, they still all came together with the same purpose. They came together and prayed for the same thing. I believe they came together to pray about how they could fulfill this final command of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were waiting for the promise of the power that they would need in order to reach the uttermost parts of the earth.

This is an echo of 1 Corinthians 12:4-22

We all have differing backgrounds, personalities, and God given abilities, but yet we all work together and we are all necessary

In the same way, despite all of us being different, if we all get on the same page and “try to play the same song” so to speak (be of one accord), God can use this church to fulfill His command!

When the church does what it is supposed to do, God accomplishes what He wants to do through the church.

If we can just lay aside everything else, and get on the same page, God can fulfill His mission through us at CRBC.

Notice that they werent of one accord for one day or one moment… they were gathered in one accord for about 10 days

Jesus ascended 40 days after His resurrection, Pentecost was 50 days after passover… therefore about 10 days

But it didnt stop there either… they were also in one accord in chapter 4 and 5.

Acts 4:24 (KJV 1900)

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Acts 5:12 (KJV 1900)

And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

They continued to be in one accord

How do we get in One Accord? Every time the phrase “One Accord” is mentioned in conjuction with the church, it is almost always accompanied with coming together, prayer, and unity.

To be in One accord together we need to be assembling together, praying together, and being in unity.

III. The Power to Fulfill It (Acts 2:2-4)(Ephesians 5:18)

So the disciples had been given the commission, they gathered together in one accord, and then something amazing happened… The Holy Spirit filled that place and filled each one of them!

The Bible says that there were cloven tongues of fire that appeared over each one of them. The power that Jesus had promised in Acts 1:8 had now come to a reality, the power of the Holy Spirit was now upon them and was filling them.

The church had now received its power to fulfill this final command of the Lord Jesus Christ… to witness to the uttermost parts of the earth

For the disciples to be able to fulfill this great commission, they were going to need the Holy Spirit to empower them for the task. There is no possible way they could do it on their own!

We too, like the disciples, need the Holy Spirit to empower us in order to fulfill the purpose God has given to the church.

When I read this passage just last week i began asking myself and evaluating some things… Why am I not doing a better job at fulfilling the Great Commission? Why am i not seeing souls saved through my ministry? and the answer i got from the Lord was simple… you need to be FILLED with the Holy Spirit.

Yes, I have the Holy Spirit indwelling my soul - that happened at the moment of conversion - but am I living my life being FILLED with the Holy Spirit?

What do I mean by being filled by the Holy spirit?

I do not believe, nor do I believe the Bible teaches that you can get more or less of the Holy Spirit. The moment one gets saved, they forever possess all of the Holy Spirit that they will ever need.

I believe being Filled with the Holy Spirit means letting the Holy Spirit have more of me. (Ephesians 5:18)

The disciples that day experienced the power of God as a result of them being filled with the Holy Spirit.

There are 4 things that being filled with the Spirit will cause based off verse 3

Fire = pictured many times in the OT to represent purification. When the church gets in one accord and begins seeking to be filled with the Spirit, God will begin to purify His people.

Psalm 12:6 KJV 1900

The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 KJV 1900

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

When we get filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will begin to purge our hearts and lives of the things that dont need to be there. This is uncomfortable, but necessary. He may show you something you dont want to see, ask you to do something you dont want to do… but in the end it is worth it! Because then and only then can the power of God work in you!

Fire = also represented sacrifice in the OT. Man would offer a sacrifice, But when God would accept the sacrifice, He would send fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice. These “cloven tongues of fire” were sent from God, so it was a picture of God saying that He accepted these men as His living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). (Story of Elijah and God answering by fire)

The purification of God leads into us being acceptable sacrifices of God, ready to be consumed by Him. “For our God is a consuming fire.” Heb 12:29

When we get filled with the Holy Spirit, everything else gets consumed and crowded out by Him. Theres no room for anything else

Sat Upon Them = The picture of “sitting” in the OT almost always represented something that was finished or completed. This is why the priests could never sit down when in the tabernacle, because their work was never completed. But when we get filled with the Spirit, God completely prepares us for His work. How so? Because His Holy Spirit is all we need to complete the work! Its not about us or our ability, because without Him we can do NOTHING (John 15:5)

The Holy Spirit is the power. We can do all the prep work we want. But ultimately all is vain unless the Spirit comes down!

Im not against Bible College (I graduated from one) but The disciples didnt have to go to Bible college or go through some special training, the Bible calls them ignorant and unlearned men. All they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit. All WE need is the Holy Spirit

Sat Upon EACH OF THEM = This shows that God indwells and His spirit fills each of us on an individual basis, not just on a corporate scale. This is important because each of the disciples were going to need the Spirit individually in order to spread the Gospel. They were going to need to spread out, so therefore if it was only a corporate thing, then they wouldve all had to stay together constantly. But God’s work couldnt have been done as effectively if they all stayed together the entire time. So the Holy Spirit descended and dwelled upon EACH INDIVIDUAL, because it was what they needed in order to fulfill Jesus’ last command of Acts 1:8.

We cant rely on just Pastor or the staff to be filled with the Holy Spirit and that be good enough for the rest of us… each and every individual person in here needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit

When this happens, watch what God can and will do through us here at CRBC!!!

Something strange yet amazing started happening… they speak in tongues, they draw a huge crowd, and then Peter - Filled with the Spirit - preaches a short but powerful message and 3,000 souls came to know Christ as their Savior!

If you and I here at Cross Roads will all decide to get in One Accord about being right with God, about desiring to obey God and His Word, then I believe each one of us in here can experience the filling of the Holy Spirit and through that filling God will Purify us, He will Consume us, He will Prepare us, and ultimately we will see Him USE US!

The key to fulfilling is through the filling!

Conclusion:

It is my prayer that each one of us today will remember our purpose in fulfilling the Great Commission.

We have a lost and dying world that needs the Gospel

May we also decide to come together and be of one accord in the fulfilling of that commission

And Finally, may we each desire with all our hearts to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can fulfill the commands of Christ

Ephesians 5:18 - It is a continual process

Being filled with the spirit is not a one time event that we live off of forever. It is a process that is never ending… we have to continually be striving to be filled with the Spirit by daily surrendering to Him. Every day letting the Holy Spirit have more of yourself until theres nothing left to give!

It took time for the disciples… they had to wait 10 days… itll take time for us as well