HOLY SPIRIT; THE
POWER OF THE CHURCH
Acts 2:1-13
V:1. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place."
A. Pente means fifty.
Pentecost is fifty days after the resurrection of Christ.
1. This was God's
appointed time for the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers.
2. They were all
in one place awaiting the fulfillment of the promise of power
given by
Jesus.
a. Whatsoever
Jesus promised, we should anticipate.
3. When believers
gather, they should gather with their minds focused on the
work of the
Lord and all of His promises.
B. God has pre-planned
the place and the time for all events concerning His plan of
redemption.
1. When we are
obedient to God's Word, miracles can take place.
a. Jesus told
His disciples to wait in Jerusalem
V: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."
A. God reveals Himself
to us by what He does through nature.
1. He can disturb
the elements of nature and localize the disturbance into one place.
2. The sound like
a rushing wind was heard only in the place where the disciples
were gathered.
3. They were all
sitting in one house.
B. You can hear the
wind, but the wind cannot be touched.
1. You can feel
the effects of the wind, but the wind cannot be seen.
2. The sound they
heard was violent, but destroyed nothing.
C. When God appears, He
fills the House.
1. We should maintain
our focus on the Lord, and thus be filled with the Lord.
V:3. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues with
the likeness of fire, and it sat upon each of them."
A. They saw something
with the appearance of fire resting on the head of each of them.
1. The word
"cloven" means divided or parted.
2. God gave them
a visual sign of the spirit that rested with them.
a. The Holy
Spirit is present in every believer.
b. In the
room, there were120 people.
B. Wherever believers
gather, the Holy Spirit is present.
1. The word “tongue”
is from the Greek word "gloossai" which means
speech or
language.
2. The first
spiritual gift given by God to the original disciples was
the gift of
language.
a. The gift
of language was the ability to speak a language different
than
their own, immediately and without any training.
3. Notice that the
text says it rested upon them and not within them.
a. Our
spiritual gifts are meant to be used for the glory of God.
V:4. "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
A. They were filled
with the Holy Spirit.
1. The Holy
Spirit dwells within every believer.
2. They
immediately began to speak other languages as directed by the Holy Spirit.
3. The Holy
Spirit gives us supernatural abilities. Isa 28:11
4. The Spirit
works through our obedience to the Word of Jesus.
a. Because
of their obedience, they were in Jerusalem
Jesus.
b. They
assembled themselves together for worship and prayer.
c. We must
allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in the work of the Lord.
B. Through the power
of the Holy Spirit, each believer is enabled to do the
work of the
Lord.
1. The Holy
Spirit is not for our own personal use, but given to us in order to glorify
the Father.
2. Any gift we
have comes not by our abilities, but by the Lord.
V:5. "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout
men, out of every nation under heaven."
A. To verify this
gift of languages and the power of the Holy Spirit, God brought
representatives
from every recognized nation.
1. These
representatives were all religious men who believed in God.
2. These men
lived in Jerusalem
B. These men were
familiar with the crucifixion of Jesus and the disciples of Jesus.
1. Under Jewish
law, something could be proven by the testimony of two or more
witnesses.
V:6. "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude
came together, and they were confounded, as every man heard them speak in his
own language."
A. There are things
that cannot be maintained as a secret.
1. Word travelled that
Jesus’ disciples were speaking in different languages.
2. These devout
men came to the place where the disciples were speaking, in order
to witness the miracle themselves.
3. These devout
men were confused because common people were speaking
different languages.
a. Every
devout man heard the common people speak in their own language.
4. The Lord can
use ordinary people in extraordinary ways.
a. According
to God’s will, we are empowered.
B. When we devote
ourselves to God, we become a power of which the minds of this
world cannot understand.
1. Under the
power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are unlimited in what we
can accomplish
for God.
V:7. "And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one
to another, “Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?"
A. The multitude of
devout men had different languages.
1. To hear
common people speak in each of their languages was amazing to them.
a. The
Galilaeans were considered ignorant, rude and uncivilized. John 1:46
2. These common
people were not educated, and should not have had the ability to
speak in
their language.
a. There was
no multitude of teachers in Jerusalem
common
people these languages.
b. If God has
a mission for us, we need not worry about how it will be
accomplished.
B. When you witness a
miracle, it should be discussed and shared with others.
1. You must make
your own determinations about God.
2. Though two
people may see the same thing, they may view it differently.
3. People can
experience the same thing, but have different beliefs.
V:8. "And how hear we every man in our own tongue,
wherein we were born?"
A. God is not limited
in what He can do with us.
1. Problems arise
when we attempt to “see” our possibilities with our eyes.
2. Faith in God is
beyond human understanding.
B. There is nothing that
God cannot accomplish.
1. There is nothing we cannot accomplish
with God, if it be His will.
2. God is more
than the whole world against us.
C. This miracle was complicated.
1. Unlearned men
spoke languages other than their own.
2. Men of many
different languages each heard their language spoken at the same
time.
3. How can this
be? God made it to be.
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia ,
and in Judaea , and Cappadocia , in
Pontus Asia ,
10 Phrygia , and Pamphylia, in Egypt Libya Cyrene Rome
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God.
A. Only God can bring
men together from different countries and empower them with
simultaneous
understanding
1. Believers should hunger to bear witness to God’s
work of miracles in their own
lives and in the
lives of others.
2. We should
anticipate God’s miracles.
B. The works of God
are beyond the ordinary.
1. Many things
before us are miracles in the making.
2. The air we
breathe is constantly purified: This is
a miracle.
a. The grass
changes colors with the seasons: this is a miracle.
b. There is
sufficient food for all of the people of the world: this is a miracle.
c. Cows
produce milk to nourish their caretakers: this is a miracle.
3. The miracles of
God are never ending.
a. The blood
of one man atones for the sins of all the world: this is a miracle.
V: 12. "And they
were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth
this?"
A. The Holy Spirit is
the power of the Church.
1. God gives each
of us different gifts to build His Church.
2. Each believer
has the responsibility to use the gifts given them toward the glory
of the Father.
B. All believers have
a purpose in the body of Christ.
1. Every believer
should be actively involved in the mission of moving the Gospel to
the ends of
the earth.
2. The Church,
with the power of the Holy Spirit will survive every effort of man to
destroy it.
3. Believers have
the hope of victory and eternal life.
C. The miracles of
God are foolish to the human mind.
1. Only a
spiritual mind can understand the works of God.
V:13. "Others mocking said, These men are full of new
wine."
A. In the middle of
the mission, Satan is always trying to undermine the works of
God.
1. What the
world can't understand about God, it cast off with foolish thoughts.
2. If the
disciples were drunk with wine, it would be more unlikely that they would
speak a
foreign language fluently.
B. We should be thankful
to God that He gave us a measure of faith.
1. We should be thankful
that that our faith is not left to us but to the power of the
Holy Spirit.
2. We should be thankful
that He chose us to receive His Spirit.
3. We should be
thankful that the death of Jesus on the cross provides eternal
life to all
believers.
4. Thank God for
powering our lives with the Holy Spirit.
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