THE SPIRIT ARRIVES
Acts 2:1-13
The Model Church, Lesson 3
We begin to look not only at the birthday
of the local church in
THE DAY Vs. 1
The day of this event was a Jewish holy day
called Pentecost.
The feasts of the Old Testament are
pictures of the work of Christ.
Passover was a picture of his death.
The feast of Firstfruits, held the day
after the first Sabbath after Passover, was a picture of Resurrection!
At Pentecost the Jews celebrated the giving
of the law.
At Pentecost the church was given the Holy
Spirit.
Pentecost took place 50 days after the
feast of first fruits.
That is, 7 weeks and one day.
If the feast of first fruits was always on
a Sunday, and it was, then the Day of Pentecost was also always on a Sunday.
At Pentecost two loaves of bread were
offered.
Why two loaves?
The church is made up of two groups, Jews
and Gentiles. Each had an experience of
being baptized with the Holy Spirit.
·
The Jews on the Day of Pentecost
·
The Gentiles at the House of Cornelius in
Acts 10
The day was Pentecost, and the disciples
were being obedient.
They were waiting in
They were in one accord and in one place.
This early church was unified around the
Lord Jesus Christ.
THE DISPLAY Vss. 2-3
John 14:16-17 - And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
When God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell
the church, he sent signs.
There was a display so that the disciples
would know that the promise of the Spirit had come.
Vs. 2 - There wasn't a wind.
There was the sound of a mighty rushing wind.
I wonder if it sounded like a hurricane.
The word "spirit" is the same as
"wind" in both Hebrew and Greek.
John 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.
·
We can hear wind.
·
We can feel wind.
·
We can see the results of the wind. But we
don't see the wind, and we can't control the wind.
·
We can hear the Spirit, as He speaks to us.
·
We can feel the Spirit.
·
We can see the results of the Spirit's
work. But we don't see the Spirit, and we can't control the Spirit. Hes God.
Vs. 3 - The next sign was that
of fire.
·
Fire burns away that which is useless.
·
Fire purifies.
·
Fire warms.
·
Fire is powerful.
·
Fire can usually be seen.
The Holy Spirit burns away that which is
useless.
The Holy Spirit purifies us.
The Holy Spirit warms us.
The Holy Spirit is powerful.
Fire can be seen. Perhaps the fire was
symbolic of the witness that the believers would have through the Holy Spirit.
THE DETAILS Vs. 4
This verse tells us what happened to the
disciples. Here are the details.
It does not say that they were baptized,
but obviously they were.
This was the promise of John, that Jesus
would baptize them. Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water, but he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Jesus had also promised it.
Acts 1:5 - For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence.
1 Corinthians 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.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
There was no exception.
We are all to be filled with the Holy
Spirit today. There is one Baptism but many fillings.
Ephesians 5:18 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit;
They began to speak with other tongues,
languages.
It was as the Spirit gave utterance.
Speaking in tongues, was totally under the
control of the Spirit of God.
As we'll see in coming weeks, it was a sign
to the Jews.
There are three mentions of tongues in
Acts.
·
The Jewish church was baptized with the
Spirit and received it.
·
The Gentiles believed and received it. Acts
10:44-47
·
The disciples of John were baptized and
received it. Acts 19:1-7
Spirit filling yields some specific
results:
Ephesians 5:18-21 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law.
There is a command to be filled with the
Spirit.
How do we go about being filled?
1. Die
Romans 6:11 - Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Galatians 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me.
Galatians 5:24 - And they that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts.
2. Confess For the Spirit to fill us, we
need to be clean.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2. Ask
Romans 8:3-4 - For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of
the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
Galatians 5:25 - If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk
in the Spirit.
Luke 11:13 - If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
THE DEMONSTRATION Vss. 5-11
Vs. 5 - There were various
groups of devout people in
Vs. 6 - When they heard the
sound of the mighty rushing wind, they came to investigate. Every man heard him
in his own language. Tongues were known languages.
The listeners understood the speakers.
THE DIVISION Vss. 12-13
It was obvious that Galileans were speaking.
They were generally considered unlearned.
People wondered what was going on.
Others doubted and mocked accusing them of
being drunk.
THE DAY - Vs. 1
THE DISPLAY Vss. 2-3
THE DETAILS Vs. 4
THE DEMONSTRATION Vss. 5-11
THE DIVISION Vss. 12-13