Four Signs Of The Spirit Series

Four Signs of the Spirit

Text: Acts 2:1-4

Introduction

1. Illustration: Without Pentecost the Christ even – life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus - remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now. (Henri Nouwen)

2. These 120 disciples had done exactly what Jesus told them to do. They went back to Jerusalem, they waited, and they prayed.

3. Now the day of anticipation comes, and finally, the promise of the Father arrives.

4. On the day of Pentecost, four things happen…

a. Unity

b. Wind

c. Fire

d. Tongues

5. Read Acts 2:1-4

Proposition: Just as the 120 disciples did, we need to embrace the power of the Holy Spirit.

Transition: The first thing we see on the Day of Pentecost is…

I. Unity (1)

A. All The Believers

1. Luke begins his telling of the day of Pentecost with, “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.”

a. On the day of Pentecost is more literally rendered “when Pentecost was fulfilled.”

b. Pentecost was one of the Jewish festivals that celebrated the harvest.

c. Pentecost means “fifty,” and it came 50 weeks after Passover.

d. But here Luke is talking about more than the coming of the harvest festival. He is saying the wait is over!

e. God was going to fulfill his promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

f. The stage was set for this to be a major occurrence to change history.

2. Luke said that “all the believers were together in one place.”

a. The place where they were gathering was probably the upper room where they had been meeting and praying.

b. By “all the believers,” Luke is talking about the 120 mentioned in the first chapter.

c. And, just like we mentioned in the first chapter, them being together meant more than they were just in one physical place, but it also means they were unified in thought and purpose.

3. In addition to their being unified, it was the perfect setting for the coming of the Spirit.

a. You see, Pentecost was one of the big pilgrimage festivals the Jews help every year.

b. This means that Jews from all over the known world had traveled to Jerusalem.

c. Hundreds of thousands of people would witness for themselves the outpouring of the Spirit from all over the world who spoke many different languages.

d. Stephen Spielberg could not have set the stage any better.

4. But the key here is they were unified in their hearts, purpose, and passion.

B. Unity In the Spirit

1. Illustration: In one of Aesops fables he describes an old man who had several sons, who were always falling out with one another. He had often, but to no purpose, exhorted them to live together in harmony. One day he called them together, and he gathered a bundle of sticks and tied them together and asked each one of them to try to break them. Each one tried as hard as they cold but none of them could break the bundle of sticks. Then the father cut the cord that he tied them together with and told his sons to break them separately. This was done with the greatest ease. “See, my sons,” the old man said, “the power of unity!” Bound together by brotherly love, you may defy almost every mortal danger, but divided, you will fall prey to your enemies. “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” (Eccl.4:12)

2. If we walk together with the Holy Spirit, we will have unity.

a. Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. (Eph. 4:1-3).

b. One of the great benefits of being filled with the Spirit is that He brings unity.

c. You can see churches who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but their actions show that they are not.

d. The Holy Spirit will not rest on a church that is constantly at one another’s throats.

e. We can see from the early church, that the Holy Spirit brought them together, and even when they had disagreements, He enabled them to eventually come back together.

f. When ever you put people together, you are going to have disagreements, because people are people.

g. But a church that is led by the Holy always will find a way to come back together.