Pentecost: The Birth Of The Church Series

PENTECOST: THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH

Acts 2:1-4

Years ago there was a Television show called “How It’s Made”; this program illustrated how certain products from everyday life are manufactured. I always found it fascinating to watch how these items were transitioned from raw materials into finished products. I also enjoy watching biographies of historical figures. I love to learn how these people lived, where they were from and how they rose to power.

Perhaps that is why I am so intrigued by the events that are recorded the book of Acts. This book shows us about the wonderful works of the Holy Spirit. Here in Chapter 2 we are given a detailed description of His arrival and it describes for us the birth of Christ’s Church. Today, I would like to walk through these scriptures and preach on the subject “Pentecost: The Birth Of The Church”.

- In the first four verses of Acts 2 we will see:

1. The Preparations Of God’s People On The Day Of Pentecost

2. The Promise That Was Fulfilled On The Day Of Pentecost

3. The Power That Was Experienced On The Day Of Pentecost

- Let’s begin in verse 1 and consider:

I. THE PREPARATIONS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST

v1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Pentecost was a feast that was held fifty days after Passover. It was also called the “Feast Of Weeks”; and it was one of three major annual feasts. Jesus was crucified at Passover, He was resurrected three days later and for 40 days He spent time instructing His Disciples. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to Heaven. Before His departure, He commanded His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, (Jesus) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Jesus did not give His followers a specific timeline; He simply instructed them to wait. They did not know the exact moment that Holy Spirit would descend but they obeyed and waited in Jerusalem just as He said. For several days they were faithfully obeying, fervently praying and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit of God. Then, ten days after the ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon them.

Because it was Pentecost, Jews from many nations were in Jerusalem to observe this festival. We will see later in this chapter that Peter’s great sermon was delivered in front of a large international audience. Those people came to Jerusalem to observe a Jewish festival not knowing that their lives would be changed forever. These “devout Jews” would become some of the first converts to Christianity.

Without a doubt, Pentecost was a divine work of God, but we cannot overlook the importance of the preparations that His people had made beforehand. Because he listened and obeyed the command of His Master, Peter was used by God to reach thousands of people on the day of Pentecost. Furthermore, the people that God used him to reach, in turn reached multitudes more. This shows us how our obedience to the Lord can have a positive impact on His Kingdom. As we have seen over the last couple of weeks, you may be someone whom God has chosen to use behind the scenes, but He may use you to reach someone who in turn will reach many others with the Gospel.

On the Day of Pentecost, God’s people were obedient, they were unified and they were assembled. This would be one of the greatest days in the history of the Church. Prophecy would be fulfilled and the Holy Spirit’s power would be revealed. Thousands of people repented and trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior. There were many amazing things that occurred on that day.

We should have the same mindset as those faithful Christians in the early Church. We should be obedient to the Lord, unified in prayer and anticipating Him to move in a mighty way every time we walk in these doors. We should be afraid to miss a single gathering of this assembly because we don’t want to miss out on what God is going to do in this place. It is important for us to realize that the same Holy Spirit that moved at Pentecost moves in our midst today. I fully believe that God desires to do something amazing in this church, He is willing and able but at the same time there are some things that He requires from us. We must be prepared for Him to move. Like the people preparing for Pentecost we must be obedient to Jesus’ command; we must wait patiently, pray fervently and trust that He will move among us.