Acts 2:1-13 (You can look this up now and we’ll read it later …)
The Lord is a GREAT planner. He chose to send the Holy Spirit when people from all over the Roman Empire and beyond would be in Jerusalem.
Why were they all coming to Jerusalem at that time?
Deuteronomy 16:16-17 NIV
“Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place He will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.
“No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.”
God’s amazing planning!
Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion took place during the Festival of Unleavened Bread or the Passover when all the men of Israel and converts “must appear before the Lord” at the place of His choosing, which was Jerusalem.
The giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost took place during the Festival of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest. This was another time when all the men of Israel and converts “must appear before the Lord” at the place of His choosing, which was Jerusalem.
God had called all of the Jewish men together so that they could witness the punishment and crucifixion of Jesus on our behalf.
God was calling all of the Jewish men together in order to make an announcement by the Holy Spirit through the apostles.
This was important. God needed witnesses to the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins and He needed witnesses to the arrival of the Holy Spirit. These two festivals provided just such a group of witness from vast areas of the Roman Empire.
First of all, who was there? Let’s flip back one page and look at
Acts 1:13b-14 NIV to discover what disciples were gathered together in obedience to Jesus' command ...
According to the very next verse there were only about 120 believers left.
Now, they’re not hiding anymore. They’ve spent 40 days with Jesus off and on since His bodily resurrection from the dead. He has provided many proofs that He really was alive and not some “ghost” walking among them. They have seen Him ascend into heaven and now they’re gathering in Jerusalem as they were instructed to do by Jesus.
OK, so, let’s go ahead and read Acts 2:1-13
First of all, God gets the attention of those in the city.
Acts 2:2 NIV
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
You’ve heard it said that a tornado sounds like a freight train and we’ve had some pretty windy days here in Arcade that rattled the house. Imagine if you were to hear that sound but not feel any wind. It just might get your attention, right?
And then, what’s happening inside the upper room? It’s hard to even imagine what the “tongues of fire” would look like. And, it wasn’t that a flame just popped up on top of each person’s head, but, the fire separated and came to rest on each person’s head.
Now, if that’s not crazy enough they all start speaking in languages they have never been able to speak before! They know what they’re saying because they are declaring the “wonders of God.”
This must have made quite a racket. The sound of a might rushing wind, the calamity of seeing everyone’s head on fire and the ability to speak in a language you’ve never spoken in before. And, all of this by 120 people who come pouring out of an upper room.
At the time of this Pentecost the common trade language was Koine Greek. Koine Greek was the common language or trade language used throughout the Roman Empire. It is quite certain that all of the Jews coming to Jerusalem for the Feast of Harvest would have spoken at least basic Koine Greek.
The apostles could have easily come from the upper room and proclaimed the wonders of God and salvation through Jesus in Koine Greek, but, we have a marvelous God who does wonderful things in unexpected ways.
So, let’s look at the fabulous language interactions going on in this Scripture:
The disciples are speaking in a variety of languages unknown to themselves.
The visitors to Jerusalem are all intermixed with each other.
Have you ever been in a place where lots of people are talking out loud at the same time? Even if they’re all speaking the same language it is difficult to decipher what any one person is saying.
But, in this case everyone is hearing and understanding what is being said not in some common trade language but in their very own native language and they are not necessarily standing by the disciple who is speaking their native language!
This is not just a miracle of the speakers but of the hearers as well!
OK. So, we’ve got this awesome miracle of languages, but, what happens next?
Peter preaches a sermon. In this sermon he makes these points:
1) Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies
2) Jesus was the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek)
3) You put Him to death by nailing Him to a cross
4) He was raised from the dead and is now exalted to the right hand of God
5) Peter then told them how to be saved and to receive the Holy Spirit!
6) Peter then continued to plead with them and warn them
7) The church was born that day!
8) Three Thousand people were saved that day!
How many people were saved that day? 3,000? Or was it 3,120?
All of these thousands and thousands of people coming into Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost were devoted Jews. They knew the Scriptures. They were sincere followers of the God of Israel but something new had happened!
God had given the Holy Spirit and there were immense changes in progress.
There were immense changes in the 120 disciples in the upper room.
There was one time when Jesus had sent out His 12 disciples in pairs to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Other than that there is no record of them seeking to have an influence in bringing others to Jesus.
None of them were evangelists until after the Holy Spirit was given.
This is a MASSIVE turning point in the work of salvation.
Jesus has paid the price for our sins with His death and resurrection and He has now returned to heaven to be our Mediator and our Advocate.
And, incredible events which took place on that Pentecost day were just the beginning. Remember, in this group of 3,000 new Christians there were Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs. Just imagine them returning home with the great news of salvation by faith in Jesus.
Talk about an explosive spread of the good news of Jesus! Can you imagine how this must have planted seeds of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire and even outside of the empire?
The good news of Salvation through faith in Jesus was about to take off!
We CANNOT under estimate the work of the Holy Spirit in the world since Pentecost.
So … this is a wonderful story from history but what does it mean to us today???
Here are just a few activities of the Holy Spirit
1) The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8)
The Holy Spirit exposes the disease of sin in our lives
The Holy Spirit shows us that there is a better way called righteousness
The Holy Spirit shows us that there is judgment for sin
2) The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14)
Only you know the answer to this question; is Jesus Christ glorified in your heart?
Not just lip service or outward appearances but is Jesus really glorified and exalted in your innermost being?
When the evil one comes to you to cause you to doubt it will be the Holy Spirit who will testify to the reality of Jesus!
3) The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8)
Is there any power to your spiritual life? If people were able to view your spiritual life would they see a vibrant follower of Jesus or a corpse?
4) The Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)
Are you able to see anything even remotely resembling the image of Christ in your life?
This past week I was watching a few testimonies of people who thought they were saved for years and years only to discover that they were not.
There are dozens of functions of the Holy Spirit that can be found in the Bible. And, there are two main categories of these functions.
1) Point people to Jesus for salvation
2) Prepare the saved to point others to Jesus for salvation
Do you think the 120 disciples in the upper room ever held a meeting after the Holy Spirit arrived and asked, “Do you think we should go outside and tell people about Jesus or just stay in here and chat about what just happened?”
No. Of course not! They could not help but go out and tell others who needed Jesus ABOUT Jesus!
Do you feel the Holy Spirit pointing you toward Jesus?
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to prepare you to point others to Jesus?
If not, your must ask the question, “Am I really saved? Am I really born again?”
We sang a song earlier that made this claim, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.”
Concluding remarks and prayer.
