The promise of the Holy Spirit…

• 1^st – The Day of Pentecost… vs. 1

• 1^st – Seven Feasts…
  • Important…
    • God commanded Israel to hold SEVEN major feasts ever year – Leviticus 23
    • The feasts looked back to remember specific events in Jewish HISTORY…
    • But they also looked forward to key EVENTS in the plan of God for the world…
    • The feast of Passover was a reminder of how God had freed Israel from Egypt…
    • But it was also prophetic – Jesus was the Passover lamb who freed us from sin!
  • Required…
    • THREE of the feast were required: Passover – Pentecost- Rosh Hashanah – Exodus 23:14
    • EVERY Jewish man – over the age of 20 – had to go to Jerusalem EVERY year…
    • So during these feasts the population of Jerusalem would swell to over ONE million!
• 2^nd – Fifty days…
  • The Law…
    • Pentecost takes place 50 days after Passover [pente means 50]
    • SEVEN weeks after the Exodus – God revealed Himself on Mount Sinai to Israel…
    • Moses went up the mountain for 40 days to receive the commands of God!
  • The Harvest…
    • Pentecost was also a celebration of the harvest [the WHEAT harvest]
    • Traditionally the Book of Ruth is read – the story of Boaz and Ruth… 
    • The reason for Ruth being read – the story takes place during the WHEAT harvest…
    • But more importantly it is the story of a Jew [Boaz] redeeming a Gentile [Ruth]!
      
  • Fifty Days…
    • FIFTY days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ – TEN days after the ascension!
    • Pentecost was fulfilled in the birth of the Church – Jesus redeemed His gentile bride…
    • The feast included two loaves of leavened bread – representing Jews and Gentiles…
    • Because when Jesus redeemed the church – He saved both…
    • Celebrating the TRUE harvest – the work of reaching the world with the Gospel!
    • Ephesians 2:14 – “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…”

• 2^nd – The Promise… vs. 2-4
  • 1^st – Holy Spirit… vs. 2-3
    • The Wind…
      • Suddenly there was the sound from heaven – like a mighty wind… 
      • It filled the whole house where the disciples were gathered together praying…
      • In the Bible the word for SPIRIT and the word for WIND are the same…
      • So the sound the disciples heard was the Spirit coming into the room…
      • The breath of God – the Spirit of the Lord – had arrived just as Jesus promised!
    • The Fire…
      • There appeared what looked like tongues of FIRE over each of them…
      • At first there was just one FIRE – perhaps in the middle of the room…
      • Then it divided and came to rest over each of the disciples…
      • The FIRE was the promised Baptism of the Spirit!
      • Matthew 3:11– “Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
    • Clean lips…
      • The purpose of the fire – to cleanse their lips – preparing them to go!
      • When Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord – he said I am doomed!
      • He knew he was not worthy to be used by God – he knew he was a sinner…
      • An angel came with a coal and touched his lips – purifying – taking away his sin!
      • Isaiah 6:8 – “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send. And who will go for Us? Then Isaiah said- Here am I! Send me.”
      • Many times we are shy to share the Gospel – because we do not feel worthy…
      • We know we are sinners – so who are we to tell people about Jesus…
      • But God sends His Spirit like a FIRE – to purify our lips – give us boldness to speak!
  • 2^nd – The Power… vs. 4
    • Helpless…
      • We saw last week Peter and the disciples had proven they needed HELP…
      • Rather than have the boldness and power to tell the world about Jesus…
      • Their best effort to spread the Gospel – was to pick the WRONG man as an Apostle!
      • I have been in many churches whose response to a lost world – create a committee…
      • They elect officials who endlessly discuss ideas of how to spread the Gospel…
      • And in the end – NOTHING happens – it is just a lot of words with no action!
    • POWER…
      • God gives us His Holy Spirit to give us the POWER to act!
      • When was the last time we shared Jesus with someone – told them the Good News…
      • We may NEVER have told anyone – because we have no power!
      • We are called to be a light in a dark world – but we need His POWER – Matthew 5:14
    • Just Ask…
      • How do you get the Power of the Spirit – just ask!
      • Luke 11:13 -“Your heavenly Father [will] give the Holy Spirit to those who ask…”
      • Matthew 7:7 – “Ask – and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find…”
      • We also need to be daily filling up on the Holy Spirit to stay on fire for Jesus…
      • Not just once – but over and over and over again for – daily asking for the Holy Spirit!
  • 3^rd – Other Languages… vs. 4
    • Gift of the Spirit…
      • When the Holy Spirit filled the disciples – they began to speak in other languages…
      • When we are filled with the Spirit – we are given GIFTS from the Spirit of God…
      • These are the supernatural gifts that God gives to believers – I Corinthians 12:7
      • There are a total of 23 gifts listed throughout the New Testament…
      • Including the gifts of healing – miracles – teaching – evangelism – wisdom – faith!
      • These gifts including the gift of speaking in tongues – are to be used for the church…
      • They are meant to build up the body of Christ – spread the message of the Gospel!
    • The Evidence…
      • The GIFTS are the proof that we have been filled with the Power of the Spirit…
      • But the GIFT of tongues is just ONE of the spiritual GIFTS we can receive!
      • We do not have to speak in tongues to be filled with the Spirit…
      • The most common result of being filled with the Spirit – is BOLDNESS for Jesus!
      • When I was in college I was the president of Intervarsity Christen Fellowship…
      • The first week we met everything went wrong – everyone was upset…
      • So we all sat down and prayed – and the Lord answered…
      • It was that day the Lord poured out his Spirit – and we became BOLD for the Gospel!
    • In Church…
      • Unfortunately the GIFT of tongues is misused today…
      • In a church only TWO or THREE people are to speak in tongues – I Corinthians 14:27
      • Then there must be an interpreter – if there is not – then there should be stay silent!
      • I Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”
      • If an unbeliever walks into a church where people are speaking in tongues all at once…
      • All they see is chaos – they will likely think the people have gone mad…
      • Even if what is being said is true – no one can understand them!

• Better for churches to teach the Word of God – so that people can grow… 
• Because the Word has the ability to cut right to our heart – convict us of our sin…
• It can turn us away from the world – and convince us to follow Jesus…
• But first we have to be able understand the Word that is spoken – Romans 10:17

The good news that God so loved the world – that Jesus came to die so we could live!

3^rd – The reaction… vs. 5-13

1^st – Many Nations… vs. 5-11

The Diaspora…

Jews from all over the world were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost…

The Jews had been scattered when they were conquered by [Assyria – Babylon – Greece]

The settled down in the nations they were scatted in – learned the local LANGUAGE…

But every year – those who were Godly – would return for PENTECOST…

These people heard the disciples declaring the Gospel in their own native LANGUAGE …

The people were all amazed – they knew the disciples were from Galilee…

There was no way they could know all the LANGUAGES they were speaking…

Yet from the Middle East to Africa – all the way to Europe and the borders of Asia…

The Disciples were sharing the GOSPEL in the local dialects of all these places!

Prayer language…

Usually when God gives the GIFT of tongues – it is used for prayer…

Your spirit is speaking directly to God – apart from the understanding of your mind!

I Corinthians 14:14 – “If I pray in tongues – my spirit is praying – but I do not understand what I am saying.” [NLT]

In those times when our heart is heavy – but we lack the words to share…

We can come before the Lord is prayer – even if our mind is lost for words!

Tongues is a wonderful gift to use personally – a way to pray – sing in the spirit…

Not having to worry about finding the right words – just freely worshiping God!

Evangelism…

This one time in the Bible God used the GIFT of tongues for evangelism!

We often have teams from California come to help with the Kids camps…

Imagine if they showed up and all started talking about Jesus in perfect Ilonggo…

It would grab a lot of attention – people would be ready to hear about Jesus!

What an amazing plan – God used Pentecost – to save Jews from all over the world…

Each hearing the Good News in their own particular dialects…

So God could send them out from Jerusalem – to the let the world know about Jesus!

Sovereign…

I am sure the Jews questioned why God allowed them to be conquered and scattered…

But God had a plan far greater than anyone of them could have imagined…

A plan to use these scattered Jews – and Pentecost to spread the Gospel message!

There are going to be things that happen in our lives that we do not understand…

We may not always understand why God does something in our lives…

But our responsibility is not to understand – it is to obey – and trust He has a plan!

2^nd – Two reactions… vs. 12-13

Hope…

FIRST – the reaction of some was to wonder [optative] what this meant…

They HOPED that what was being said – this GOOD news – was true!

Drunk…

SECOND – some accused the disciples of being full of new wine – drunk…

I have met many drunken people – and they do talk funny…

But I have never met a drunk – who could suddenly speak a different language…

So why did some of those listening refuse to see the power of God at work…

Because they did not want to know Jesus – so they did not see the power of the Spirit!

I Corinthians 2:14 – “The un-believer does not understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him…”

If I was walking downtown – and a famous movie star was there…

I would have no idea – because I do not know who the famous movie stars are!

The world does not know or see the Spirit – because they are not looking for Jesus!

New Wine…

In one way those who called the disciples DRUNK were right…

God was pouring out NEW Wine – He was doing a NEW Work in the world – Luke 5:37-38

God desires to use us to share the GOOD News with world that is going to hell…

So He FILLS us up with the POWER of the Spirit – and sets us on FIRE…

But not everyone is going to receive what we say…

Some will write us off as being CRAZY – drunk – anything but right…

But others will have the HOPE that what we are saying is TRUE…