- Holy Spirit
- Can’t cover everything because the Holy Spirit is God
- Better for you that I go away (John 16:7)
- You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5)
- Only used once more in Acts when Peter talking at the house of Cornelius (Acts 11:16)
- Filled is used four times
- Filled with the Spirit (Acts 4:8)
- Filled in prayer meeting (4:31)
- Ananias ministered to Saul (9:17)
- Paul filled with Holy Spirit for encounter with Bar-Jesus (13:9)
- Used one other time in Ephesians (5:18)
- Point is we need supernatural power to serve God well in this world.
- Witnesses to me (Acts 1:8)
- Holy Spirit will teach us about who Jesus is (John 16:12 – 15)
- Pentecost and the Upper Room
- A festival which consists of counting off 50 days from the First Fruits Ceremony
- Jesus died on the eve of Passover
- The day after Passover, they had the waving off the first fruits offering
- This started the countdown to Pentecost
- Passsover (Shavu’lot) = is the harvest festival
- Not a coincidence that the Holy Spirit that is going to help us be witnesses to the world would come on the celebration of the harvest
- People would come with a first fruits offering to bring to the temple
- For the disciples, they were already celebrating the first fruits offering of Jesus, the first to rise from the dead
- They are going to have a first fruits offering to God of 3000 people
- Probably in the Temple rather than the upper room
- Already stated last week that the rooms that could have been the upper room were large enough to hold 70 people
- The disciples honored the times of prayer
- Only nine in the morning (Acts 2:15)
- Went to the temple during the time to pray of 3:00 in the afternoon (Acts 3:1)
- 3000 people got baptized and there were plenty of places around the temple to do this
- There was a place called Solomon’s Colonnade that faced the Mount of Olives
- Zechariah predicted Jesus would return to the Mount of Olives (14: 4)
- Ezekiel predicted that Jesus would return through the eastern gate (43:1 – 4)
- A festival which consists of counting off 50 days from the First Fruits Ceremony
- Wind, Fire, and Tongues
- A violent wind came upon the people
- Wind of spirit blows wherever it wants (John 3:8)
- Lasted only a few moments, but it got everybody’s attention
- A flame came upon them and split into 120 parts
- The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Vs 4)
- Same wording from the Old Testament when people filled with the Holy Spirit to do a specific work
- Literal meaning is “a jar being filled with water”
- They spoke in other languages
- Word is used as tongues, but it could mean lips so we could say they spoke in other lips
- “Other” – Something happened here where they all spoke at once or one at a time
- The key thought is that they were all heard and understood by the crowd
- The key thought is that they were all heard and understood by the crowd
- A violent wind came upon the people
- The Giving of the Torah
- When the Torah was given, there was wind, fire, and speaking in tongues
- Pentecost is the celebration of the harvest, but it is also the giving of the Torah
- Exodus 20:18 literally states “And all the people saw the voices and the torches”
- To solve the problem of seeing voices, they translate it as voices to thunder and torches to lightening
- “‘Is not My word like fire?’ declares the Lord, and like a hammer which shatters rock” (Jeremiah 23:29)
- Tradition states that God spoke from the fire like a hammer that hit the mountain sending sparks that landed upon the people
- The people saw the voices so it wasn’t one voice
- They believe it came to them in the 70 voices of the world
- The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was like a second giving of Torah
- This is why Jesus stated, “I have much more to say to you but when the Holy Spirit comes he will lead you into all truth”
- Jeremiah and Ezekiel saw this coming when God would pour His spirit upon them and put his words in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36: 27)
- Fulfilled prophecy in Ezekiel about the Spirit coming through the eastern gate and filling the inner court (Ezekiel 43:4, 5)
- Similar opposite event in the year 69
- Josephus writes that on Pentecost as they were preforming their duties, there was a quaking and a great noise which the priest all quoted as saying,. “Let us leave this place”
- Josephus writes that on Pentecost as they were preforming their duties, there was a quaking and a great noise which the priest all quoted as saying,. “Let us leave this place”
- Hellinistic Jews
- Now there were devout – meant from every nation
- People were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost
- City grew from 30,000 to 150 – 200,000
- If they were not at the temple when they started, they were there now
- This is the first step to reach others
- E-1 evangelism as most believers were Galileans now they were reaching people whose only connection to them was that they were children of Abraham
- This would be like West Virginia coal miners ministering to Harvard graduates
- E-1 evangelism as most believers were Galileans now they were reaching people whose only connection to them was that they were children of Abraham
- Important lesson here: If the gospel is going to be shared effectively, it must be shared in a context that people understand
- There are always people who are open to the gospel and those with closed hearts
- Jesus commanded his disciples to go to receptive people
- Go to the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6)
- Find a worthy person and stay with them (Matthew 10:11)
- If not receptive, then shake the dust off of your feet (Matthew 10:14)
- Both saw the same miracle but they had different ideas as to what it meant
- The skeptics stated that they were full of wine
- Jews request a sign (1 Corinthians 1:22) but it still wasn’t’ enough.
- Jesus commanded his disciples to go to receptive people
—•: Chronicles of the Apostles :•—