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

—•: Chronicles of the Apostles :•—