Sermon Tone Analysis

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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome  11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

/Peter Addresses the Crowd /

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.

15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose.

It’s only nine in the morning!

16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ”‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

*/Reading the text:  thoughts and reflections/*

 

The last few days have been some the most trying but also some of the most rewarding.

I called MMCC to halt (for the most part) what we have been doing and to gather for prayer seeking God’s will for the church.

I have kept the sanctuary open for people to come and pray.

Many have.

I have.

My truest sense is that God has heard our prayers and has promised something marvelous for us.

I have prayed that this Sunday may be that day.

My desire is that this Sunday we too will be gifted afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit and share a kindred time with the birth of the church at Pentecost.

Rather than being somewhat anxious and worried about upcoming Sundays, I am eager for this one to come.

Lord, may I prepare in earnest guided by your Spirit.

As I read this text, the first thing I notice is that they were all together in one place.

Clearly they had obeyed Jesus’ command and resisted whatever temptations were likely possible.

Without warning, the Holy Spirit came in an awestruck fashion.

What a terrifyingly wonderful scene that must have been.

Could we endure such a moment today?

Would we believe it?

Can such a thing happen today?

I believe so.

Nowhere in scripture do I find the Holy Spirit coming only once.

I would delight if he came in such a way during my sermon this Sunday!

That would simply be awesome!

I don’t think it was any accident all of those people “from every nation under heaven” were there by mistake.

We must respect the sovereignty and wisdom of what God does.

We should not take for granted the people before us.

Might we stop to think that they were put there for a reason?

Think about the people in our community…..are they just “accidents” or has God lead them to live here for a purpose and that MMCC might well be an important part if not /the/ reason why they’re here?

Hummm.

The Holy Spirit enabled them (that is the disciples) to speak in the native tongues of those who had gathered there and share the Good News.

The question was posed, “What does this mean?”

I believe the message here is that through the Holy Spirit we are able to communicate the Good News (i.e.

witness) with others whom our language of faith might be foreign.

So we can take heart that as we have received Christ and consequently the Spirit, we too have the gift and ability to share the Good News with “foreigners”.

I don’t think this is restricted to just our words.

Our actions can speak volumes.

So we needn’t be consumed by worrying if we are evangelists or not, we already are….and

we are commanded to do so.

Still we focus on the how…I am utterly convinced God is saying just do it and I’ll show you.

*/Scholarship helps/*

 

*2:1.*

*The day of Pentecost *was an annual feast that followed the Feast of Firstfruits by a week of weeks (i.e., seven weeks, or 49 days) and therefore also was called the Feast of Weeks (cf.

Lev.

23:15-22).

The name “Pentecost,” of Greek derivation, means 50 because it was the 50th day after the Firstfruits feast (Lev.

23:16).

Where the followers of Christ were gathered at this time is not definitely known.

Luke simply wrote, *They were all together in one place.

*Perhaps they were in the temple precincts.

However, the place is called a “house” (Acts 2:2), an unlikely designation for the temple, though it may be referred to as a house (cf.

7:47).

If they were not assembled at the temple, they must have been near it (cf.

2:6).

*2:2-3.*

The references to “wind” and “fire” are significant.

The word for “Spirit” (/pneuma/) is related to /pnoe, /the word translated “wind” here.

It also means breath.

Both nouns—“spirit” and “wind” or “breath”—are from the verb “to blow, to breathe.”

The *sound like the blowing of a violent wind . . .

from heaven *points to the power of the Holy Spirit and the fullness of His coming.

The *tongues of fire *portray the presence of God.

Several times in the Old Testament God displayed Himself in the form of flames (Gen.

15:17; Ex. 3:2-6; 13:21-22; 19:18; 40:38; cf.

Matt.

3:11; Luke 3:16).

No believer there was exempt from this experience, for the flames *separated and came to rest on each of them.*

*2:4.*

The filling *with the Holy Spirit *is separate from the baptism of the Spirit.

The Spirit’s baptism occurs once for each believer at the moment of salvation (cf.

11:15-16; Rom.

6:3; 1 Cor.

12:13; Col. 2:12), but the Spirit’s filling may occur not only at salvation but also on a number of occasions after salvation (Acts 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9, 52).

An evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was *other tongues *(cf.

11:15-16).

These were undoubtedly spoken living languages; the word used in 2:6, 8 is which means “language” and not ecstatic utterance.

This gives insight into what is meant by “tongues” in chapters 2; 10; 19; and in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

This event marked the beginning of the church.