We Need The Spirit of God

Matt Cave

Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Acts 2:1–13

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God gave His Spirit to unify and equip the Church to be witnesses for Christ

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Introduction

Last week - saw disciples walk back from Mt of Olives where Jesus ascended to Heaven

Into Jerusalem to wait as Jesus had told them to do

Did 3 things - what were they?

Prayed, read scripture, talked to one another

Today - they’d been waiting about 5 weeks - wondering what was going on!

Country View

Beginning Chapter 2 - been about 5 weeks since Jesus left

Still waiting as Jesus told them to do - wondering what comes next

Now its festival week in Jerusalem - tens thousands Jews from over known world in city

All to celebrate 3rd biggest & most popular festival - Pentecost

So today we’ll see - God gave His Spirit for everyone - all of us

So today - looking at 1st part

See - God gave His Spirit for reason = essential for everyone of us

God gave His Spirit to unify and equip the Church to be witnesses for Christ

Only through Spirit - Church find unity and will be equipped to be Christ’s witness

Jesus says I need the Spirit

Let’s go back to - remind ourselves what Jesus told disciples

after Jesus was resurrected he instructed the disciples

Acts 1:4–5 NIV84

And again on the Mt of Olives just before he went up into heaven he said

Acts 1:4–8 NIV84

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 NIV84

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:7-8

Acts 1:7–8 ESV

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

So Jesus was quite specific -

He told the disciples - don’t do anything, don’t go anywhere

Acts 1:8 NIV84

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

UNTIL - you receive the Spirit of God

Its a gift from God - but its more than a gift - Spirit releases God’s power directly in us!

It’s power!

When we receive that power we will be equipped to be Christ’s witnesses

instructs about receiving the Spirit & why

Now you might be thinking - the Spirit was just something special for the disciples

, instructs about receiving the Spirit & why

But don’t forget about Jesus - before He did anything He received power of Spirit too

Here’s just a few passages about Jesus full of Spirit

Notice the words used to describe their relationshp

Following Jesus example

before beginning ministry received Spirit so he could ‘full of the Holy Spirit’, ‘led by the Spirit’. ‘in the power of the Spirit’ and ‘anointed’ by the Spirit

Luke 3:21–22 NIV84

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

(

Luke 4:1 NIV84

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,

Luke 4:14 NIV84

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

Luke 4:18 NIV84

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

, , )

So before beginning His ministry Jesus received Spirit so he could be;

before beginning ministry received Spirit so he could ‘full of the Holy Spirit’, ‘led by the Spirit’. ‘in the power of the Spirit’ and ‘anointed’ by the Spirit

‘full of the Holy Spirit’

That’s so he could be - ‘full of the Holy Spirit’,

‘led by the Spirit’

‘in the power of the Spirit’

‘anointed’ by the Spirit

If we call ourselves Christians or followers of Jesus -

Then we need to follow Jesus example & take note here

That for both Jesus and His first disciples they didn’t do anything...

Until they had received Spirit of God

This is picture of my gym -

I don’t know how you feel about exercise - but I hate it!

Trouble is I have to do it - I suffer from a pain condition called fibromyalgia

Doing exercise helps me manage the pain

People do exercise for all sorts reasons

Stay fit, build up muscle, help loose weight, or like me help manage pain

But benefits are temporary - you have to keep going back to gym

If you don’t keep it up you loose all benefit of time put in before

It got me thinking about following Jesus

There’s difference between following Jesus in our own strength

And following Jesus with power of Spirit

If we follow Jesus in our own strength - we’re dooing

If we follow Jesus in our own strength - we’re on our own

If we trust in ourselves - we might achieve some things through our own physical or mental efforts physical

But they won’t be long lasting, they won’t make much of an impact in our lives

Whether it’s studying the bible, prayer, sharing our fai, loving our neighbour

All those things are great - but without Spirit we won’t be able to keep them up

And they won’t be effective or long lasting

If Jesus needed the power of Spirit & His disciples needed power of Spirit...

Then we also need the power of Spirit if we’re to be faithful to following Jesus

And leave a long lasting heritage for the next generational Church

Question - Jesus wants you to have His Spirit - Do you?

Why I need the Spirit

Let’s look at passage in

Acts 2:1–4 NIV84

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:1

This sounds like a powerful significant event

Yet it kind of sounds a bit made up doesn’t it - deafening wind, flames of fire landing on people?

Nobody had experienced anything like this before

In OT up until Jesus - Spirit had only come upon certain individuals

As God worked out His purposes in the world

But at Pentecost God fulfilled His promises from OT to pour out his Spirit

It was a unique special one-off event

So Luke (who wrote book Acts) and those disciples present...

They described what happened only way they know how

Even though this was a special symbolic event with wind & flames...

Jesus before he went to cross - talked to disciples about Spirit

Refer to passages in John - tells us why we need the Spirit

He told them why Spirit was going to be sent by God

John 14:16 NIV84

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—

So Jesus tells us Spirit will be with us forever

John 14:16–17 NIV84

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 14:

Jesus tells us Spirit will be with us forever

Spirit is our Counsellor - other translations say he’s our helper

He gives us wisdom & guidance through life

John 14:26 NIV84

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 16:13–14 NIV84

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

So Spirit help us understand all we need to know about Jesus and his teachings

John 16:

So Spirit will also help us understand all we need to know about Jesus and his teachings

He specifically reveals what Jesus wants us to know about Him

John 16:

John 16:8 NIV84

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

Spirit will also tells us what we should be doing

And poke our hearts & minds when we’re thinking of doing something wrong

But that’s not all!

The Spirit can also gives us special gifts

Plus mention gifts in

I’m sure some of our younger members her will be able to recite the gifts of Spirit in

1 Corinthians 12:4 NIV84

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 NIV84

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

These are special gifts are given - as Spirit sees fit says in 1Cor

Notice these gifts

And Paul says these gifts are “for the common good”

”for the common good”

I.e They’re gifts not just for us personally but for whole church

These are gifts of healing, faith, wisdom etc

These are gifts Spirit gives us so we can help / encourage each other

But that’s still not all!!!

But that’s not all!

I’m sure some of our younger members her will be able to recite the gifts of Spirit in alatians

Galatians 5:22 NIV84

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

That’s talking about special work Spirit does

Its Spirit who changes / transforms us to become more like Jesus

To have more of those good traits and less of our bad ones!!

But this is just tip of iceberg when it comes to why we need Spirit

I thinking about our wonderful beach here in relationship to this passage

I took this picture a few weeks ago

Look at the beautiful calm water, sunshine & beach

Gives this sense of serenity, of peace & calm

We can often take sea & beaches for granted

We forget what sea is truly capable of

But behind that sea is an awesome force and power

Check this photo out - can you see how small surfer is in comparison to wave!

Imagine the destructive power & force of that wave crashing down on Papamoa beach

We too can take Spirit for granted - even forget about him entirely

We might talk about Him, see Him mentioned in scripture & think nothing of it

We forget lke we do with sea how vast power & awesomeness Spirit of God is

He’s capable of incredible, amazing, awesome things

Disciples only experienced at Pentecost just small piece of what He’s capable of

But look see what happened when Spirit turned up!

Question - Jesus says you need His Spirit - Do you?

We all need the Spirit

English Standard Version Chapter 2

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And mat this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And nthey were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking oGalileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and pMedes and qElamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and rproselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And sall were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others tmocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

So Spirit turns up at Pentecost in powerful way

He made his presence known in real physical ways

It was experienced by everyone - over 120 plus of Jesus disciples

But by time disciples were full of Spirit - they probably left where staying

Maybe made way outside - might have even gone up to Temple to worship

But they were out in public place - 120 + people making a lot of noise

They experienced the effects of the Spirit’s arrival

Praising & worshipping God in lots different foreign languages

Acts 2:5–13 NIV84

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 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—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

In that passage there was a big long list of place names - I left out

I left it out so all the verses would fit on the screen

It gives list of places / cultures covers western Europe around to Middle East to North Africa

It’s list covers almost entire know world - where Jewish people had scattered

All these people from all these places come to Jerusalem

They heard noise Jesus disciples were making & they started to gather round

So all these people started to gather in middle of city

Because they heard this loud noise of people shouting

Were maybe outside - might have even gone up to the Temple to worship

But they were in a public place - 120 + people making a lot of noise

Praising & worshipping God in lots different foreign languages

Some of Jews were locals - could tell this was group from Galilee by their accents

Refer to and the universality of Spirit Refer back to Luke, mention Jesus needed Spirit for his ministry - so do weRefer to reaction of crowd

mention Jesus needed Spirit for his ministry - so do we

They thought Galilee Jews weren’t very bright - how could they know all these languages?!?

But here they were speaking languages none of them should’ve known how speak

So crowd of multi-cultural Jews grew & grew - amazed / dumbfounded - they’d never seen anything like this

They heard these country Jews shouting about amazing things God has done in their language!

Obviously something amazing was happening - they just didn’t know what it was!

Of course were those who made fun - “hey those guys are drunk & it’s only early morning”

But no one took them seriously - this was something beyond explaination!!

This miraculous sign was from God

God was telling everyone - His Spirit is now freely available to all peoples / cultures

Here’s our Papamoa Mall - when I visit I see all sorts of people going into shops

We’re a diverse community - Maori, Pacifika, Pakeha, Asian, Middle Eastern, tourists from US etc

Now imagine what would happen if this church walked into mall

Imagine if all those people from different cultures heard bunch of Pakehas speaking their language perfectly

120 Kiwi Palangi’s praising /worshiping God in Maori, Korean, Philippino, all languages of Pacific

It would spread all over social media - People all over world see video clips, hear their language

Spread all over social media - people would think what’s happening

Spirit gave this miraculous gift for a reason

God was telling everyone - Spirit is now here & freely available to all peoples / cultures

People all over world might see video clips, hear their language - God being worshipped

Imagine what God would communicate!

God cares about whole Church - wants us all to receive power of His Spirit

Fulfilment of OT promises - & –32

Anthem

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To be equipped, to be transformed, to be blessed

If we want to follow Jesus then we need God’s Spirit

Whether we’re 8 or 88 we all need God’s Spirit

Those coming up behind us

If we want to leave a heritage for next generation - we need God’s Spirit to move

We need God to bring a fresh move of His Spirit

To equip Church with leaders, teachers, elders, deacons

Who are Christ-like, inspired with wisdom, blessed with gifts

Able to reach coming generations for Jesus

Question - Jesus says we need His Spirit - Do we?

We need to start praying for our miracle - for a new move of God’s Spirit

In our lives & in lives of people in our Churches

Will you pray with me for a new move of His Spirit in our lives?

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