All Together
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· 8 viewsWhen the Church comes together and submits to the power of the Holy Spirit we can reach all people groups for Jesus and live in peace loving one another sacrificially.
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1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites 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 proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The Church Was All Together
The Church Was All Together
The first thing we can see from today’s Scripture is that the church was all together in one place.
This is because the day of Pentecost was one of three festivals or feasts that required all Jewish men to come to Jerusalem
Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover, around May or June, and celebrates the gathering of the firstfruits of the harvest .
The Lord is His perfect planning picked this occasion to pour out the Holy Spirit on His people and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marks the official inauguration of the new covenant and serves as a witness to the nation of Israel.
You see we know that Christ’s reign is eternal and did not end with His Resurrection. Therefore, the Church’s reception of the Holy Spirit, the preaching of the Gospel and explosion of growth testify to the fact that Jesus is still on the throne and is working through His people for His plans and purposes. Amen
You see the devil is a deceiver and he has been hard at work for quite some time seeking to divide the people from God not only from God Himself but also from one believer to another.
He tries to divide us in all sorts of ways so that we will turn on one another instead of turning more people to the Lord.
Hear me today there are no young churches or old churches. There are no black churches or white churches. There are no rich churches and poor churches. As Christian we are all the Church and we should all be united by the common fact that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior and we as the Church are His bride.
The Power of the Holy Spirit Was Active
The Power of the Holy Spirit Was Active
Verses 2 and 3 demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit to manifest not only in the supernatural but in the natural.
The Bible says that a sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind filled the entire house were they were sitting.
When we come together our desire should be for the mighty winds of God to so saturate our churches that not even a single room would be unaffected.
We should desire the Spirit to move so powerfully that everyone in the house would be in awe of the awesome and powerful Spirit of the Lord.
Then the Bible says that divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on them.
Tongues like fire is often used to describe God’s holy presence and His ability to purify.
You see when the Holy Spirit dwells on you or in you it will sanctify you or purify you.
Simply put God will not dwell in the presence of sin and the Holy Spirit is a part of the Godhead so if we are not seeing the Spirit move in our lives and in our churches we need to fall on our needs, repent and remove all sin from the camp.
Then and only then will we witness the true power of Pentecost.
Verse 4 states that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Speaking in tongues is a gift from God and one of the most misunderstood parts of the Bible. And while this topic could be a sermon on to itself a simple explanation is that the Lord gives us the gift of speaking in tongues as initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Also speaking in tongues occurs when we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and also in our prayer language. And tongues is also used as a tool to communicate the Gospel of messages from the Lord to others.
The gift of tongues are not only real but a gift from the Lord and something we should be comfortable to operate in and not something we should be trying to quench or make others understand.
On the day of Pentecost in particular the gift of tongues was symbolized the reversal of the judgement which the Lord had placed on the earth in the tower of Babel.
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
What the Lord is telling us as the Church is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to be shared with all the people of the world and that He wants His people to assemble and work sharing the love of Jesus with all who desire to hear.
Verses 5-12 demonstrate this point as many different Jewish and Arabic people from different languages and different backgrounds began to hear the Gospel shared in their own native language.
It moved them mightily and many were bewildered.
However, just like in our day many people did not understand and even mocked those Spirit fill believers for speaking in tongues.
Hear me today saints, don’t let anyone or anything make you feel awkward, ashamed or uncomfortable about operating in the Spirit.
Being Spirit filled is a gift from the Lord and is necessary for us to live and operate in the power of Pentecost not just for our own personal experiences but also to do the works of Christ in a lost and dying world.
The Gospel Was Shared and People Were Saved
The Gospel Was Shared and People Were Saved
In verses 14-41 Peter preaches a powerful sermon to the Jews gathered at Jerusalem.
He begins by explaining to them that the spiritual gifts and event of Pentecost they are witnessing are in fact real and are part of prophecy as found in Joel 2:28-32
Peter is declaring to the crowds that we are now in the last days before and that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah.
Peter’s words in verse 36 strongly convict the people.
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
This point in the Scripture cannot be overlooked. As some of you may know my wife Angel has lead a street evangelism ministry since 2011. And during that time I cannot tell you the number of people almost entirely Christian that say no one is one to Christ by being direct and we need to be more relational. I have to tell you that has not been our experience at all. Sure we are to be kind and loving to all people but when we try to just have a laid approach with sharing the gospel while it may sew goods seeds for a long term conversion I have never directly seen that approach lead someone to the repentance.
You see it is simple if someone does not feel like they way they live is wrong then they will not see a need for a savior and by not being direct with them we are not only not following the example of Christ or the Disciples we are simply not being effective with the gravity of the situation.
I will the first to tell you my wife has the anointing for street ministry and I truly cannot tell you the number of people she has lead to the Lord.
And while my natural tenancy is to be more relational and that is part of what makes me an effective Pastor when it comes to questions of salvation the direct approach is always the most effective approach and when done properly it can be done in a loving and kind way. Peter demonstrates that exact point to us in verses 38-41 when after just confronting them with their sin, He then shows them the path to salvation by repenting of their sins, putting their faith in Jesus Christ and being baptized. Then they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well.
The Unified Church Loved Sacrificially and it Grew Continually
The Unified Church Loved Sacrificially and it Grew Continually
Lastly lets we can see in verses 42-47 that the church loves each other sacrificially and the Lord blesses them.
The Bible provides examples such as being devoted to the Disciples teachings, fellowship and prayer. Also, they feared the Lord and believed in the power of the Holy Spirit and witnessed many wonders and signs. They shared a common belief and shared their resources with those in need. They attended church together and the Lord blessed them to keep growing.
You see brothers and sisters when we come together as believers in Christ being filled with the Spirit, praying, attending services, serving one another and those in need and having fellowship together the Lord too will bless our churches and we will grow.
Not by our might but by His will, His word and His Spirit.
So I challenge you to live in the power and purpose of Pentecost not just this day but all throughout the year and you will be absolutely amazed at what the Lord can do in and through you and your churches.
Prayer
Prayer