The Promise
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1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
9 Parthians, Medes, 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, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon 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 upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Jesus told them it would happen
Jesus told them it would happen
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning
2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Remember it said that Jesus ‘opened their minds to understand the Scriptures...’ Here, we catch a glimpse of the connections Jesus was making for them between the events they were experiencing and the larger story of God across the ages. The Law and Psalms and The Prophets were written long before the time of Jesus and the Apostles. But they predicted events that unfolded during that time. That’s part of why we can trust the Bible. So this was important for the Apostles to hear. It grounded them in history, God’s story.
But writing all of those experiences of discovery down helps us even today! Now we see the connections between the prequel and the main event. We are living out the sequel. It’s still a great movie even today.
This is that
This is that
I read a book in school called This is That. That’s as simple as you can make it. It’s where a biblical writer is pointing to something previously written being fulfilled in another time. Making connections from one part of the bible to another.
If you’re able to use an audio bible and listen to the bible daily, I challenge you to do the 90 day bible reading plan. It’s about 12 pages of text per day. 20-30min of listening. If you listen to the whole bible that fast, you will begin to recognize some connections because it won’t have been that long ago that you heard or read the related passage. Jot down verses that you want to come back and explore after you are done with the reading plan. It can actually be fun to get deeper into the Word like this. If you know the bible well the big pieces become clear.
Here is where Luke makes a connection in our reading:
16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
Peter demonstrates that he was listening when Jesus taught them. It helped him see that what was happening in front of him was what Joel looked ahead to see.
28 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
32 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
So everything that was happening to the apostles and everything that’s happening in our time are part of the continuing drama of God overcoming the human tragedy with powerful love.
Literally and figuratively it says God is pouring out his Spirit on all flesh. Remember in John’s Revelation Jesus says behold I am making all things new.
As the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles and all who gathered with them, the age of the Spirit was upon us. God makes his dwelling in us and among us. We have help to understand and to discern what to do. We have help remembering what we need to remember from Jesus. We have help rising above our personal struggles and sins. We can be filled with all the fullness of God. We will have help communicating who Jesus is to a world that doesn’t understand.
Those who didn’t believe in Jesus tried to dismiss the Apostles and others, saying they were drunk or out of their minds.
Although there was a lot of noise with a rushing mighty wind and many voices speaking many languages, people were hearing about the great deeds of God in their own language if they listened carefully. It was a miracle. The Spirit was helping them to overcome communication barriers across generations and cultures. So many from different backgrounds all together. Yet, everyone hearing the message of Jesus. This is essentially the birthday of the church. The church has always had help sharing the good news. Help from the helper, the comforter, the counselor, the Holy Spirit.
Today, many people still don’t understand. They may say we are out of our heads or drunk. But don’t let that take the wind out of your sails. You know what God has done for you. You know He is the source of light and life and love and holiness. Let your light shine. Some may turn away or even lash out. Turn the other cheek and keep on shining.
Jesus said “you will have trouble in this life. But take heart, I have overcome the world.”
The Holy Spirit came during the celebration of Pentecost, the feast of weeks in the old testament, celebrating the harvest and giving thanks that God provided. Now we remember that day because the Holy Spirit fell and the gospel went around the world.
Flaming tongues of fire fell on fully surrendered lives and many things changed for the better that day. Mainly many lives changed for the better. Individuals. Families. Widows. Orphans. Grieving parents. Excited teenagers. Boys and Girls. Sons and Daughters. Man servants and maidservants. Young men seeing visions. Old Men dreaming dreams. Men and Women prophesying as predicted.
This legacy falls to us and we celebrate it best with open hearts and surrendered lives.
Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Forgive. Serve. Give. Do it all to God’s glory because you can through the power of the holy spirit. Let’s pray...