And of course, one of the most dramatic scenes in all the Bible occurred with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the gathered disciples, and the speaking in tongues, and a mighty rushing wind that we find it hard to imagine what it was like, because it's not part of our custom to try to pray that down today like some other denominations and religious forms do. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. Which again points forward to the last days inaugurated at Pentecost. 20:22), which also tends to disrupt the theology of some! But on that morning as they gathered, made their preparations, put on their clothes, walked to the location where they all were gathered, and they were about 120 disciples as chapter 1 of Acts tells us, they no doubt had a lot on their mind. "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). 60 seconds. He also is a residentfaculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. Answer: In Luke 10:17, when the seventy came back from visiting the towns in Israel, they said, " Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. We can deal with them. The Day of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter in Western branches of Christianity. 1 Samuel 11:6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. Friday. The disciples had seen what would happen because Christ was arrested and had come before the high priest. The religious leaders are "astonished" and marvel that such common and unlearned men can have such a sweeping command of their topic, and such serene courage. That's what the gift of the Holy Spirit is for us. If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! When you read what Peter said about these prophecies from Joel and the Psalmstrust me, folks, Peter's sermon would not have passed doctrinal review by the Jewish doctrinal committee of that day. The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. In other words, I'm not teaching or requiring anything new. And so Luke's account brings this together. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. That's a little-understood part of what was taking place. and there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. Fifth, the OT saints believed that craftsmanship and artistic ability in the service of God was a gift of the Holy Spirit. Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but . We are going to be taking giant steps toward creating that kind of Church that we read about here in the book of Acts, that has been imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, and changes are being made. Christ Is Risen - An Easter plan by Matt Maher, The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. There are two groups of humans: those in the flesh (born of the flesh) and those in the Spirit (born again of the Spirit). The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues a as the Spirit enabled them. Surely we have need today of men and women filled by the Spirit to expose and denounce evils in our society that are hardly blinked at any more: the exploitation of women's bodies and debasement in advertising, the unconscionable destruction of human life through abortion on demand, the maneuvers of our own country to destabilize other governments, the gross waste and gluttony of American life, the cavalier attitude to divorce and remarriage which God hates, and the multi-million dollar promotion of alcohol and cigarettes as anything less than family-destroyers and body-killers. Hadn't He told them that He'd come back to life again? He was the one who was the leader of that doubt and fear and terrified approach, because he denied Christ three times, and he had to be pointedly taught by Jesus. And so it was very key that His final ascension would be from this mountain. They gave him a piece of broiled fish and honey comb, He takes it and he sits down and eats in their presence. And then they had seen that He was resurrected. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Trials hit us that will shake our faith, test our faith. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and it appeared to them, divided tongues as of fire. The Victory over Fear On the day of the Pentecost, The Spirit of God came to them, filled their minds and their hearts and their entire being. The appearance of Jesus' face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. "What do we do?" Today the Spirit still instructs us by the Word of Scripture and we ought to pray earnestly for an outpouring of God's enlightening Spirit so that the Scriptures really live for us and become intensely personal. And I was going to go out to California, my first trip to California, visit my brother for about three weeks. And again, He gives, through Mark's account here, He gives the same commission to go. Thus, the Pentecost is the culmination, the ultimate gift of Spirit, when the apostles get Him to such an extent and intensity that they can already be emboldened by Him to preach to all corners of the world, withstanding all calamities and opposing powers. Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? "Behold, He said, My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Such notions have always struck me as profoundly atheistic. The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. The story does not indicate that they were still in that upper room in Acts 2. These significant events from the life of Jesus are made easier to comprehend and better-illustrated thanks to the passages . How can I recognize one? You ever been in that type of situation where you don't know what to do next? And the people of God in this period are to be a people born of the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit to bear witness to "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." The indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs in every believer the moment they make Jesus their Lord. The NT first Pentecost was the demarcation point when the Holy Spirit first indwelled people. That is what caused them to banish their fear, trouble, doubt, and unbelief: Christ in them through the Holy Spirit. It was by God's Spirit that the prophets spoke to the people God's Word (Nehemiah 9:30), and it was by the Spirit that the people were enabled to grasp and apply the Word. People should see that in us. It was their life. All of these qualities are to the divine nature, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. When did that become true? In verse 14, it says, "Then later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and He rebuked them, rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." There's a lot of information in the details that we are given in chapter 28 verse 16. From this point, they had only 10 days. But as Christ begins to give them the teaching from the Scriptures, of how He had fulfilled literally, in every way, the scriptures about the Messiah. Really. Instead of competing, the disciples were now cooperating. In verse 38, after everyone has calmed down, they realize theyve been involved and they were responsible for the death of Jesus. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. and the preacher says, "So what?" They had a lot of fear. That's what He did. The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). That's been the hallmark of our feature. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. So there is going to be a gap. People should see God in us. . LISTEN NOW. And it is in that, we reach the real nexus, the real critical point of our life before God, where we recognize that, with the Holy Spirit, we are taking on the very nature of God, the divine nature. They were with Him and they asked Him in verse 6, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" Learning and labor which do not lead people in love to God are not prompted by the Spirit of Christ. This is it. Even though they had seen miracles, again, another indication to us always to remember that miracles are important, miracles can be faith-builders, but miracles by themselves will not do it all. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So here's my answer to why the experience of the Old Testament saints is valuable for us today. It did not become true after Jesus said that. Do Christians receive the Holy Spirit upon conversion or not (Ephesians 1:13 vs. Acts 8:14-17; 19:1-7)? But some doubted." We often think a miracle would be just what we need. If we can learn to take on the divine nature and drink that in, in our lives, then we can banish doubt, uncertainty, and fear, unbelief, that will creep in at various times as we go through our lives, and stages in the developments of life. As we came here this morning, to services, and as we gathered here this morning ourselves, there is a very important lesson for us to learn as well. I want to show you ten ways the Old Testament saints experienced the Holy Spirit. How does a fan in a turbofan engine suck air in? Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles and disciples gathered in fear, behind locked doors. He used Deborah and the tribe of Zebulun (the mountain may have been in their land) in the sermon. So if I can come back to the question that I asked, what was going through their mind on that morning of Pentecost? What's the next step?" More likely, the believers assembled in one . Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. What was on their mind? It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. Now let me suggest an analogy to illustrate the experience of the Spirit before and after Pentecost. And what happened? Because they were seeing Christ risen and they saw Him in a bodily form, but then they were attributing something different to that. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. The bonds of trust among the disciples were beginning to be frayed. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. I've got to find out where that next bus leaves, and what time." God not only designed how he wanted his tabernacle built, he also equipped the craftsmen to do it. I never have believed in knowledge for its own sake or art for art's sake. And so they didn't really think about that, and yet all of a sudden it came upon them. Did they experience fear, doubt, and disbelief as we sometimes do? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. John has another set of accounts, and then he kind of ends and he leaves it wide open. If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! https://www.bible.com/bible/392/JHN.20.19-29.CEV. Think about that among our own relationships with each other. PTIJ Should we be afraid of Artificial Intelligence? It was the Roman soldiers that had carried out the death of Christ and had sealed the tomb and a Roman guard had been placed there. So that when they came to that morning of Pentecost and this mighty event takes place, they were ready then to move into the experience provided, and that extra dimension of power that the Spirit of God would give them and did give to them, and Peter takes the lead to give the sermon of his life. Third, the OT believers enjoyed the constant presence of God's Spirit. As I got up this morning, prepared to come over here, go through the day, same things that will be in my mind tomorrow, and next Thursday, and a month from today. How to increase the number of CPUs in my computer? Every now and then in extraordinary circumstances of need the Spirit enables ordinary Christians to perform amazing feats of rescue far beyond their ordinary capacitylike lifting a car off of a pinned husband or escaping from a raging rapist. After Pentecost, a radical transformation took place. If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. Some say that they wound up in the temple precincts; could very well be. Could it mean that apostles had just some spiritual gifts like healing before Pentecost, but after it they received gift of prophesy and gift of tongues? Fear not" (Haggai 2:5). And those days you didn't fear getting on a Greyhound bus, and you could go all over the country on a very cheap pass. We live in the latter days of the Spirit. They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. Best Answer. Luke 2:25-27. They saw it in different ways and understood it completely different from anything from our frame of reference and they were ascribing, would have been ascribing then even to Jesus something that was not of God, which in itself can be a problem. And this dramatic miracle, but beyond that, 3,000 people being added to the Church, and then a community being developed. And therein, lies a key to the understanding of what had taken place with these individuals here. Because Ruth saw in Naomi, God, an example that she wanted to be a part of. What are examples of software that may be seriously affected by a time jump? Jesus began to teach them, we read, from the Law of Moses, from the prophets, the Scriptures about Him, to explain to them what had happened. Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration. There are no more decisive turning points in redemptive history that must happen before Jesus returns to establish his kingdom. And when those come in, how do we process them? In Job 33:4 Elihu speaks for all faithful Jews when he says, "The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." 7:50; 19:9). He is author of. Bold, Men and brethren, he begins to explain what's happened. And eats in their land ) in the details that we are given in chapter 28 16! Presence of God was a gift of the Holy Spirit occurs in every believer moment. And showed them his hands and my feet, that it is I Myself Spirit enabled them of.! Enjoyed the constant presence of God was a gift of the will of flesh! Again, he also equipped the craftsmen to do it the eleven disciples away. 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