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Acts 2
21 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.
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.'
22 "Men of Israel, listen to this:
Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and
signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by
God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put
him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead,
freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to
keep its hold on him.
36 "Therefore let all Israel be
assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ."
37 When the people heard this, they
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers,
what shall we do?"
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be
baptised, 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 The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will
call."
40 With many other words he warned
them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt
generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptised,
and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer. 43 Everyone
was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the
apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had
everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave
to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in
the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad
and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
We know that it also fulfilled the word of Zechariah 12:
10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on
me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an
only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Do you want to see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost?
Do you believe the Holy Spirit is at work?
Can he change your life?
Can he change other’s lives?
Do you want the Holy Spirit in your life?
. Transformation. Change is sometimes a bit scary. It means giving up what we have got used to and setting out on a new path.
. Empowered to tell. These disciples were getting on just nicely in private. Pentecost very rapidly brought them into conflict with the religious oppressors of their day. When Jesus calls us to follow him , he calls us to the way of the cross, not the life of luxury and power.
. The church exploding in growth. I wonder how often in a quiet moment the apostles wished for the good old days when they had Jesus to themselves. (neatly forgetting his reprimand over the people that brought their children; the crowds at the feeding of the 5, 00 and so on.)
When and how will it happen?
7 He
said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has
set by his own authority. 8 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."
That sound familiar? It’s a bit like the second coming isn’t it? The message about the second coming and the coming of the Holy Spirit is the same – be ready!
Pentecost = harvest and also (later) the giving of the Law at Sinai. One of the three main festivals of the Jews. – Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement. It was a flash point when people from all across the region were in Jerusalem. When we put texts on the buses and gospels in homes, we are creating another flashpoint. Are you praying that the Holy Spirit lights up the posters and gospels so that people see and hear the Good News? We have chosen Harvest to celebrate the 70 years of responding to the love of God in Christ Jesus. Pray for a spiritual harvest. That would be the greatest way to celebrate what the previous generation set out to do – to tell the grace of God in the gospel.
2. What
to do while we wait.
all joined together constantly in prayer
Acts 1:14
14 They
all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary
the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
I am sure
that those who are pedantic can find fault with this. I am sure they eat and
shopped and went to work. But they were marked out as praying together. And no
doubt some had more time than others to spend praying together. I want to pick
up the together matter. We tend to say that a lot of our prayer happens in our
own quiet times. And rightly so. If you are not spending time with Jesus in
prayer, then you need to address that and make time for your spiritual growth.
But that is not where the Holy Spirit was poured out. They were praying
together, many meeting daily. So I am asking you to make a point of checking
out the three specific occasions we meet for prayer. Are you there? Are you
there on Sunday morning at 9:30am; House Group and Powerhouse? They are core
activities of this church not peripherals.
3. What
to expect
to be
witnesses
8 But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses.
to be powered up
4 All
of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as
the Spirit enabled them.
Your
sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men
will dream dreams.
to be made fun of
13 Some,
however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
people will be
cut to the heart
37 When
the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
people will respond
41 Those
who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their
number that day.
…. And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
People
will be discipled.
42 They
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and
had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave
to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in
the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad
and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the
people.
Notice that
the priorities are not at first socio-economic. That followed. Number one
priority was their spiritual transformation.
I spoke to a man last week who have a very sad life, but what I prayed over him was for his salvation, his coming to terms with the past and then his healing. Often our priorities seem to be about health – that is because we tend to raise that on Sunday Mornings for prayer. But if you were at the Prayer meeting before the service or if you were at PowerHouse on a Thursday night, you would discover a different priority creeping in to our prayers.
Summary:
The preaching of Pentecost is:
Jesus of
Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,
which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by
God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put
him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead,
freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to
keep its hold on him.
36 "Therefore let all Israel be
assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ."
"Repent
and be baptised, 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 The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will
call."
Can I point out that it is not about speaking in tongues or being healed or signs and wonders. They followed the faithful, Holy Spirit inspired telling of the Good News of Jesus. The challenge is quite simple, God has poured out his Spirit on all his followers, are we prepared to be part of the Acts? That begins with praying together, receiving together, witnessing together and moving out, driven either by the Spirit or by persecution.
“Send the fire, O Lord”
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