When Voices Of Hope Evangelistic Team is ministering in Word and Song, their Fire Choir will sing several songs and then lead the Congregation in singing. Since that isn't possible on-line, please click here and may you be blessed by the song, "He Abides."
The Wait Is Over
Acts 2:1-13
Book of Acts chapter 2, please find it and keep it open. We're in a series entitled: "That Old-Time Religion." We’ve already said that if you want something new, then try something old, because we need to go all the way back in order to find the pattern for a New Testament church.
We can find it in the book of Acts. We said that these people, so long ago, did so much with so little, and we do so little with so much. Yet I believe this is going to be the year of a great breakthrough for us.
But we have not yet begun to see what God can do, and what God will do through us and with us, when we're committed totally to Him. A holy church—a New Testament church, a church on fire filled with the Holy Spirit is a mighty instrument in the hand of a Holy God.
I'm speaking on the subject: being baptized with the Holy Spirit; that's what we need. We don't want to come across to this community as a religious country club, or plastic hypocrites—playing water boy to a game of life.
We want to demonstrate to this community, and to our world, the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 2:1: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."
Last week we concluded Acts chapter one where Jesus gave His followers the instructions to wait for the Holy Spirit to come, and now, as we move into chapter two, the wait is over. The Holy Spirit has come and they are now ushering in the church era. In chapter one, the Savior ascends, in chapter two, the Holy Spirit descends.
If you are tired of the strain and stress of life and are ready to experience the abundance of life which God has promised, you are a prime candidate for the workings of Acts 2.
As we look at these verses, prepare yourself for a Pentecostal experience. It is time to move in and take possession of the power and abilities God has freely given to believers through a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit.
I want to encourage us, as we unfold the pages of Acts to allow the Holy Spirit to speak freshly into our life, for our wait is over, the Holy Spirit has come, and He is here, so let us learn together these great truths from and about our God.
Acts 2:1-4 “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance."
Human nature has a tendency to try and impose its plans on everything; our agenda, our schedule, our wants, our desires. We talked about how they waited in the Upper Room; it must have been really hard for them. Just look at how difficult it is for us to wait, to say not my own personal will, but your will Lord be done in my life.
People want to have control of their own will power and when they take control, they miss the opportunity for God’s power to flow through them. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and so many times God’s timetable is quite different from ours as well. The benefit of being in line with God, well, there is no comparison.
God spoke to Job about Job’s inability to control his own destiny outside of God’s will. Job 38:4-7 God asked him, Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?
I wonder, could God ask us the same thing when we try to operate outside of His power thinking we know best? When we desire to take the control of our life and circumstances away from God, thinking that we have the ability to run our own lives without repercussions, without the wisdom of the Creator, then we should also be able to respond to the questions God put to Job and have a right answer.
In truth, we know we can’t, from experience, we’ve tried to run things before and they may work for a time, but eventually we find ourselves lacking in the ability to plow ahead as we thought we could. The reason is because God controls the times and seasons. It is God who created, it is God who controls.
Our responsibility is to be ready when God opens the doors for us to move ahead in our lives. We have to have our lamps ready, filled with oil, prepared to move out and light the world when the bridegroom comes. Too often we are idly doing something else, our oil is running low and we are unprepared for the visitation of God.
On the day God designated, He fulfilled His promise of the Holy Spirit coming to all mankind, for all mankind. The timing, according to Scripture, was the Day of Pentecost.
Pentecost means “fiftieth”. It is a New Testament name for the Feast of Weeks or Harvest written of in Exodus 23:16 and 34:22-23. This Jewish Festival is celebrated fifty days following Passover.
Judaism also looked to Pentecost as a celebration for when God gave the Law to Moses. For us, as Christians, we recognize Pentecost as the day when the Holy Spirit came to all believers.
The designation, Feast of Weeks, comes from the fact the celebration followed after seven weeks of harvesting. Here, at the Temple, they would bring an offering of the first fruit. Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, is considered one of the three great pilgrim festivals of Judaism, with Passover which precedes Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which follows it by four months, being the other two.
As Pentecost symbolizes the first fruit of harvest for the Jews, Pentecost symbolizes for the church the beginning of the first fruit of harvest for Jesus. Pentecost is the beginning of God’s harvest of souls in the world which will lead to the last day when the curtain draws closed on this era of history.
But now notice in verses 2-13:
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another*, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and* Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of
Rome*, Jews and* proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth* this?
13 Others mocking said*, These men are full of new wine.
So here, on the Day of Pentecost, 120 believers are gathered together in the Upper Room. They had no idea what to expect, Jesus did not tell them how they would know when the Holy Spirit had come and they had no previous experience which to look back to and say this is how it was done before.
We see 120 men and women, in prayer, in conversation, in one accord, waiting for the promise of God. It is hard to say what their expectations were. Would the Holy Spirit come with a knock on the door, and be in human form? Would the Holy Spirit descend in the same manner in which Jesus had ascended? No matter how they might have preconceived His arrival, the Holy Spirit did come.
In the Message Bible it says, Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind—gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Suddenly, God came into their midst.
The Lord, in Ezekiel, blew on the dry bones and brought them to life. Here in Acts, the Lord is again blowing on flesh and bones bringing life. God does that in our situations when it looks like things are hopeless, when it looks like there is nothing more that can be done, the wind of the Spirit begins to blow and changes situations, blows away barriers and allows the Lord to work in our situations.
The Holy Spirit is like the wind, blowing wherever He pleases under the control of God, not under the control of man.
The second thing they experienced that day is found in verse 3: The Holy Spirit sets your life ablaze. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:11, I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Fire being associated with the cleansing of judgment. Fire is also the symbol of the divine presence. We find this symbolized throughout the Bible. There was the burning bush in Exodus 3; the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites by night during their wilderness experience in Exodus 13; We read of the consuming fire on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24; the fire which hovered over the tabernacle in Exodus 40; and then the fire we read about here in this passage of Matthew which talks of the Holy Spirit and fire.
It seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them. I don’t want you to miss this point—the tongues of fire rested on each one of them individually. Under the Old Covenant, the divine presence of God came to rest on the people of Israel as a corporate entity.
There were times when the Holy Spirit would rest on the leaders for a special purpose, but this was not the normal occurrences. Now, under the new covenant, beginning on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has come and now rests on each believer individually.
The emphasis in the proclamation of God’s redemption from Pentecost forward is now on a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, a personal relationship with God for all who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Vs. 4
The Holy Spirit came suddenly and unexpectedly to those early Christians; nevertheless, it was understood by the disciples to have been given for the purpose of clear communication to the gathering crowd who were gathering around the meeting area.
What chance would they have had on the Day of Pentecost without the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What chance do we have in finding God without the leading of the Holy Spirit in our world today?
Here the Holy Spirit came down and empowered them to make an impact in their world, and the same Holy Spirit who was with them is the same who is here today seeking believers who want to utilize the gifts and talents God has given to change the world in which we live.
The cause of Christ would have died an early death had it not been for this powerful work of God in bringing His Spirit into our lives to teach us, guide us, and direct our path. We need that power today as much, if not more, than they did in the early church.
Vs. 5-11 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 Pamphila, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Creatan and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues."
Under the power of the Holy Spirit, languages known to the audience, but probably unknown to the speaker since the point was made they were all Galileans, were being spoken to a crowd that had gathered around where they were meeting.
Have you noticed how God works in many ways to catch our attention so we can share the Good News of Jesus Christ with other people? Jesus told them to wait until the Holy Spirit comes and then they would be His witness not only in Jerusalem but stretching out to encompass the world.
Supernatural signs and wonders have the effect of drawing people’s attention. Go to any meeting where the Spirit of God is moving in signs and wonders and it does not take long for a crowd to develop.
The purpose of God working this way we learn from reading in Acts, as the people came and heard, soon they became riveted on Peter and the others who were speaking out in the languages of the growing crowd.
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ Some made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’ Vs. 12-13
Not everyone will look at a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit and respond in a positive way. There needs to be a heart preparation for the miracle to accomplish its full purpose and intent.
Here is the problem, God speaks to people through signs and wonders and their habits do not change, their lifestyle remains the same. People come expecting God to speak something new, different, into their lives but they have not yet done anything with what God has already spoken to them. It is a common problem. Even in our Bible knowledge, we know far more than we are applying in our lives.
This is what I see happening with the miraculous. There are some people who will embrace it. We see that here in this chapter. We also see in the same chapter, same experience, there are those who will reject it, will laugh at it, will make fun and even make excuses to try and explain it away, like they have had too much wine.
We still have a lot more to study in this chapter, we can see that what God promises, God delivers. What the prophets foretold in the Old Testament is birthed to life here concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts, and in our own generation and time-period, God continues to baptize His followers with the Holy Spirit so they can be empowered to witness. Here, in Acts 2, the church is born, the waiting is over, and the Holy Spirit has come. And today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we continue to impact the world with the love and power, the forgiveness and grace, given to us by Jesus Christ.
Interesting, this gift from God, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we will continue to see through this book, has drawn such sharp division among believers. I have been amazed how different sections of the Christian community can have such dispute over the miraculous gifts of the Spirit.
To eliminate the miraculous is to set the church back into human reason. To say that God does not speak today through signs and wonders is to take away the powerful tool of evangelism and spiritual growth God has given.
Tongues is just one of those expressions of God that enables Christians to be victorious in their faith. Let me make a few points that you might be able to share with those who question this gift but have an open mind to information.
Here, in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came, they spoke in the language of these other nations as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability. That comment, in verse 4 indicated they did not know the language themselves as it was the Holy Spirit who enabled them.
I think we could all agree that tongues are a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit, that is, these tongues are God inspired. This could be an existing language known to others as is indicated in Acts 2:6, or it could be in an unknown language, at least a language unknown here on earth as 1 Corinthians 13:1 indicates.
God linked tongues with the baptism of the Holy Spirit from the outset in Acts 2:4. This was a confirmation to the 120 believers who had gathered there, and it also happened in Acts 10:44-46 and Acts 19:6; and in each case its purpose was to proclaim the Gospel.
As Pentecostals most believe from the above scriptures that speaking in tongues was/is the initial gift; however nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that speaking in tongues is the only evidence that a person has received the Holy Spirit. The individual speaking in tongues and the interpreter, as well as anyone speaking prophecy, should be glorifying God, and not themselves.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to other gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to other various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
I am also fully aware not all Christians understand or accept that tongues are for today thus tongues has become distorted, ignored and rejected as a legitimate gift of the Spirit by many Christians.
I do believe, when you are saved, the Holy Spirit comes on you, but I also believe that there is an added dimension of the Spirit which takes us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with God.
Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to continue the practice of speaking with other tongues in their worship of God. He also encouraged them to speak in tongues in their individual prayer life as a means of spiritual edification or building up. The Bible says, “He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself . . .” (1 Corinthians 14:4).
Paul also stated in 1 Corinthians 14:14, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
God is a Spirit. When you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit; you are talking to Him by divine, supernatural means.
Speaking with tongues keeps us continually aware of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling Presence. And if you are conscious of the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit every day, it is bound to affect the way you think and live.
Speaking in tongues can eliminate selfishness in our prayer life. For instance, if we pray a prayer out of our own mind and out of our own thinking, it may be unscriptural. It may be selfish.
Paul wrote to the Church at Rome, “. . . for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. . .” (Romans 8:26). He didn’t say we didn’t know how to pray, because we are instructed to pray to the Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:23–24).
But just because we know how to pray doesn’t mean that we know what to pray for as we ought. So, Paul said, “Likewise the Spirit also helps our weakness: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26).
The Holy Spirit is not going to do our praying for us. He is sent to help us pray. Speaking with other tongues is praying as the Spirit gives utterance. It is Spirit-directed praying.
It helps us learn to trust God more fully. It builds one’s faith to speak in tongues. The Bible says, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20).
Speaking in tongues stimulates faith! For example, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues because the Holy Spirit supernaturally directs the words we speak.
It provides a way to pray about things that you wouldn’t think to pray about or aren’t even aware of. In addition, the Holy Spirit, who knows everything, can pray things through us for things about which our natural mind knows nothing.
James 3:8 says, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit is a big step toward being able to fully yield all of your members to God; for if you can yield your tongue, you can yield any member of your body to God.
God has given us this wonderful spiritual gift to bless us, edify us, and refresh us throughout our lives on this earth. Let’s receive what God has provided and enjoy the benefits of speaking in tongues!
It is allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us, speaking at a heavenly level to God. You can also do this by singing, by giving thanks, and by praise.
Many times, I have found, people who have prayed for the baptism and did not evidence it with tongues, found later tongues became a part of their prayer time, they had those words all along.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit makes weaklings into witnesses. On the day of Pentecost, 120 disciples led 3,000 to Christ. Today, 3,000 can't even lead 120 to Christ. And the reason is that we've not understood the fullness of the Spirit.
There's one other act of the Spirit, there's the anointing of the Spirit.
Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power at His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus that was not when He was filled with the Spirit. Jesus was already filled with the Spirit. Do you think that Jesus lived thirty years without being filled with the Spirit? Of course not. If John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, would his Lord be less? No.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit from His childhood, but He was anointed with the Spirit when His ministry began. The anointing is a special touch for a specific task. And, if you have a specific task to do—to preach, to sing, to witness, to teach—then pray, "O God, I know, Lord, that You dwell in me. Now Lord, fill me. Take every part, anoint me. Let that unction, that power, be on me."
In a country church, a preacher asked a deacon to dismiss everyone in prayer. The deacon prayed, and in the midst of that prayer, he said, "Lord, unctionize our pastor. Unctionize our pastor." And the pastor didn't exactly like that prayer. He met the old deacon at the church door, and he said, "Deacon, that was a good prayer that you prayed, but you asked God to unctionize me." "What does that word unctionize mean?" The deacon said, "Reverend, I ain't sure what it does mean; but whatever it means, you ain't got it."
Folks, whatever it means, I want it. I want that anointing in my heart and in my life.
In Jesus’ Name Amen!