We will handle them by the Word of God and the Spirit of God. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Psalm 104 celebrates the wonder and variety of all living things and says (vv. In Revelation chapter 14, we are given an image of the firstfruits, called the 144,000 in this part of the Revelation. What we are seeing here is again, the power of the Word of God. You remember what Ruth said to Naomi when Naomi, in the book of Ruth, had lost her husband and children, and these two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, tried to follow her away from Moab, and Orpah decided to leave. We can take on that nature and we can live. Somebody will tap me on the shoulder and tell me what to do next, but you know what? People were forgiven, saved and received everlasting life before the cross and before Pentecost (Lk. 2. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. And you can begin to imagine how this dynamic begins to must have been being set up within the disciples, because when you begin to doubt one another, you begin to lose trust. It was a mighty, powerful machine, the most powerful that the world in that day had ever seen. So there was still this not fully developed confidence and faith in what had happened, and so He goes even further and asks for some food. Mark chapter 16, verse 9, now, "When He rose early on the first day of the week," speaking of Christ's resurrection. But some doubted." 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. I won't believe unless I do this! As I was sitting there gazing around, nobody came. What is this gift of prophecy? When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.". 157 views, 3 likes, 4 loves, 3 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Mora Grace Lutheran Church: Music used with permission from CCLI And Numbers 27: 18 says, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Take Joshua the son of Nun, in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him.'" And so Christ gives them teaching and He gives them understanding. 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. Instead, they turned the world upside down. And yet Peter does, and he gives a bold sermon. But they saw Him for a period of time, and that's how I like to imagine it. The Christian aeon is a renewed order, a new creation. Finally, the Holy Spirit gave some in the OT a gift of prophecy. '", And so Luke's account gives us a very specific instruction, how He told them, You wait in Jerusalem and then you will receive the power from on high. And that is what they were doing as they waited for that period of time to come about. The world of the 1st century was very much tied into an awareness that there was a spirit world, and a lot different than even we today, we see a spirit world today in media and entertainment form. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do. ", A church begins to develop. Evidently, God only gave a brief taste of prophetic powers to the seventy elders. And yet some doubted. Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 14 shows that Christ will, on that day, set foot on the Mount of Olives. Was the gift of the Holy Spirit promised only for the first-century Church, according to Acts 2:38-39? [Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. " They were able to do the things Jesus gave them authority to do and they found it amazing. Or: "The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax" (15:14). As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. How was Simeon able to have the Holy Spirit upon him prior to Pentecost? That they're not drunk, that this is of God. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. How Believers Experienced the Spirit Before Pentecost, John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. People should see God in the firstfruits. Verse 41, "But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food?'" Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. I want to show you ten ways the Old Testament saints experienced the Holy Spirit. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Jerusalem was swelled with pilgrims, at this point in time, and this added to the drama of the moment. I was going to get on a Greyhound bus. It goes on, "When He had spoken these things," in verse 9, "they watched and He was taken up in a cloud, received Him out of their sight. These were redeemed from among men being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. And one set upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." This morning let me close simply by returning to the Aswan High Dam for a moment. Seventh, the saints of old experienced victory over fear by the presence of the Spirit. It was their life. And every breath you take ought to be a prayer of thanks that you live and move and have your being in the Spirit of God. That power would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. In light of Acts 10:44-48, were the disciples in Acts 2 praising/exalting God in tongues (contrary to the view that they were "preaching" in tongues)? Did they doubt what they were seeing? Peter was quoting Scripture and applying it to something that had happened and that is Jesus, His death and His resurrection. Most people believe the disciples were assembled in the "upper room" when the holy spirit of YEHOVAH God descended upon them during that Pentecost of 31 A.D. What is the difference between "receiving the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:14-20; 19:1-7) and "being filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17; 4:31)? Guardians Of Ancora Bible Plan: Ancora Kids See Jesus Alive! There was doubt. The answer is not Pentecost. They had hoped He would overcome the power of the Roman government and establish a new kingdom, and now their hopes of this vanished. How was the Holy Spirit being seen (perceived) in Acts 8? Before or after this instance. Before that the Holy Spirit came on people for specific gifts and purposes. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the few folk down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of. If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven. Far more people than they could have ever imagined and Peter gets up and gives the sermon of his life. They turned the world upside down because they fully understood two simple . I took a course in seminary on the Old Testament wisdom literature where we talked about Hebrew poetic parallelism and determinism and Heilesgeschichte ("salvation history") and I would generally raise my hand at the end of class and say, "So what?" So if I can come back to the question that I asked, what was going through their mind on that morning of Pentecost? The indwelling Spirit permanently dwells in the believer. A period of unity, one accord, fellowship, love for one another, treating people as equals, not in a completely socialistic manner that we understand from our modern context of socialism, or the welfare type of society. He greeted them Douay-Rheims Bible That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Not only apostles, but even the prophets of the Old Testament, who are lower than apostles, had a degree of presence of Spirit in themselves, through Whom they prophesied (needn't to give references, for they are so numerous!). He greeted his disciples and said to Thomas, Put your finger here and look at my hands! Christ Is Risen - An Easter plan by Matt Maher, The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. Consider this question, with what we have just read: how could people filled with doubt, even a measure of unbelief, fear, general fear, intense fear, heightened fear, abject fearfear takes many different forms and guises; sometimes we can control our fear, sometimes it overcomes us and we're just shaking in our bootshow could a people dealing with all of these emotions during this 50-day period of time be expected to do what Jesus told them here in verse 8, they would do, when they have problems figuring it all out at that particular moment? And allows us to then grow, because the next few verses here of 2 Peter speaks to a process of spiritual empowerment and growth and development. If we can borrow a phrase that we've used over the last two years, two phrases, they labored in the Word and they lived in the Word. Peter says, "In the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy." Another reason, I suspect, is because they were overwhelmed with disappointment by Jesus' arrest. The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. But we do not debate and discuss biblical topics. Beginning with Easter Sunday (e.g., Luke 24:32,45) and most likely throughout the forty days before ascending, the Lord instructed and formed the Apostles in the Gospel. And when they saw Him they worshiped him. But that was a life lesson that I had to learn. If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. Mt., 47 counts, XII, 30-37)<br> <br> Gospel Reading (Matthew 71 ch., XVII, 10-18)<br> <br>10 And his disciples asked . And all the others came right in and were a part of it with him. 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." It's an informed sermon. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Before Pentecost the river of God's Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. So there is going to be a gap. YouVersion uses cookies to personalize your experience. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Then I finally figured out, "Oh, I got to do this myself. Was Galileo expecting to see so many stars? And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up," and this is through the account here in Luke, then, would be the final bodily appearance of Jesus to them. There are two groups of humans: those in the flesh (born of the flesh) and those in the Spirit (born again of the Spirit). Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? . They thought that the body had been ferretted away by the disciples, someone had stolen it. It gives me a lot of encouragement, when I am called to go places where I feel insecure, to know that the Spirit is within to give me the words I need and that he is also already in the place where I am going to prepare the way and to hold me when I get there. And I sat, and I sat, and I thought somebody will come along and tell me what to do. It goes on, "Jesus came and He spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. We often think a miracle would be just what we need. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Labor in the Word, meaning to read the Word, and to learn it, and to soak it in and drink it in; and to live the Word, this past year. etc.'. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it cannot. He went on to show that, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And then there came a time, in verse 4, where they were assembled together with Him and He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, "You have heard from Me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.". The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). 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