Birthdays are in the air.
Sunday, we celebrated the birth of Isaac, because we were in
Genesis 21.
We also celebrated the birth of Roxy, because it was her
birthday.
Today, we celebrate the birth of the Church, because we’re
in Acts 2.
To God, birthdays are big deals.
Jesus said except one be born again, they cannot see, will
not enter, the Kingdom of God. John 3:3-8.
Timing is powerful.
A couple days ago, Monday, 4.8.24, the sun went black, or so
it seemed to those in the path of the solar eclipse.
Of the 7 cities in America named Nineveh, all were in the path of the eclipse, 2 were in the path of
totality, they experienced total eclipse, the other 5 were
partial.
There’s been much talk of this, from one extreme to the
other.
Today, folks are so hungry for signs; just like back in
Jesus’ day.
One day, when they asked Jesus for a sign, He said, a wicked
and adulterous generation seeks a sign. No sign will be given except the sign
of Jonah. As he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish, so
shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:38-41.
When Jonah came out of that fish, he went into Nineveh and
warned that in 40 days the Lord would destroy the city.
What’s any of that got to do with Acts 2?
Today, we’re 40 days from Sunday May 19th,
2024…the Day of Pentecost. (Church at WPV, Wednesday Bible Study, 4/10/24).
Today we land in Acts 2, which begins, “When the day of Pentecost
had fully come…”
By the way, before the 40 days were done, Nineveh
repented. The Lord relented. And Nineveh was saved.
Is the eclipse our Jonah?
Where will America be in 40 days?
Is there any sign, any warning, anything, that can turn the
trajectory of the American Titanic?
Biblically:
40, represents a time of testing or trial
7, Divine completeness or perfection
5, Grace
2, Union
40. Has America entered a time of testing?
Will she pass the test?
7. Do the 7 cities of Nineveh
represent all American cities, completely?
5. Is God extending His amazing grace?
2. Will 2 or more stand in the
gap united for those totally in the dark?
Timing is powerful.
Peter will say about halfway through this chapter:
The sun shall be turned into darkness… Acts
2:20
What are the odds, we just happen upon these words in our
study, when it just actually happened less than 48 hours ago?
God’s fingerprint is seen, His whisper heard, at the
intersection of Kairos and Chronos; God’s time and man’s.
When the Eternal and the temporal collide; the world calls
it coincidence, we call it Providence.
Acts 2:1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Chapter two opens by glancing at the Jewish Calendar.
It’s Pentecost.
That tells us how long they’ve been waiting, since Jesus
ascended.
Acts 1:3, tells us that Jesus showed Himself alive with many
infallible proofs for 40 days.
Okay, let’s look at the Jewish Calendar and the actions of
Jesus.
Passover: Jesus willingly
offers Himself as The Passover Lamb, to pay the penalty of sin, for all
who willingly, purposely, receive His Free Gift of Salvation.
3 days later:
First Fruits: On the Feast
of First Fruits, Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death, hell and the
grave; so all who follow Him, will too.
50 days later:
Pentecost: From the Feast
of First Fruits, count, 7 Shavuot (weeks) plus a day. That equals 50; thus
the name: Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks. Leviticus 23:15-16.
So, 40 days from First Fruits,
leaves how many days until Pentecost?
50-40=10.
Jesus ascended, and 10 days later,
the His Holy Spirit descended, on the Day of Pentecost.
Did you notice the major events of
Jesus seem to follow the feasts?
If this pattern continues, some
believe that the next major event on God’s calendar, will fall on the next
feast of the Jewish calendar: the Feast of Trumpets, which happens in September.
What is the next major event on God’s
calendar?
The Rapture of the Church.
From Pentecost, in the spring, we
wait for the next feast in the fall, The Feast of Trumpets.
Some believe this long wait
represents the Church age (which is the time we currently are in). And then one
day, perhaps during the Feast of Trumpets, the trump will sound, and
those who are Christ’s will be caught-up (raptured), to be with Him, forever,
and ever, amen.
We know beyond the shadow of a
doubt, that one day in the twinkling of an eye, this will happen, we
just don’t know when… so, we must, just always be ready.
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Okay, so when the day of
Pentecost had fully come—
Wait.
What is, the Day of Pentecost? You told us when, but not what.
God gave the Law (Torah) to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Jewish sages have compared it to a
wedding between God
and the Jewish people.
But the wedded bliss didn’t last
long.
While Moses was up on Mount Sinai forty
days and forty nights, receiving the Law from the finger of God; the people
below were partying, committing spiritual adultery, worshipping a golden calf.
Of course, God saw what they were
doing and told Moses.
“Go
down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the
land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.” Exodus 32:7.
Notice how God tells Moses—they’re
your people, you brought out of Egypt. Like when
your kid misbehaves and you tell your spouse—you go deal with your
child.
Then God told Mo to get back so He
could just blow them all away and start a new nation with him. Exodus 32:10.
But, like Abraham over Sodom, Moses stood in the gap, interceded, and saved their sin stinking skin. Exodus 32:11-14.
Moses climbed down the Mount
carrying the tablets of stone written by the very finger of God. When he saw
what God saw, he too lost his temper and threw the tablets, shattering them at
the base of the mountain.
Moses called all who were on God’s
side to come to him. The Levites came. He ordered them to strap on their sword
and slay the evil doers.
That Pentecost day, in the Old
Testament, when the Law was given, 3,000 souls were slain.
This Pentecost day, in the New Testament,
when the Spirit is given, 3,000 souls are saved.
Later in this chapter, (Acts 2:41) a
fisherman named Peter, will preach his first sermon, and 3,000 souls are saved.
The letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6.
The Law was never meant to save,
but to expose our need of saving.
Acts 2:1…they were all with one accord in one place.
This is the second time we’ve heard that they were
together, in one accord, (Acts 1:14).
Unity of the faith is
fertile soil for birthing the Power of the Holy Spirit.
This is that which Jesus prayed for in John 17. Five times;
He prayed that we’d be one as they are One (Father, Son, Holy
Spirit. One).
John 17:11, 20-23:
11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:20-23
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
I hear the sound of a rushing mighty wind. Really. As I write this there are wind advisories. I hear the awnings and carport roof shaking.
Hear His Presence.
There was a sound as of, a rushing
mighty wind, not, necessarily the wind.
Their ears are hearing His Presence (no words are
spoken from Him or them).
The word for Spirit, and breath, and wind,
in Greek, is the same: pneuma.
The word for Spirit, and breath, and wind,
in Hebrew is the same: ruach.
Jesus told Nick at night, in John 3:8, “The wind blows
where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Have you heard the song:
Midnight Cry:
I hear the sound of a mighty
rushing wind
And it's closer now than it's ever been
I can almost hear the trumpet as Gabriel sounds the chord
At the midnight cry we'll be going home
When Jesus steps out on a cloud to call His children
The dead in Christ shall rise to meet Him in the air
And then those that remain will be quickly changed
At the midnight cry when Jesus comes again
I look around me, I see prophecies fulfilling
And the signs of the times, they're appearing everywhere
I can almost hear my Father, as He say, "Son, go get my children"
Oh yeah, at the midnight cry, the bride of Christ will rise…
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
See His Presence.
Divided
tongues as of fire, not fire. Their hair wasn’t on
fire.
Their
eyes are seeing His Presence (no words are spoken from Him or them).
Physical
manifestation of His Presence bombarding their senses.
The Lord
appeared to Moses in a burning bush.
His
Presence appeared as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night for the children of Israel in the wilderness.
John the
Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit
and Fire. Matthew 3:11, John 1:33.
Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…
They were all filled; about 120 of them, according to Acts 1:15.
This is that which was spoken by Jesus, in Acts 1:5,8:
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
8 “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
Now, they are filled, empowered, by His Holy Spirit to do His work, to be His witnesses to the whole earth.
In John 20:22, they received the indwelling
of His Holy Spirit. His internal Presence upon Salvation.
Now, they received the empowering of His Holy Spirit. His eternal Power, upon baptism of fire.
This is that which the Lord has been waiting for since the divorce
in the Garden. This is the crowning moment, the consummation of the restoration
of the relationship between God and man. Now His Holy Spirit can once again fill us, clothe
us, from the inside out.
Now, we’re equipped and empowered to
complete the original command from way back in the beginning, be fruitful,
multiply, fill the earth, subdue it… only it’s updated to say: Go into all
the world and preach the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ.
After this they are no longer hunkering and hiding
behind closed doors, but bold and courageous all the way to and through the
jaws of death.
After this without flinching they can, and will, work
righteousness, obtain promises, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of
the sword, be made strong in weakness, receive their dead raised to life; yet,
they too, will be tortured, face chains and imprisonment, be stoned, sawn
asunder, slain with the sword, tormented, tempted, not accepting deliverance, holding
fast to a better Resurrection.
Of these, (of which you are included, if you are Christ’s),
the world is not worthy.
Wow! Sounds like a Super-Hero story.
He rides in on a rushing mighty wind and a flame, and
then, just like that, everything’s changed.
Like at the end of a Lone Ranger episode, when they
ask: “Who was that masked man?”
We ask:
Who is this Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is God. The third Person of the
Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Three in One.
The Trinity.
Therefore, He should never be referred to as, “it”.
He is mentioned 56 times in the Book of Acts.
Jesus repeatedly prepared them, for the coming of His
Holy Spirit. He continuously taught them about Him. So much so, that it was
probably like one of those moments when you say: “Hi, nice to meet you. I’ve
heard so much about you, I feel I already know you.”
Jesus tells us His Holy Spirit is our, Helper, Teacher, Guide, and Spirit of Truth; He abides with us, reminds us, testifies through us, and tells us of things to come. John 14:15-16, 15:26, 16:13.
And that, is just a small introduction.
He has a whole bushel basket full of fruit, just
waiting for you to taste and see that the Lord is Good.
Galatians 5:22-23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
And we haven’t even gotten to His Gifts (Lord willing
that’s where we’ll begin next time).
This is just a small taste of what Jesus was talking
about when He told His disciples that they needed to wait, until they were
filled with His Holy Spirit.
They walked with Him, and talked with Him, for years,
and yet, they that wasn’t enough. They needed to wait until they were endued
with Power, until they were filled, baptized, by His Holy Spirit.
If they needed this, how much more do we?
So, you’re probably saying, “I want Him. I need Him.
How do I get Him?”
Glad you asked. It’s easier than you may think.
Jesus
tells us:
“So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-13.
Let’s pray.
Lord, we ask You to fill us with Your Holy Spirit.
We’re not exactly sure what that even means; but we trust
that You know exactly what we need.
Since we’ve gone this far, we might as well be all in.
So, Lord, we invite You to examine our heart, and as a rushing mighty wind blow
away any chaff; as tongues of fire, burn off any wood, hay and stubble.
So then, we will produce Your fruit, yielding a
harvest of souls, and of all those You’ve given us, none will be lost.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
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This was feed for
you to read. Now it’s Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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