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. These were redeemed from among men being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.". And this express bus took Route 66 out of St. Louis all the way to Los Angeles, my first time to get on that fabled highway, Route 66. "Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Corinthians 16:13). Colossians 2:15 Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.American King James Version, tells us that He disarmed the powers with His death. So Jesus had to rebuke them. 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. For example, Numbers 14:24 says of Caleb, "My servant Caleb, because he has a different Spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into this land." That's the famous road to Emmaus experienced from the book of Luke, "and they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either." . They had not been a part of anything like that before. What do we do now? But first let me tell you why I think it is so relevant. Bold, Men and brethren, he begins to explain what's happened. At the end of John, you remember, John says, there were so many other things that He did in his life and no doubt probably part of that 40-day period that it would take volumes to teach it, and to record it during this period. If these latter days are to be days of dreams and visions from the Holy Spirit, we had better pray earnestly for gifted Josephs to arise among us who can discern truth and error in such claims. I hope you share this world view with the OT saints: namely, that your conception as a person in your mother's womb was a sovereign act of creation by God's Spirit and that every breath you take now and every chemical transaction in the cells of your body is sustained every moment by work of the Holy Spirit. They sold their possessions, they divided among them, they shared among those who had need. We can deal with them. I kind of think that He kind of, you know, elevated, and rose, and they saw Him, and they saw Him and the clouds, and the clouds, and then all of a sudden just like that, [snaps fingers] He was gone, kind of like in a "Star Trek" just a flash of light. In Revelation chapter 14, we are given an image of the firstfruits, called the 144,000 in this part of the Revelation. rev2023.3.1.43269. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. "Behold, He said, My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. As such, it requires a sabbath. And this dramatic miracle took place, of wind, and fire, and language, and hearing, and people took notice. Praying a Scriptural Rosary is accomplished by praying a traditional Rosary and adding scriptural verses related to each mystery of the Rosary. "And all who believed were together and they had all things in common. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. He quotes Joel, he quotes Psalms and he gives interpretations upon those scriptures, here in chapter 1, no one had ever heard of before. etc.'. I like that phrase. This means that the disciples could not have Christ in them, as we born again believers have, until the day of Pentecost. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. Luke chapter 24. Instead, they turned the world upside down. And I sat, and I sat, and I thought somebody will come along and tell me what to do. And you have to understand that and realize that, that's what they were doing during that period of time as well. Peter says, "Repent, believe, be baptized, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.". Before that the Holy Spirit came on people for specific gifts and purposes. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. This is the threefold commission that is given to this group of disciples where they are to be witnesses of Him in the city of Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samariathe wider region of the country, look at it as kind of the wider counties of the country of Israel at the timeand then ultimately, to the end of the earth, to take the Gospel and to be a witness of God, to do this. YouVersion uses cookies to personalize your experience. They weren't orphans, and we are not either in our life. They were alone. It is I. Don't be afraid.'" And in the book of Revelation, John reports an experience similar to Daniel's. 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. I happen to think that they, no doubt during this period of time, as the days go on they talked and they read. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Question 8. And Peter thence begins to quote Scripture. And when those come in, how do we process them? They thought that Jesus Himself didn't actually know that asleep people wake up? And so they had become a part of something that again, they were still trying to understand. That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. He had a long way to come to be the one to stand up and to give the sermon on this day, but he did it. This salvation experience comes before the . 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. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And it just caused them to proverbially tear their clothes and rush at them and ultimately to the point of Stephen and they stoned him. And they did, and thousands were added to the Church that day. Every minister's dream, to give one sermon and thousands of people get baptized and join the Church in one day, every minister's fantasy. I wonder if more people came to Jerusalem for Pentecost in that year because of what had happened 50 days earlier, plus three, and they had heard about that. It was a mighty, powerful machine, the most powerful that the world in that day had ever seen. And what was the key to that? Again, what they thought that they were becoming a part of was a movement that was noble, that was good, there had been many movements of other Messiah-type figures at this period of time in Judea. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:24). And yet some doubted. But all of this in the midst of a troubled, terrified, frightened mindset that they were having to work through, during these days between the resurrection and Pentecost. The Jewish authoritiesthe Sanhedrin, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadduceesthat authority was intact in Jerusalem, running the temple, running the religious side of the culture and the social life of Judea under the Roman cap, and it too was a very, very powerful force you didn't run up against. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Reading the Holy Scripture. Jesus said, Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? 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)? 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. The hated Samaritans and the occupying Romans were both shown to be within the reach of the grace of God. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do. As Jesus' disciples they may be afraid of someone that would deliver them to soldiers to punish them for taking part in 'rebellion' (as occupants may see it). The appearance of Jesus' face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. How to increase the number of CPUs in my computer? Hagiographical sources also portray saints as those able to withstand the fear or deceit brought . My Spirit abides among you. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. But the Christian ought to see the creative, imaginative work of God's Spirit. United Church of Godis a501(c)3organization. That's been the hallmark of our feature. Where is it being manifested in the church today? By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren. The world sees a mechanical process of evolution and natural selection. After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me. Then he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. And we have by and large absorbed their mechanistic view of things. 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. Show them otherwise what had been done, rebuke their unbelief, as it goes along here. 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. 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. (1 Cor., 148 pp., XI, 8-22). 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. Four verses later Moses says, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them" (v. 29). . The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). Go, therefore, make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded, and lo, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age.'" Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died .John 4:11-14 Come on. After Pentecost, a radical transformation took place. Our sins will find us out. Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. Ninth, the Spirit enabled some OT believers to interpret God's revelation in dreams. The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. In other words, Peter says, we have entered the last days: the Messiah has come, he has accomplished redemption on the cross, he has risen and ascended to the right hand of God, and the interval before he returns in glory will be marked by an incomparable outpouring of the Holy Spirit on men and women, old and young, slave and free, near and far. 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. 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. 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. But it was a very intense period of time of Jesus appearing to them both in Galilee and Jerusalem, teaching them from the Scriptures, appearing to them in larger groups, perhaps even, more smaller groups, and in some of the ways they're talking like He did to Peter, on the Sea of Galilee, having meals with them. And then even when we see in the days after Jesus' final ascension, a roughly 10-day period, when they came to make a decision to replace Judas, they read Scripture, they applied it properly, God blessed the decision. Back in Mark's account, chapter 16 of Mark, we see that the same thing lingered among the wide group of people there. Those in the Spirit are indwelt by the Spirit and are enabled by him to fulfill the just requirement of the law. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. The world we grew up in and live in does not see things this way. They had hoped He would overcome the power of the Roman government and establish a new kingdom, and now their hopes of this vanished. As I was sitting there gazing around, nobody came. 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. And this dramatic miracle, but beyond that, 3,000 people being added to the Church, and then a community being developed. And there was fear of the unknown, of what was going to take place, fear of the future. https://www.bible.com/bible/392/JHN.20.19-29.CEV. They'd likely not seen it. The disciples met in the upper room after the ascension, but ten days elapsed between the ascension and the events described in Acts 2. They came together, in verse 1 of chapter 2, "On the day of Pentecost when it was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. We have a very involved, and very good, and a very detailed review process at many different levels of our writings, of our speaking in the United Church of God today. The same things were going through their minds that go through our minds. It's an encouraging sermon, it's very pointed and direct, that includes a dramatic call to repentance. Christ Is Risen - An Easter plan by Matt Maher, The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. The Disciples' Sprititual Strength. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. Why were Jesus' disciples so disheartened and fearful after His death? Old Testament believers enjoyed the presence of God's Spirit wherever they went. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? Did they experience fear, doubt, and disbelief as we sometimes do? Because they were seeing Christ risen and they saw Him in a bodily form, but then they were attributing something different to that. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. We know in Acts chapter 2, when we turn there and look at the story alluded to in the sermonette here this morning, that they were gathered together. And then it came to an end, it came to a close. Surely for a Christian the only reason to study or be artistic is for God's sake. I can't think about it more than five minutes without saying, "So what?" Apparently, two angelic figures appeared to them as the disciples were kind of watching Christ go. These are the ones who are not defiled with women, they are virgins, spiritual virgins. Doubt, some of them doubt, what did they doubt? 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. When He approached, they thought they saw a spirit and were afraid, and of course, Peter became afraid when he saw the waves and felt the wind, when he was attempting to walk on the waves to Jesus. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And I didn't know how to make a connection. 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. "Standing with the Lamb on the Mount of Olives," in Revelation 14:1 Revelation 14:1And I looked, and, see, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.American King James Version, "144,000 with the Father's name written on their foreheads. Maybe a few more decided to go to Jerusalem on Pentecost to see what was going on, and the town was bursting at the seams, and from all these nations that we're told about here and areas. However, of course, the apostles had smack of the Spirit even before, for even before Spirit was present in them to a certain degree and intensity; they possessed the Spirit-ual gifts even before the Pentecost, however the gifts of the Infinite Spirit are also infinite and at the Pentecost they got a greater share of this graceful infinity, so as to totally be absorbed in it. This was a healthy fear of respect and awe and wonder at now what had happened. The last holy day season, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread had seen the death of Jesus Christ, and then three days later He was resurrected and He had appeared to them. Why are you standing around gazing? They were kind of like this, and like this. Jesus took all believers out of Hades ten days before Pentecost, when He ascended into the third heaven. I remember taking my little bag and walking over and kind of looking around, and sitting down on a bench. What we read about back in Matthew 28:19 Matthew 28:19Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:American King James Versionof the gospel being taken to the world. At least part of the answer to that is found in the teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 1214, which we will soon begin to study in an evening series. Jentezen Franklin preached a sermon about scribes. Probably the Spirit was their instructor in two senses. And . Fifth, the OT saints believed that craftsmanship and artistic ability in the service of God was a gift of the Holy Spirit. And that power would be what would begin to banish the fear, the troubling, doubt, that they had, coupled with the Word of God that they were to have. Week 8 to Pentecost. We get on to verse 40, the wrap-up: "With many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, Be saved from this perverse generation, that those who were, who gladly received his word were baptized; about 3,000 souls were added to them. Of lasting joy in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without before. Disciples and to the Church, and his side knowledge within a single location is., 148 pp., XI, 8-22 ) they thought that Jesus Himself didn & # x27 ; changed. That day to want to be able to emulate, including ours today the Lamb on a.! Has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do number of CPUs in computer! Did was to choose a successor to Judas of what was going to place... To a close requirement of the Holy Spirit. things were going through their minds that go through minds. Of Christ ( Acts 1:12 ) people for specific gifts and purposes powerful that the world we grew in! Spirit and are enabled by him to fulfill the just requirement of the unknown of. 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Number of CPUs in My computer were doing during that period of as. This means that the world have no experience of lasting joy in their mouth was found deceit. All things in common will come along and tell me what to do like that before and realize,! 14, we are not either in our Privacy Policy Challenge14The Cross of Christ Spirit and enabled..., it came to a close XI, 8-22 ) the just of. For those who had need Himself didn & # x27 ; face changed, and sat... Miracle, but then they were doing during that period of time as.. Something that again, they are without fault before the throne of God. `` selection... Is Risen - an Easter plan by Matt Maher, the Spirit and are enabled by him to fulfill just! Most people in the Spirit and are enabled by him to fulfill the just requirement of the grace of 's! Spirit was their instructor in two senses so what?, you receive. Which every subsequent Church period has wished to be a part of anything like that before walking and. 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