The New Manifestation
Acts 2:1-13
Jeff Hughes – February 2, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. All of us have had something in our life that we’ve waited for. Maybe it was a job, maybe it was a raise or a promotion, and maybe it was for a child to be born. Or maybe, you were just waiting for your wife to get ready so you could come here today. Regardless of your age, economic standing, or shoe size, we have all had to wait. To me, waiting is one of those universal equalizers.
b. When you are standing in a line, you are just like the next guy in line. I remember my freshman year in college; the Aggies were going to the Cotton Bowl. We had just beaten Texas and we had a real good football team that year. Well, the story is, we wanted to get good Cotton Bowl tickets, so I camped out in front of G. Rollie White in late November / early December for tickets. We waited like a week for those tickets. To make a long story short, the game wasn’t that good. We lost. But the thing that stands out in my mind is the wait.
c. Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian, says in one of his stand-up routines that if he could have anything he wanted, he’d like to be perpetually next. Always next. That’s a good feeling, isn’t it? Being next?
d. What is it about being next that we enjoy so much? It is the anticipation. It’s the hope. You are hoping that you’ll get whatever it is you want. You’re hoping that the wait was worth it.
e. The disciples in Jerusalem were waiting. They were waiting out of obedience to the Lord’s command, but I can just imagine the anticipation of those guys. I would guess that they really had nothing more than guesses as to what actually would happen when the Spirit came upon them. But, that’s what made it exciting. It was new. It was a new manifestation of God on the earth. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity was coming upon them, and they would never be the same.
f. Jesus told them just before He left that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They had no idea what that meant. But, they were obedient, and waiting, in anticipation of what would exactly happen.
g. Well, it feels good when a wait is finally over, and especially so if what we were anticipating either meets or exceeds or expectations. That is what we are going to look at this morning as we continue our journey through the book of Acts, but first, let’s bow our hearts before the Lord and ask His blessing on our study this morning.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. Several years ago there was a story about a speedboat driver who had survived a racing accident. He said that he had been at near top speeds when his boat veered slightly and hit a wave at a dangerous angle. The combined force of his speed and the size and angle of the wave sent the boat spinning into the air. He was thrown from his seat and propelled deep into the water—so deep, in fact, that he had no idea which direction the surface was. He had to remain calm and wait for the buoyancy of his life vest to begin pulling him up. Once he discovered which way was up, he could swim for the surface. Sometimes we find ourselves surrounded by confusing options, too deeply immersed in our problems to know “which way is up.” When this happens, we too can remain calm, waiting for God’s gentle tug to pull us in the proper direction. Our “life vest” may be other Christians, Scripture, or some other leading from the Holy Spirit, but the key is recognizing our dependency upon God and trusting him.
b. Similarly, G. Campbell Morgan writes - Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.
c. Sometimes when we take things before the Lord the answer is yes, sometimes, the answer is no, and sometimes, the answer is wait. I think in my life personally, the hardest one for me to take for a long time was the third one – wait. But, just like we are going to see in our study today, that best things come to us when we are obedient and wait. Scripture tells us Isaiah chapter 40 that those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength;
d. Now, I could teach for a while on that verse alone. It is one of my favorites, but we are studying Acts this morning. If you need a Bible this morning, just raise your hand, and we will get one to you. We are starting a new month today, and we are starting a new chapter in Acts, chapter 2. Acts is just past John and just before Romans in the New Testament. There is a place to take notes in your bulletin, so follow along with me as we read Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 1.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord* in one place. 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. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."
ii. Lots of Scripture to cover this morning. I had contemplated splitting this lesson, but when I got to it, I felt that it would be more profitable for us to look at these verses all together in context, rather than splitting it into two parts.
iii. These verses have caused a lot of division in the church over the years, especially with the apostles speaking in different languages by the power of the Holy Spirit, but as we covered a few weeks ago, at Calvary Chapel we take a balanced view of scripture, and while certainly it was miraculous that the apostles were speaking in different tongues or languages, it is not the whole story here, and by far not the most important part. The most important things here is the church being infilled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and God being glorified through His servants that day. That is the big story here; that is the headline news.
iv. To break down these thirteen verses, I see six main themes emerging from the Scriptures here. Like I said, we have a lot of ground to cover this morning. In our study, we will look at the celebration, the culmination, the consummation, the congregation, the magnification, and finally, the rejection. So, let’s dive into God’s Word.
b. The Celebration (Acts 2:1)
i. Our starting line this morning is verse 1 in Acts chapter 2. Here we read - 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord* in one place.
ii. The time here is the day of Pentecost. This is ten days after the Lord’s Ascension, and 50 days from the Passover. We know this by looking at the Jewish feast days, as laid out in Scripture in Leviticus chapter 23.
iii. Now all the Jewish feast days had significance, and were symbolic of Israel’s past. However, history now shows us that they were also symbolic of Israel’s future; they were symbolic of the life and ministry Jesus, not only the past, but in the future. Pentecost was no exception. Pentecost is the New Testament name for the Old Testament Feast of Weeks. On the surface, it was a one day festival that celebrated the wheat harvest.
iv. Jewish tradition also associated Pentecost with God’s covenant with Noah and Moses, and some Jewish theologians regarded the day as the day that God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
v. To us, Pentecost symbolizes the coming of the Holy Spirit, which is the birth of the church, and just like it celebrated the old covenants God made with Noah and Moses, today we celebrate a New Covenant bought and sealed with the blood of Christ Jesus.
vi. Pentecost was a Sunday. Seven weeks after the Lord rose from the grave. We know it was on Sunday morning from what Peter tells us next week.
vii. One thing I want all of us to notice here is that verse one tells us that the disciples were all gathered in one accord, in one place. We saw this same phrase back in chapter one, verse 14, we saw that the disciples were all in one accord in the upper room of the house they were staying at, and that they were praying and seeking God. We saw last week that it was here that the open apostleship was filled by Matthias, while they were gathered, seeking God.
viii. They were all gathered together praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had instructed them to do. I personally believe that they didn’t leave the upper room for those ten days, and that they stayed there, praying and waiting, waiting and praying.
ix. Like I said earlier, Isaiah tells us in chapter 40 verse 31, that those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength;
x. These guys were about to get some strength. They didn’t know what, or how much, or how, but they were about to get strength from on high.
xi. Some scholars believe that they were gathered in the temple. Here’s why I don’t buy that. First, Scripture tells us that they were in one accord again, just like they were before, in the upper room. Second, is that the word house we will read in verse 2 has no qualifier. If it were to mean the temple, it would say the house of God; we see this in scripture in numerous other places.
xii. One last thought about Pentecost though. At the Feast of Pentecost, the priest presented to loaves of bread before the Lord. Those were the rules. They didn’t really know what was symbolized there. Perhaps it symbolized the two covenants, one between God and Moses, and the other between God and Noah. We now know that those two loaves symbolized the church that was born. One loaf symbolized the Jewish believers, and the other symbolized the gentile believers. Both were filled with the Holy Spirit, and presented to God.
xiii. These two loaves had leaven in them. They had yeast. What leaven symbolizes in the Bible is sin. What this means to us is that there is still sin in the church. There will still be sin in the church until Jesus’ return for us. It is only then that sin will be removed from the church.
xiv. For those twelve disciples gathered there, though, Pentecost meant something else. It meant their wait was over, culminating in the Holy Spirit coming and filling them, as we see in verses 2 and 3.
c. The Culmination (Acts 2:2-3)
i. 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. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
ii. The Holy Spirit had come. The first thing to notice in verse 2 is that the Spirit came suddenly. Guys, when God shows up, it is in a sudden instant. 1st Thessalonians 5:2 says - For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
iii. God’s timetables are often very different from ours. Sometimes God moves slowly, and we have to wait. Other times, God moves suddenly, and we are taken by surprise. That’s what happened to the disciples gathered together that day, they were taken by surprise. The surprise was wonderful. They did not expect what they were experiencing.
iv. The sound of the Spirit’s coming came from heaven, and was like a mighty rushing wind. In the original language, the word translated a mighty there is better translated violent. The sound was like a violent rushing wind. I would imagine something like a jet engine, a tornado, or a hurricane.
v. But, this wasn’t a weather phenomenon; this was something supernatural, something wonderful.
vi. Supernatural events are something that we as humans have a hard time grasping. Our minds and language would struggle to explain a divine occurrence. In Revelation 1:15, the voice of Jesus is described as the sound of many waters by John, like a waterfall.
vii. The sound of the Spirit coming was unlike anything the disciples has heard before, so they struggled to describe it. But, notice that there was no wind here, just the sound. Now, truly, this was miraculous. The sound filled the entire house.
viii. My father told me a story about when he was a little boy, their house up north of Franklin was destroyed by a tornado. My dad, my grandmother, my grandfather, and my aunt crawled under a cast iron bed frame, and came out unhurt to a house that was completely destroyed, and taken off its foundation. He said the sound was like a freight train, and it hit the house like a freight train. I imagine that the sound they heard that day in Jerusalem was a little like this.
ix. The house they were in wasn’t destroyed though, it was filled up.
x. The Holy Spirit’s arrival to the house was first marked with sound, and the next sign of His arrival was a visual one, we see this in verse 3.
xi. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
xii. So, just as suddenly as the sound came, we see these tongues, like fire appear in the room with them, and one sat upon each of them.
xiii. Remember to keep in context here that these are normal men trying to describe a supernatural event. They had never seen anything like this before, and could only make comparisons as to what the visual manifestation of the Holy Spirit looked like.
xiv. We don’t know what the tongues looked like, except that they were compared to fire here. Fire is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist told those gathered by the Jordan that the One coming after him, meaning Jesus, would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
xv. Fire is a cleansing and purifying agent. Fire and heat is used to purify things, like metal. Just like fire, the Holy Spirit is in our lives as a purifying agent. If you are not saved this morning, it is the Holy Spirit calling you to make the decision for Christ, and repent. If you’re a Christian, the Holy Spirit is the force within you calling you to a life of purity.
xvi. Remember though, back in chapter one, that there was about a hundred and twenty gathered there in the room, praying and seeking the Lord. We see here in verse three that the Spirit came to rest on each one of them. This is important because it is the Spirit that empowers each of us in our Christian walk. But, along with that power should come the purity. Some people wonder why the Spirit doesn’t move in power in their life. They wander from church to church, looking for a new experience, looking for a new outpouring of the Spirit.
xvii. The reason they don’t have that power in their life is because the Spirit can’t work because of all the sin. Allow the Spirit to cleanse you from your sins one by one and seek God with your whole heart, and I guarantee, the Spirit will move in such a way that it will surprise you.
xviii. Don’t be surprised when the Spirit moves you in a way different than what you expected; open yourself up to follow the leading of the Spirit. But, allow that leading to be tempered by the Word. We’re going to get into the specifics of that a little later on.
xix. Let’s look now at how the Spirit moves on the disciples there in verse 4 -
d. The Consummation (Acts 2:4)
i. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
ii. So, after the tongues of fire came to rest upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus had promised. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as the house had been filled with the sound of the Holy Spirit, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
iii. What was more striking is what the outward manifestation of being worked through the disciples by the Holy Spirit. Just like the sound of the rushing wind and the tongues of fire were signs that the Spirit had come, the miracle that occurred further goes to testify about the presence of the Holy Spirit.
iv. When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak with other tongues, literally, other languages, by the power of the Holy Spirit. One thing that is sure here is that the other tongues that the disciples were speaking in were known languages. This is clear from the following verses.
v. Now, there has been a lot of heated debate about these verses and what actually they mean over the history of the church. Some have said that the languages that the disciples spoke that day were already known to them and their hearers, Greek and Aramaic. I don’t buy that. It is clear in the following verses that the people heard the languages of their own area, their own local languages.
vi. It is clear to me by reading this verse, that the disciples were endowed with supernatural speech to communicate to others by the Holy Spirit.
vii. Some have said that this was a special event in the church meant for a specific space in time. They believe that the empowerment of believers to speak in other languages dies out with the accumulation of the Bible as we have it today. They single verse they use is 1st Corinthians 13:10 – it says when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. They assume that the perfect thing coming is the canonization of Scripture or the completion of the Bible as we know it today. But, if we look at this verse in context, clearly the perfect thing that is coming is not a what, it is a who – Jesus.
viii. When Jesus comes back, tongues, prophecy, healing, all of the miraculous gifts will no longer be needed by the church, because we will have Jesus.
ix. Guys, the Scriptures tell us clearly that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Holy Spirit is God, so if He was the same Holy Spirit that moved those first century disciples to do miraculous things, we are selling ourselves short to say that He can’t or won’t do the same things today.
x. Tongues are a wonderful gift if used within the guidelines of Scripture. I believe in tongues. I have the gift of tongues. I use it to praise God in my prayer life. But, the majority of what goes on in the church today under the guise of tongues is abuse. The utterance of tongues should be led by the Spirit and under the guidelines set forth in the Bible. Not coaxed out by men, not turned on and off like a light switch, and never interrupting or disturbing others.
xi. Guys, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He is not going to interrupt a prayer or a message from God’s Word. That is crystal clear in Scripture.
xii. I’ve been in churches where everyone is babbling in tongues at once. They think that this is Holy or signifies that the Spirit is there. Well, there’s a sprit there, and like a friend of mine says, another Calvary Chapel Pastor – the spirit that’s at work in a meeting like that’s first name isn’t Holy.
xiii. One day we might have believer’s meetings where we will set aside times for the Holy Spirit to move. But the rules are clear. Two or at the most three messages in tongues, and always with an interpreter, and always giving glory to God.
xiv. But, the gift of tongues is primarily for the believer to use in his own devotional life, not corporate worship, especially not in public meetings. When we do get the privilege to hear this in a believer’s meeting, we are getting a glimpse into someone else’s prayer to God, glorifying Him.
xv. I could spend more time here going over the ministry and the gifts of the Spirit, and how we are to move in them, but we have a study to finish. Let’s see what these Spirit-filled disciples are up to, look on with me starting in verse 5 -
e. The Congregation (Acts 2:5-11a)
i. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs.
ii. We see here in verse 5 that there were in Jerusalem at the time devout Jews, who had come to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. These Jews were from all corners of the Roman Empire, from all over the known world at the time.
iii. Now, remember back in chapter one, that I said we know that the house they were staying in was just inside the Eastern wall of the city, because the house was a Sabbath Day’s journey from the site of Jesus’ Ascension. Well, the Temple was on the east side of the city as well.
iv. These devout Jews were gathered in the temple for the celebration of Pentecost. When they heard the sound of the Spirit coming to the house where the disciples were gathered. Like I said earlier, the sound was probably like a jet engine or a tornado, and this would most certainly draw a crowd. We see in verse 6 that it did. These guys left the temple area, and came to the house.
v. So, crowd gathered around the house, to find out what the sound was, and what it was all about. Now certainly, the loud noise was surprising enough, but what the crowd heard when they got to the house was even more surprising.
vi. What they heard when they got there was the disciples speaking in their own languages. If you’ve ever been overseas, and not heard your native language for a while, it really sticks out to you, you really notice when someone is speaking in your own language.
vii. Many people make the mistake here of believing that the disciples were addressing the crowd. They weren’t. That happens later. The disciples were praying, just like we saw them doing in chapter one, while they were still waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, but now they were praying in other languages.
viii. So, the crowd heard the disciples praying their own languages, and they were amazed. They realized that all the people speaking weren’t from their own countries; they realized that those speaking were from Galilee. How did they know this? Well, remember I said that Galileans were kind of the country bumpkins, the country hicks. They had a distinctive accent which made them stand out when they were speaking. They couldn’t pronounce certain sounds that gave them away.
ix. What the crowd heard that day was their own languages being spoken with a Galilean accent, which blew their minds to use something out of our vernacular.
x. This further establishes the fact that the Holy Spirit was moving these men to speak. When the Spirit speaks through us, we are still there, He uses our voice, our accent, but it is He that speaks.
xi. The wanted to know how it was that they could hear these men speaking in their own languages. Hey, I would too if I were there. Truly, this was a miraculous thing to behold.
xii. In verses 9 through the first part of verse eleven we get a small survey of the Roman Empire – Some of these countries are in modern day Iran, some in modern day Iraq, some in what is now Turkey, and some are still know to us today – Crete, Rome, Egypt, Libya, and Arabia. Now, all of these people would have spoken Greek or Aramaic. But, to have all of these different languages of their homelands being spoken would be a miracle to say the least.
xiii. Now, before we move on to the next point, I want to spend a moment and try to clear something up. Many people that doubt the validity of the gift of tongues today often dismiss what is often seen as meaningless gibberish, that what is being spoken is not a real language. Maybe much of it we see in the church today is. It certainly doesn’t line up with the model given to us in the Scriptures for the most part, we covered this earlier.
xiv. But, I think that these people wind up throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Several years ago, a man I’ve met, and I trust to believe his account was leading a Bible Study for believers. At this Bible Study someone gave a message in tongues. There was no interpretation, so they continued on with their study. At the end of the study, a young woman came up front, shaking and trembling. She gave her life to Jesus that day. She went on to explain that she was French, and that the person speaking in tongues was speaking classical French and that the message given was understood by her specifically, in her own language, and that it brought conviction and repentance in her life.
xv. This is just one account. There are others I have read about that I believe are just as valid. Let’s see, what happened there? Someone heard the message glorifying God, bringing them to conviction and repentance. That is precisely what the Holy Spirit’s job is toward unbelievers.
xvi. That was the Holy Spirit at work, just like He was at work that day in Jerusalem. But, what was being said? We will see in the rest of verse 11 and verse 12.
f. The Magnification (Acts 2:11b - 12)
i. we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"
ii. What was being spoken by the disciples were the wonders of God. They were glorifying God. This is always the message of tongues. Always. Tongues are a one-way communication between us and God. It doesn’t work the other way around. God doesn’t speak to us through a tongue. He does that through His Word, even if it is miraculous, it always lines up with His Word.
iii. A lot of people get confused on that, too. I have a friend who was at a meeting a few years ago; who was told something by someone that they said came from the Lord. Turns out, it was a bad word. It didn’t seem right to my friend, and it didn’t line up with the Word, it wasn’t God. 1st John 4:1 tells us that we are to test the spirits, to discern whether they are from God. When ever we hear something from someone concerning our lives or our walk with God, it is our responsibility to test it to see if it is from God. The standard that we use to test is God’s. God’s Word is that standard by which we measure everything.
iv. We believe that the Bible is both applicable and relevant to our lives today. That’s why we encourage you to read your Bible daily. A lot of people start to read the Bible and get overwhelmed. They don’t know where to start. To help you, we have put together a Bible reading plan to take you through the Bible in one year. You can pick one up on the back table. I follow it myself, so if you run into any questions, write them down and just ask me.
v. But, back to our story – the crowd gathered heard the wonderful works of God in their own languages. They were amazed and perplexed; they didn’t know what it meant. They knew that these men from Galilee were followers of Jesus. The Holy Spirit drew the crowd to hear the message that He wanted them to hear.
vi. To answer their question they asked – whatever could this mean? The answer is simple. God showed up and empowered His church.
vii. You see, many of the Jews in Jerusalem at the time thought that the disciples were a bunch of blasphemers. It didn’t make sense. A bunch of country bumpkins that they thought were blasphemers could not be extolling the works of God, and certainly not in this most miraculous way. But, God was preparing those gathered to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, which we will see next week. But we see that not everyone there believed the message that the Spirit had for them that day. They chose to reject that message, just like they rejected Jesus. We see this in our last verse today, verse 13.
g. The Rejection (Acts 2:13)
i. 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."
ii. These guys were not convinced, obviously. I compare them to the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 12, verse 24, who said that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil. Now, those guys were blaspheming. They saw the miracles, they heard Jesus, and that was their conclusion. They were wrong, to say the least, just like these people here on Pentecost.
iii. Their explanation for the miraculous speech of the disciples that day was that they were drunk. That was the best they could come up with.
iv. Ephesians 5:18 tells us not to be drunk with wine, in which is dissolution, but be filled with the Spirit. That word dissolution there means an abandoned broken life. The disciples did not have broken lives, they had life, and life more abundantly. They had the power of Jesus moving in their lives, and the Holy Spirit moving them in service. Just as he still does today.
V. Conclusion
a. Acts chapter 2 tells us about a fulfillment of prophecy, it tells us about the birth of the church, and it tells us what happened when the promised Holy Spirit came to the church gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem.
b. Many people get all bent out of shape about tongues and the other gifts that we didn’t talk about today. But, personally, I think that folks are making a big deal about a minor point of doctrine. Some think that they are not for today, and that those who practice it are at the least sadly mistaken, and at the most heretics. You have other groups that believe that you have to speak in tongues to be saved. Still others believe that tongues is the only evidence of being Spirit-filled. Well, personally, I think all those points of view are wrong.
c. Speaking in tongues is not the only evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 1st Corinthians 14:5 tells us that all the Corinthians didn’t spoke in tongues , but 1st Corinthians 12, verse 13 tells us that all were baptized by the Spirit into the same body.
d. The fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5 do not mention speaking in tongues.
e. Only three books of the New Testament mention tongues – Acts, 1st Corinthians, and Mark. But, all three books are written by different writers, so we do know tongues was present in the early church.
f. 1st Corinthians 12 tells us that there are many gifts, but tongues is not exalted as the end-all, beat-all gift, to the contrary, Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 14 that he would rather speak five words with understanding, so that others may be taught than ten thousand in a tongue.
g. So, why do people make a big deal out of it? Personally, I don’t. It doesn’t bug me either way, if you have the gift, great. I will encourage you to use it properly within its scriptural context. If you don’t great. God has other gifts in your life that He can use to glorify Himself and build the church of Jesus Christ.
h. Remember back in chapter 1, when Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them? That word for power is the Greek word dunamis – it means explosive power. We get our word dynamite from it today. The power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite. If used properly, in the Scriptural context, it is a necessary driving force in our walk and ministry. If not used within its context and guidelines, it becomes dangerous, as we have seen in some churches today.
i. At Calvary Chapel, we seek to strike a Scriptural balance on the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you have any more questions or concerns, please come talk to me after the service.
j. To conclude, I’d like to go back to the beginning of our message today. The disciples waited for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit came, and empowered them. The Spirit worked miracles through them, by speaking other languages that the disciples did not know. But, that was not the main point of this passage of scripture, and this is often overlooked. What was important, what was headline news is that the Holy Spirit empowered God’s church to do His work on the earth, just as He still does today.
k. Next week, we will look at God moving through Peter to speak to this crowd assembled, and thousands come to Christ. Now, that is important. That is significant.
l. I’d like to close with a story the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, was the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips to the North Pole, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. The pigeon circled three times, got its bearing and headed south. Covering thousands of miles of ice and snow, the pigeon made its way back. Imagine the delight of Amundsen’s wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”
m. So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone, but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. Jesus had kept His Word. He always keeps His Word. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit’s message to us today, hope and joy for tomorrow, in Jesus Christ.
n. Maybe you’re here today and you don’t have that hope. Maybe you’re still looking for it. Well, I’ll tell you what, you’ve found it in Jesus. Right now, I’m going to pray, and if you need to make that decision in your life, to give your life to Jesus, and surrender to Him. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make. Let’s Pray.
VI. Closing Prayer
