More likely, the believers assembled in one . This is the underlying message Jesus gave to his disciples in today's 2nd Sunday of Lent year A Gospel (Mt 7:1-11) which narrates the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, after having announced to them his Passion and Death on the cross. But when was it first true? Though a miracle had taken place in front of them, that still wasn't enough to remove the doubt and fear. And we can have the power to believe that, and to grow together and develop together as a bride of Christ, and accomplish His work and His purpose and His will. It was a mighty, powerful machine, the most powerful that the world in that day had ever seen. The story does not indicate that they were still in that upper room in Acts 2. But let's go back, let's look at a few of these scriptures in a little bit more detail and see exactly what had been taking place among the disciples during this period of time, that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. People need to see that Spirit within us. I have my own Star Trekkian-type of way to imagine how Jesus ascended. These significant events from the life of Jesus are made easier to comprehend and better-illustrated thanks to the passages . "Behold, He said, My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. 38Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. We often think a miracle would be just what we need. Evidently, God only gave a brief taste of prophetic powers to the seventy elders. What are some tools or methods I can purchase to trace a water leak? Though the emperor, a man named Tiberius, had been holed up on an island called Capri or Capri for a number of years in absentia, the empire was running quite well on its own. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. In 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter writes, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 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. 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. 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. They were alone. Peter says, "Repent, believe, be baptized, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Instead of competing, the disciples were now cooperating. 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.". When you read what Peter said about these prophecies from Joel and the Psalmstrust me, folks, Peter's sermon would not have passed doctrinal review by the Jewish doctrinal committee of that day. [Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? This time, Thomas was with them. They had not been a part of anything like that before. YouVersion uses cookies to personalize your experience. 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 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.". 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. We live in the latter days of the Spirit. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. An eyewitness account, there was a lack of belief that put them in the situation here that they did not understand and didn't believe that had actually happened. How could they have ever submitted to God's law and pleased himas many did, like Abel and Noah and Abraham and Moses and Rahab and Ruth and Deborah and David? The Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, was just starting in Jerusalem as the book of Acts begins. He also is a residentfaculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. They were also filled with fear for their own future. These are the days of Pentecost, the days of the fullness of the Spirit, the days of worldwide mission. That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. We sometimes just kind of tail off when we get to the end of one of the Gospels and we know the events, Christ was crucified, Christ was risen, and we don't look at some of the details there. This is the dimension that was given on Pentecost, and what this day is all about for those of us who are the firstfruits. 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. The second obvious change in the lives of the disciples was in their spiritual strength. And had they seen anything near that type of an ecstatic demonstration, it might have been in a form by someone doing something by their form of religion that they didn't identify with. And we have by and large absorbed their mechanistic view of things. What do we do now? On the day of Pentecost Peter said that in these last days "your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17). You know, before we ever get to that rushing wind that came in, it's good to think about this question, because it has a direct application to you and I today. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures.". 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. I won't believe unless I do this! 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 it brings it down to the end of the chapter. People should see that in us. And speaking about the deep things of the Kingdom of God to prepare them for what they were to take part in, and what they were to be a part of. 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. It had been organized quite well and in that remote backwater of Judea, the Roman government kept things in order. God not only designed how he wanted his tabernacle built, he also equipped the craftsmen to do it. Every generation of God's people have done that. Why were Jesus' disciples so disheartened and fearful after His death? A halo was seen glowing brightly above Jesus' head. But they were terrified, and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit." Micah 3:8 says, "As for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin." He said He wouldn't and He didn't, even though there was a moment in time when they thought that they were orphaned, as they stood gazing up and looking and wondering, "What do we do next. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. Now let me suggest an analogy to illustrate the experience of the Spirit before and after Pentecost. That's an important trait for a firstfruit, for a firstfruit to have in their life, and in their approach to life. And yet, they had not been able to completely separate the fact that now what they were part of was the real, the real thing, because Christ had died. In Revelation chapter 14, we are given an image of the firstfruits, called the 144,000 in this part of the Revelation. The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!. And then it came to an end, it came to a close. So Jesus had to rebuke them. The Spirit gives that courage. All the gods of doubtand I say gods with a little g, because doubt, and guilt, and fear can really separate us from Godthe gods of doubt, and fear, and unbelief have all been shredded by Jesus Christ. 3. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? Articles that are published in our magazine or scripting for our television programs goes through a very, very thorough review process. Please take the Tour, see below, where you will find that in order to practice biblical hermeneutics we need a text upon which to practice the technique. When I got off the bus from my hometown, I was in this large room, this large terminal, it was as larger, even larger than this room here, which for me, from my small town was a pretty big thing to walk into, and I did, first time I had ever traveled. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. 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). Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. They were looking for power from on high. And so two things create this vision and this mission. The old creation had a sabbath, and the new creation requires a sabbath as well. This is what He does as He moves them through the Law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets, and opening their understanding. Instead, they turned the world upside down. John 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Learning and labor which do not lead people in love to God are not prompted by the Spirit of Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love. I don't think it was an intergalactic tour that He was on to get to the third heaven. INTRODUCTION Jesus told the disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit before doing ministry. It was celebrated 50 days after Passover and was marked by pilgrims coming to Jerusalem from all over the world to celebrate the event. How can I recognize one? First, and most basic, the OT believers were conscious of God's Spirit as the Creator and Sustainer of their natural life. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Look at John 3:16. Finally, the Holy Spirit gave some in the OT a gift of prophecy. 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)? And yet some doubted. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died .John 4:11-14 Come on. 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. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." . 157 views, 3 likes, 4 loves, 3 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Mora Grace Lutheran Church: Music used with permission from CCLI He used Deborah and the tribe of Zebulun (the mountain may have been in their land) in the sermon. These are the ones who are not defiled with women, they are virgins, spiritual virgins. Centering layers in OpenLayers v4 after layer loading. 145 views, 2 likes, 6 loves, 16 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Crossroads Baptist Church: Crossroads Baptist Church Live 02/05/2023 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." . As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in the world through lust." "And He said to them, 'Thus it is written, thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and the remissions of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things. I also think this is true in some way, but in gospels there is record that Jesus 'gave them authority over devils and diseases and sent them to preach gospel, to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead. When people are filled with the Holy Spirit, they do not blink at evil. Friday. But by doing so, when you read the account, you understand that they knew the Scripture, and they applied Scripture to their choice and their decision to replace Judas. Some say that they wound up in the temple precincts; could very well be. And I didn't know how to make a connection. A: Yes, repeatedly Jesus assured them that although He would be put to death by His enemies, He would come back to life by the power of God. Think about that among our own relationships with each other. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. Whoever believes in Jesus has everlasting life. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Surely we have need today of men and women filled by the Spirit to expose and denounce evils in our society that are hardly blinked at any more: the exploitation of women's bodies and debasement in advertising, the unconscionable destruction of human life through abortion on demand, the maneuvers of our own country to destabilize other governments, the gross waste and gluttony of American life, the cavalier attitude to divorce and remarriage which God hates, and the multi-million dollar promotion of alcohol and cigarettes as anything less than family-destroyers and body-killers. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. Before or after this instance. If we begin to look at one another as less than trustworthy, then that has other consequences in relationships, and that's taking place among the disciples here at this moment. It is I. Don't be afraid.'" And in the book of Revelation, John reports an experience similar to Daniel's. Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Even though they had seen miracles, again, another indication to us always to remember that miracles are important, miracles can be faith-builders, but miracles by themselves will not do it all. 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 world we grew up in and live in does not see things this way. Yes, Peter did preach under the anointing, but the empowerment of the Spirit also brought a unity and a focus of purpose they had not known before. They turned the world upside down because they fully understood two simple . Well, that's a sign that I should go here, take this job, do this or do that. But miracles, well, that just takes a little bit more work, but they were here in the midst of a very large miracle. No longer did they flee like sheep without a shepherd. 20:22), which also tends to disrupt the theology of some! Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." So it was a bodily appearance that He made completely to them, and He showed them His hands and His feet. 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. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. What was possibly on the disciples' mind the morning of Pentecost? This means that the disciples could not have Christ in them, as we born again believers have, until the day of Pentecost. That Christianity grew, after such a brief inception, into the world religion we know to today is testimony to the power of the message Jesus preached. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Bold, Men and brethren, he begins to explain what's happened. Has 90% of ice around Antarctica disappeared in less than a decade? And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. The answer is not Pentecost. Psalm 104 celebrates the wonder and variety of all living things and says (vv. ", A church begins to develop. 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. As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. And . Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles and disciples gathered in fear, behind locked doors. Were on a mission to change that. 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. Rename .gz files according to names in separate txt-file. And that is of people led by the Holy Spirit, knit together, everyone providing that which they can toward a community of faith, power, and love, sharing, looking out after one another and caring for one another. Christ in you, the hope of glory. have had the same God-given talent as the apostles and could learn any new language three days after arriving in the region. Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. How can I explain to my manager that a project he wishes to undertake cannot be performed by the team? The world sees a mechanical process of evolution and natural selection. 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. And not for the reality that the 1st century world would have known and experienced, that other dimension. They thought that the body had been ferretted away by the disciples, someone had stolen it. From the sorrow of the Cross to the glory of Resurrection. That's what He did. There are no more decisive turning points in redemptive history that must happen before Jesus returns to establish his kingdom. So it's something for us to examine in our own way, see how much of that is being demonstrated in our life. Yet until the spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the disciples were a homogenous bunch. Not many days, we would look at it roughly 10 days from that 40-day period. So He begins to teach them from the Scriptures that they might understand, and that they might comprehend what He was and how He had fulfilled everything that they would have understood to one degree, and then even more they had begun to develop a fuller understanding of the prophecies of Isaiah, or Joel, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, the statements about the Messiah. "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom He had cast seven demons. And when those come in, how do we process them? We all have signs, we take certain things as signs. We take that for the story that it is, and the gift of tongues, and the speaking of tongues that the Scriptures talk about but we don't see that as what we need to be doing in practice or in faith, but it is a dramatic story. They had been told to be there, to wait in Jerusalem until that day. Really. But on the morning that those disciples were gathered there, before it happened, you have to imagine that they had no idea that, that would be what would take place. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. 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. 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. We are going to be taking giant steps toward creating that kind of Church that we read about here in the book of Acts, that has been imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, and changes are being made. They might have fidgeted a bit and wondered, "Well, should we go fishing?" Because they were seeing Christ risen and they saw Him in a bodily form, but then they were attributing something different to that. Reading the Holy Scripture. 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)? and the preacher says, "So what?" 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. Judges 5:14 talks about the tribe of Zebulun either being scribes or having a commander's staff. And you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." It's an interesting way that they did. 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. 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. I was going to get on a Greyhound bus. So they told him, We have seen the Lord! Apparently, two angelic figures appeared to them as the disciples were kind of watching Christ go. 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. 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." And so they didn't really think about that, and yet all of a sudden it came upon them. The Victory over Fear On the day of the Pentecost, The Spirit of God came to them, filled their minds and their hearts and their entire being. Somebody will tap me on the shoulder and tell me what to do next, but you know what? Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. It's an informed sermon. And so they had become a part of something that again, they were still trying to understand. Jerusalem was swelled with pilgrims, at this point in time, and this added to the drama of the moment. It did not become true after Jesus said that. He was the one who was the leader of that doubt and fear and terrified approach, because he denied Christ three times, and he had to be pointedly taught by Jesus. He quotes Joel, he quotes Psalms and he gives interpretations upon those scriptures, here in chapter 1, no one had ever heard of before. Could very old employee stock options still be accessible and viable? The disciples had seen Jesus reach out across ethnic and religious divides birth in His parables and in real life. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. John has another set of accounts, and then he kind of ends and he leaves it wide open. What is "the gift" of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38? But the text says that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with his Spirit. Jentezen Franklin preached a sermon about scribes. They didn't believe that He had risen, they didn't believe that they had been seen, that He had been seen, and therefore, then they would not believe these eyewitnesses. And the tomb was empty, and the disciples had seen Jesus, and the authorities were beside themselves trying to figure it out, looked for the body. Luke 24:53 says that the disciples stayed continually at the Temple praising God. We do well to read about these things, and ask ourselves the simple question: if they experienced so much of God's Spirit which was but a trickle of the reservoir, how much more should we enjoy under the dozen turbines of Pentecost? Thomas replied, You are my Lord and my God! The dam was completed in 1970 and in 1971 there was a grand dedication ceremony and the 12 turbines with their ten billion kilowatt-hour capacity were unleashed with enough power to light every city in Egypt. Old Testament saints knew then and Christians know today that victory over all threats and obstacles belongs to God. A week later the disciples were together again. The indwelling Spirit permanently dwells in the believer. I've got to find out where that next bus leaves, and what time." People should see God in us. Then I finally figured out, "Oh, I got to do this myself. 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!). When did the disciples become born -again? To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. And this small group of people who had signed on to what they thought was a remarkable, gifted rabbi, and followed Him around and soon learned that they had fallen into something quite different than anything they could have ever imagined, as they witnessed miracles of loaves and fishes, and people being brought back to life, and dramatic healings. That's a little-understood part of what was taking place. 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. During the long period of construction the Nile River wasn't completely stopped. 7:50; 19:9). 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. (1 Cor., 148 pp., XI, 8-22). It is a remarkable period of church history, because right here we have a vision being fulfilled that Jesus Christ has for His Church.
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