The Coming of the Holy Spirit and the Birth of Church
ACTS 2
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[c]
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’[e]
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’[f]
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The church origin and it’s purpose. A church needs the Holy Spirit. The holy spirit is essential to the life of a church. It’s the powerhouse, or the liveliness of the church. Without the in filling of the holy spirit, we will be only some people meeting for a fun time, to feel good. The feel good aspect lasts only momentary but the impact of the Holy Spirit is life changing.
In this chapter, we see the holy spirit stirring and pushing the community.
Secondly, in this chapter, Peter explains what is happening and explains the good news of Jesus. What information is essential for him. Listen to his speech. Firstly, as we gathered from last week, it was Luke who investigated into this event. He might have gone about asking for evidence, taking that effort to understand exactly what happened when the Holy Spirit visited these people.
- Filling of the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Infilling of the Holy Spirit when we are together. These people were up for an event after another. First they witnessed the death of Jesus, then His resurrection and now another dramatic work of God taking place.
Notice:
People gathered in a room, without the Holy Spirit were within themselves. Me, Myself and my Community, but as soon as the Holy Spirit is poured out, they are NOTICED by the world outside.
Peter is able to talk and explain that they are not drunk, but leads them into the Gospel message which they can understand – OUR FOREFATHER DAVID because they were of Jewish origin. He did not quote, Isaiah, or Abrahamic covenant or etc but started off with David’s story which they could relate to.
- Evangelism
As soon as the Holy Spirit comes, the next thing is Evangelism, people notice the change. We are able to speak their language. They understood that these people were talking in their native language. They were glorifying God, telling of his wonderous things. We will be filled with boldness, courage and the sensitivity for others. We will speak into their lives. We will astonish them with our speech.
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Evangelism is proclaiming the GLORY OF GOD. It is not blabbering some mysterious words. It is simply to glorify God in Spirit. Introducing them to the Jesus in a way that they can connect to. For these Jews, they could connect to him through David but for each one he will be a different person. We cannot apply the same formula everywhere.
Finally, comes the gospel message. With the in filling of the Holy Spirit, Peter is able to give a brief description of what exactly happened and clear the air kind of a thing. When we look at the resurrection, ascension of Jesus, it was confined only to a certain number of people. However, there were people according to today’s scripture who did not know about all of this, because it says in verse 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.
They needed to know the truth. The truth that lead them to repentance. The Holy Spirit convicts them. They believe. It is so amazing to witness the power of the Holy Spirit changing peoples heart so much so that they accept the invitation of the New Life.
HEART CHANGING
LIFE CHANGING
ENABLING FAITH
Are we willing to experience it through the infilling of the Holy Spirit?
- Repentance
It is the transformation of hearts. People repented for their cruelty, disbelief, rejection of the messiah. This chapter says that they repented, and those who repented were baptized and were added to their fellowship.
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Repentance causes purification of our hearts and minds. How you may ask? It is the work of cleansing of all our impurities. The change and transformation of our mindsets and our actions that has caused us to sin repeatedly but now with repentance, it is a newness that we can experience. The breathe of God that works in us to be a new person.
Church, today we are called to repent. We too can experience this purification process through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Some of us might have had the experience earlier, do you want to consider a fresh outpour of this God’s Spirit, because it is indeed transforming. It is a decision to be made because again if we notice it says – 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Invitation is put forward, let’s experience it.
- The Early Church Formed
Because it was lead by the Holy Spirit, people were committed.
- Committed to the apostles teaching and fellowship
- Committed to Fellowship
- Committed to Breaking of Bread
- Committed to Praying together
- Committed to taking care of one another (sold their possessions in order to provide for the other)
This is beautiful. The Holy Spirit movement. As I am speaking here, I can feel the power of the Holy Spirit. How powerful.
It’s the church that brought about the revival. We are the church today. If we need to see a breakthrough, we got to repent, be baptized and be COMMITTED.
It is the presence of God that can rescue us. Church today is the day, when we can take this opportunity to experience this Holy Spirit.
If we feel, we need a change, we need a miracle, we need boldness, we need to come out of the rut, escape the darkness that surrounds us, we need to ask Jesus for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It is the breath of God, the power of God.
We are a group of people gathered here for a reason. We all have that desire deep down that we want to make sense of all this. We want life, we want freedom to start afresh, we need newness. Church today if you allow the Holy Spirit to come into your hearts, we will experience the same. Jesus has not differentiated between them and us. He will send the Holy Spirit on us and we will experience transformation. We will experience the Church that they experienced. Committed to teaching , committed to caring , committed to fellowshipping. THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS REVIVAL, TRANSFORMATION AND COMMITMENT.
Sandra wife of Virjil .The Renewed Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that Renewed Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.
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