Journey Through Acts

Lesson 6

Acts 2:1-4

The Church Is Born

Acts 2:1–4 (NLT) — 1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

 

  1. The Day of Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit
    1. Introduction
      1. The Day of Pentecost was one of the most phenomenal and important events in all of history.
    2. Here some reasons
      1. It was “the coming of the Holy Spirit.”
      2. It was the birth of the church.
      3. It was the corporate filling of the Holy Spirit, of the body of believers with the promised presence of Christ.
        1. John 14:15–18 (ESV)
        2. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
        3. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
        4. 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
        5. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
      4. It was the personal filling of the individual believer by the Holy Spirit.
      5. It was the Presence and Power of God coming upon believers.
        1. Bringing spiritual gifts.
        2. Equipping them for the work of ministry.
        3. Calling them to preach the gospel.
        4. Sharing the glorious message that brings salvation to all men.
  2. The Old Testament Connection.
    1. Feast of Pentecost
      1. We need to understand “the Feast of Pentecost” in order to see God’s providence at work.
      2. Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the Passover.
      3. It was also known as the “Day of the First Fruits” (Num. 28:26), or the “Feast of Weeks” (Ex. 34:22), or the “Feast of Harvest.”
        1. Numbers 28:26 (CSB) — 26 “On the day of firstfruits, you are to hold a sacred assembly when you present an offering of new grain to the Lord at your Festival of Weeks; you are not to do any daily work.
        2. Exodus 34:22 (NLT) — 22 “You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first crop of the wheat harvest, and celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season.
    2. Pentecost was a glorious day of celebration.
      1. It was a day when the people were to heap praise and thanksgiving upon God.
      2. There were three particular reasons for which they were to thank God.
    3. (1) The harvest of the fields.
      1. the very name of the Feast says that it is a celebration of the “First Fruits.
      2. It was celebrated when the first fruits of the harvest began to come in, which was around the first of June.
    4. (2) The Exodus
      1. This was the deliverance of the nation Israel from Egyptian bondage (Dt. 16:12).
        1. Deuteronomy 16:9–12 (NLT) — 9 “Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest. 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him. 11 This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. 12 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.
      2. This was to be a day of Thanksgiving.
    5. (3) The giving of the law upon Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19–20)
      1. This was the day the people were constituted as a nation, as the great nation of Israel.
      2. They were to live as God’s very own people upon earth.
      3. They were to thank God for Himself and for His law, the rules and principles He had given to govern their lives and nation.
      4. It is important to note that the Jews figured the law had been given to Moses fifty days after the Exodus.
  3. The Holy Spirit and Pentecost.
    1. All three events were fulfilled in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
      1. Acts 2:1 (CSB) — 1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.
      2. “had arrived”
      3. Acts 2:1 (NKJV) — 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
      4. “fully come”
      5. Same Greek word.
      6. We see the Day of Pentecost from a New Testament preceptive.
      7. The disciples would have seen it from an Old Testament perspective.
    2. (1) A celebration of the harvest.
      1. The church was to be a celebration of the harvest of souls.
      2. Bringing in the Sheaves
        1. Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
        2. Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
        3. Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
        4. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
        5. Refrain:
        6. Bringing in the sheaves,
        7. Bringing in the sheaves,
        8. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves;
        9. Bringing in the sheaves,
        10. Bringing in the sheaves,
        11. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
      3. 50 days after the death burial and resurrection
      4. It was time for the harvest of the souls.
      5. THE GOSPEL
      6. The gospel is the single greatest treasure we can have.
      7. Matthew 13:45–46 (NLT) — 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
    3. (2) The coming of the Holy Spirit had a very specific purpose.
      1. The Holy Spirit was to live and work within the heart of man.
      2. To deliver sinner and free them from the enslavements of this world—from the bondage sin, from death, and from hell.
      3. The Holy Spirit came to set man at liberty even as God had delivered the Jews out of Egyptian slavery.
      4. Luke 4:16–21 (NLT) — 16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
    4. The coming of the Holy Spirit was two things.
      1. It was the birth of the church, the new people of God.
        1. Sealed and guaranteed by that same Spirit.
        2. Ephesians 4:30 (NLT) — 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
      2. It was the institution of the new law, the new rule and principle of God.
        1. Believers are now to be guided by the Spirit.
        2. Jeremiah 31:31 (NLT) — 31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
        3. John 16:13 (NLT) — 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.