And then it came to an end, it came to a close. In days gone by, I have sided with those who found the selection of Matthias as an example of fleshly action hastily taken. They call attention to references tothe twelveafter this (Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 15:5). It's an encouraging sermon, it's very pointed and direct, that includes a dramatic call to repentance. 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. Verse 41, "But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food?'" They gave him a piece of broiled fish and honey comb, He takes it and he sits down and eats in their presence. 9 But Saul (also known as Paul),filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at him 10 and said, You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousnesswill you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? That's an important trait for a firstfruit, for a firstfruit to have in their life, and in their approach to life. Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 14 shows that Christ will, on that day, set foot on the Mount of Olives. But on that 50th day, from the morning after Christ's resurrection, a lot had happened. The bonds of trust among the disciples were beginning to be frayed. 13 When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. It's God's Spirit that is the only thing that we can have to overcome those fears, because really, it's all the Church of God has ever had. First, the replacement of Judas occurs prior to Pentecost. 2 Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time! Immediately mistiness and darkness came over him, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand. He had a lot to come back, he was at the back of the pack. It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. Two things we can summarize to show what was the key to bring about this scene that we see here at the end of chapter 2 in Acts. That Numbers 32 and verse 23, is correct. A violent wind sounds. Acts 1, consistent with the rest of the Book of Acts, reminds us that it is not about us; it is about God. Volume 1 the Gospel of Luke is the description of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen(verse 1b-2a). Pentecost is the festival when Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Having said this, our Lord ascended into heaven. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. We, again, don't necessarily always pause and think about this, in these hours and days following Christ's resurrection. Pentecost starts in a locked room with believers waiting. And we can be about the work that we see that the Church did then and has always done, of taking the message of salvation and of repentance to life, to people who need that message. They stood there, transfixed. The before and after theme is found frequently in the media. And you have to understand that and realize that, that's what they were doing during that period of time as well. 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. Bold, Men and brethren, he begins to explain what's happened. 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 also point out that Lukes account depicts this selection in a favorable light, and that nothing negative is said about the action taken here. There is additional evidence that our Lord spoke to the apostles about the mystery of the church during these 40 days. In 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, Paul makes the same point, showing how much more glorious the New Covenant is to the Old and that New Testament ministry is to the old, because of the Holy Spirit. During those 40 days, He provided them with many convincing proofs that He had indeed risen from the dead. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. 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. [Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? And there wasn't a Jew in Jerusalem, not a rabbi, not a priest who'd ever understood Joel or the Psalms in that way, nor would they have ever dreamed of applying it to what had happened just weeks earlier, with the arrest, crucifixion, and death of this Man called Jesus of Nazareth. And there was fear of the unknown, of what was going to take place, fear of the future. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. 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. Finally, verses 15-26 are the account of the selection of Matthias as the twelfth apostle, a replacement for Judas. We can internalize that and think that through. Acts is not the account of God choosing the best and most talented and godly people on the face of the earth, so that He can accomplish the Great Commission. They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. Verses 1-11 describe what happened during that 40-day period between our Lords resurrection and His ascension. Based upon Pauls words in Ephesians 3, I am inclined to assume what a portion of this conversation may have been: 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret of Christ. 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. As the writer to the Hebrews constantly emphasized, the New Covenant is vastly superior to the Old. People should see God in us. ", A church begins to develop. And God will expose sin, ours to ourselves, sometimes to others. The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. There's a lot of information in the details that we are given in chapter 28 verse 16. And because both were working together, the mission and the vision, there was a remarkable picture being described here by Luke, of the Church at peace. It is. When Did the Holy Spirit Come Down on the Apostles? - Learn Religions It was originally an agricultural festival, marking the beginning of the wheat harvest. The Day of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter in Western branches of Christianity. While it is not plainly stated, it would seem that from a human point of view the events at Pentecost were partially a response to the prayers of these saints. PrivacyPolicyTerms ofUse. And we must live knowing that way. And let's look at it beginning in verse 36, this is after His resurrection, "As they said these things," this is the two that He had appeared to on the road to Emmaus, "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, 'Peace to you.' Why are you standing around gazing? They were kind of like this, and like this. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and . Ascension | Description, Significance, Feast, & Art | Britannica Between Easter and Pentecost: 50 Forgotten Days the - ChurchLeaders From this, we can infer that Jesus unbelieving brothers (John 7:5) had come to believe in Jesus, no doubt largely due to His resurrection. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. What I would like to underscore is the role of the Holy Spirit in our Lords giving of the Great Commission. When I was 15 years old, I got on a bus from my little hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. That power would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. 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." They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. These events happened in the book of Acts within the Bible and proved a major turning point in the New Testament. That's what He did. The feast has been celebrated 40 days after Easter in both Eastern and Western Christianity since the 4th century. Well, the real answer is for you and I, the same things that are going through your mind right now, and my mind. 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. First, there was an unmistakable "sound like a mighty rushing wind" that "filled the entire house" where the believers had gathered. What is Pentecost? Meaning of Pentecost Sunday 2023 - Christianity.com Ministers in church often wear robes with red in the design as a symbol of the flames in which the Holy Spirit came to earth. Sunday Before Pentecost. This is what He does as He moves them through the Law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets, and opening their understanding. "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom He had cast seven demons. The Holy Spirit will come upon you shortly to empower you to carry out this task, so wait in Jerusalem until you receive this power.. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost. What Happened at Pentecost? It goes on, "When He had spoken these things," in verse 9, "they watched and He was taken up in a cloud, received Him out of their sight. 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. 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Today's Scripture reference comes mainly from Acts 2:12-21. Jesus Christ was born to be a King, and He will return as the King of Kings in the Kingdom of God. Before Pentecost | Draughting Theology The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25). 1. Because Ruth saw in Naomi, God, an example that she wanted to be a part of. That's been the hallmark of our feature. Acts 1 is the before section of this great book. And a voice from heaven like many waters, and the voice of thunder, and the sound of harpers playing their harps, they sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. This information, this timing, is something that falls entirely within the Fathers own authority. 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. They left the selection of these leaders to the people, but they did set the qualifications. ACTS 2 NIV - The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost - Bible Gateway I happen to think that they, no doubt during this period of time, as the days go on they talked and they read. The inference is, Dont just stand here; get going!5. What we have in verses 12-14, then, is a description of where the apostles stayed and what they did from the time of our Lords death till Pentecost. 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. Bible Chronology - The Day of Pentecost 3You will note that I do not use the termdisciplesto refer to the eleven here, or the twelve elsewhere in Acts. This process will never be seen again in the rest of the New Testament. 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. My point here is that Luke links the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of our Lord in the Gospels to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church in Acts. That is the vision that Jesus has for His Church as articulated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:16, and they had it at this moment. At the end of the 40 days, Jesus was taken up into heaven. Pentecost was the occasion which God chose to bestow this power on His apostles. It is the day, 40 days after the Resurrection, when Jesus returns to his Father. We see this confirmed in Acts 5: And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him (Acts 5:32). But they were terrified, and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit." And this dramatic miracle, but beyond that, 3,000 people being added to the Church, and then a community being developed. This is implied in Acts 1:3, but it is clear in particular instances, such as when Jesus appeared to the disciples who went fishing with Peter in John 21. It had been organized quite well and in that remote backwater of Judea, the Roman government kept things in order. Show them otherwise what had been done, rebuke their unbelief, as it goes along here. I believe that among the many things we see in these early verses, we find that the Holy Spirits ministry in Acts a dominant theme in this book is linked to His ministry through the person of our Lord. This was a healthy fear of respect and awe and wonder at now what had happened. Shavuot, also called Pentecost, in full ag Shavuot, ("Festival of the Weeks"), second of the three Pilgrim Festivals of the Jewish religious calendar. It's an interesting way that they did. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do. And then going on here, in verse 44, "He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me.' 15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty people) and said, 16 Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through David concerning Judaswho became the guide for those who arrested Jesus 17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry. 18 (Now this man Judas acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed, and falling headfirst he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. Now all of a sudden, as Peter steps forward, and of course, you know the story of Peter.
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