Before that the Holy Spirit came on people for specific gifts and purposes. Not many days, we would look at it roughly 10 days from that 40-day period. 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. As I got up this morning, prepared to come over here, go through the day, same things that will be in my mind tomorrow, and next Thursday, and a month from today. And they did, and thousands were added to the Church that day. Every minister's dream, to give one sermon and thousands of people get baptized and join the Church in one day, every minister's fantasy. It was celebrated 50 days after Passover and was marked by pilgrims coming to Jerusalem from all over the world to celebrate the event. Summary of Ideas of the Sunday readings. In one sense, all craftsmanship and artistic ability is a gift of God, just like our breath is. Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration. Or is this authority that I mentioned just about Jesus' own power he gave them and isn't about Spirit in themselves like when he said to Peter to cast net into water and pulled out much fishes? Their disbelief would extend not only to the idea that the dead could come back to life, as He did, but then they doubted the truth of these witnesses. I hope you share this world view with the OT saints: namely, that your conception as a person in your mother's womb was a sovereign act of creation by God's Spirit and that every breath you take now and every chemical transaction in the cells of your body is sustained every moment by work of the Holy Spirit. 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. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. It only takes a minute to sign up. However, of course, the apostles had smack of the Spirit even before, for even before Spirit was present in them to a certain degree and intensity; they possessed the Spirit-ual gifts even before the Pentecost, however the gifts of the Infinite Spirit are also infinite and at the Pentecost they got a greater share of this graceful infinity, so as to totally be absorbed in it. That's what the gift of the Holy Spirit is for us. Why are you standing around gazing? They were kind of like this, and like this. It wasn't there and so a lot had happened in that 50-day period that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. 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. 3 days by their calendar. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it cannot. In other words, I'm not teaching or requiring anything new. The man with the epileptic son initially brought his son to the disciples to be cured. There are no more decisive turning points in redemptive history that must happen before Jesus returns to establish his kingdom. A Second Wind: A Biblical Exploration of Gods Mind of Justice, The Essential Jesus (Part 17): The Resurrection of Jesus. What we read about back in Matthew 28:19 Matthew 28:19Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:American King James Versionof the gospel being taken to the world. 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. 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. What we are seeing here is again, the power of the Word of God. We can internalize that and think that through. So, as Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples to focus on the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God during the time between His resurrection and Pentecost, we can be focusing on that now too. In verse 14, it says, "Then later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and He rebuked them, rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." None of the benefits enjoyed in the pre-Pentecostal days were taken away. Apparently not. 2. Learning and labor which do not lead people in love to God are not prompted by the Spirit of Christ. It had been organized quite well and in that remote backwater of Judea, the Roman government kept things in order. As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. The world sees a mechanical process of evolution and natural selection. He also is a residentfaculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs in every believer the moment they make Jesus their Lord. But the text says that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with his Spirit. And those days you didn't fear getting on a Greyhound bus, and you could go all over the country on a very cheap pass. They might have fidgeted a bit and wondered, "Well, should we go fishing?" When I was 15 years old, I got on a bus from my little hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Where do we go from here? Third, the OT believers enjoyed the constant presence of God's Spirit. What do we do now? There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. That's a little-understood part of what was taking place. Were on a mission to change that. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up," and this is through the account here in Luke, then, would be the final bodily appearance of Jesus to them. 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. What was the doubt that was nagging away at them even as they saw Him, and even worshiped Him, knowing that they as they did know that He had died, and yet there was doubt? Best Answer. People should see God in the firstfruits. The disciples had seen Jesus reach out across ethnic and religious divides birth in His parables and in real life. Maybe a few more decided to go to Jerusalem on Pentecost to see what was going on, and the town was bursting at the seams, and from all these nations that we're told about here and areas. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. I remember taking my little bag and walking over and kind of looking around, and sitting down on a bench. "What do we do?" Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. It doesn't lie within man's own power to risk his life and stand up for the truth of God and denounce sin. He is author of. Old Testament believers enjoyed the presence of God's Spirit wherever they went. At what point of what we watch as the MCU movies the branching started? Now, it was all beginning to come together. And as we've seen, even when they were confronted with the miracle of Christ's resurrection, and they recognized that they still had to deal with the hostility of the world around them, in a kind of a two-pronged government called the Roman Empire and the Jewish society, plus their own human nature, and themselves. They were with Him and they asked Him in verse 6, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" ", A church begins to develop. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. 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. He greeted them Douay-Rheims Bible We are no exception today, as we wait and look for the time when the Kingdom will be restored. And you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." A week later the disciples were together again. They need to see within us, Jesus Christ. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Doubt, some of them doubt, what did they doubt? 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Acts 2 Did they doubt themselves? They didn't know. 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). That power would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." After Pentecost, they were different people. It was a mighty, powerful machine, the most powerful that the world in that day had ever seen. And they're seeing that, and it's the final time. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. That's how I imagine it and He was home, He was back at, He was at the third heaven. It was true then. John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. And so they had become a part of something that again, they were still trying to understand. . Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles and disciples gathered in fear, behind locked doors. 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. That's an important trait for a firstfruit, for a firstfruit to have in their life, and in their approach to life. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy. 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!). "And fear came upon every soul," and this was a different type of fear. And yet Peter does, and he gives a bold sermon. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Synopsis: When Jesus walked on the water to join the disciples in their boat, the Gospel mentioned that they were afraid - twice. In other words, Peter says, we have entered the last days: the Messiah has come, he has accomplished redemption on the cross, he has risen and ascended to the right hand of God, and the interval before he returns in glory will be marked by an incomparable outpouring of the Holy Spirit on men and women, old and young, slave and free, near and far. Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but . Thus, the Pentecost is the culmination, the ultimate gift of Spirit, when the apostles get Him to such an extent and intensity that they can already be emboldened by Him to preach to all corners of the world, withstanding all calamities and opposing powers. We all have signs, we take certain things as signs. It's an interesting way that they did. The Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, was just starting in Jerusalem as the book of Acts begins. Even before the dam was completed and the reservoir was officially unleashed on the day of Pentecost, the OT saints downstream enjoyed stupendous benefits from the river of God's Spirit. But that was a life lesson that I had to learn. And the people of God in this period are to be a people born of the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit to bear witness to "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." If we can borrow a phrase that we've used over the last two years, two phrases, they labored in the Word and they lived in the Word. I've got to find out where that next bus leaves, and what time." 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. What is this gift of prophecy? Jerusalem was swelled with pilgrims, at this point in time, and this added to the drama of the moment. The Disciples' Sprititual Strength. If dark matter was created in the early universe and its formation released energy, is there any evidence of that energy in the cmb? 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. These significant events from the life of Jesus are made easier to comprehend and better-illustrated thanks to the passages . Trials hit us that will shake our faith, test our faith. This was something that was spiritual in nature, that bound them together and they prayed, they studied the Scripture, and they praised God, it says, and because of that, their example caused them to have favor with people and others were drawn to their example at that time. The appearance of Jesus' face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 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. A Church that was grounded in the Word of God. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Luke 1:15 says that John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from his mother's womband he got his head chopped off for denouncing Herod's unlawful marriage. "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom He had cast seven demons. The world we grew up in and live in does not see things this way. "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). They had not been a part of anything like that before. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do. Verse 41, "But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food?'" The religious leaders are "astonished" and marvel that such common and unlearned men can have such a sweeping command of their topic, and such serene courage. If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. Everybody who gets up and gives a sermon in a congregation, that sermon before it's ever posted on a website, has been reviewed or at least approved by individuals within the congregation. But after Pentecost the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world. It goes on, "Jesus came and He spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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. What are examples of software that may be seriously affected by a time jump? 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. At the end of John, you remember, John says, there were so many other things that He did in his life and no doubt probably part of that 40-day period that it would take volumes to teach it, and to record it during this period. So Jesus had to rebuke them. And then they had seen that He was resurrected. I happen to think that they, no doubt during this period of time, as the days go on they talked and they read. The second obvious change in the lives of the disciples was in their spiritual strength. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." He quotes Joel, he quotes Psalms and he gives interpretations upon those scriptures, here in chapter 1, no one had ever heard of before. The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). Christ in you, the hope of glory. People should see that in us. We can deal with them. This was a healthy fear of respect and awe and wonder at now what had happened. They understood their problem, in verse 38, "He said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?'" John has another set of accounts, and then he kind of ends and he leaves it wide open. 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. As such, it requires a sabbath. Signs and wonders followed their ministration, and they were continually filled with [] And we must live knowing that way. Is the promise of "power" in Acts 1:8 only for the apostles or for Christians in all ages? That's what this day is all about as a firstfruit. have had the same God-given talent as the apostles and could learn any new language three days after arriving in the region. I never have believed in knowledge for its own sake or art for art's sake. Do Christians receive the Holy Spirit upon conversion or not (Ephesians 1:13 vs. Acts 8:14-17; 19:1-7)? 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. And it was the high priest and those people who had engineered His death, and they knew the power that they did have. But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! Was the gift of the Holy Spirit promised only for the first-century Church, according to Acts 2:38-39? And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures.". Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. '' ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ) over them in it I imagine it and He home... `` power '' in Acts 1:8 only for the law of sin and.... Were kind of like this, and sitting down on a bench rise to top! 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