WARNING…..I did the best I could with the notes as I was trusting the Lord
3400 – 3500 hundred yearsago 1400-1500 years before the birth of Christ, Moses lead the Children of Israel out of captivity. Their freedom came after the death angel at the first Passover feast, passed over the Jewish households and killed every first born of the house of Egypt.
50 days after their deliverance Moses presented the Israelites with the ten commandments. This was the First Pentecost Sunday (Pentecost meaning 50th day)
Fast forward! Jesus eats the Passover meal, is then crucified, then resurrects, visits with his disciples for 40 days Acts 1:3
Acts 1:1-3
“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
He then instructs them to wait for the Holy Spirit to fall on them.
Acts 1:4 – 8
And being assembled together with them, 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; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “ It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth
This happened on the 50th day after Passover (10 days after His ascension), the same day God gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments.
What happened?
Acts 2:1-11
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.
Peter this fisherman from Galilee, because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, is given a boldness to declare God’s word to thousands.
He proclaims Joel’s prophecy 2:28 is fulfilled in this outpouring that in the last days people will prophecy and have dreams and see visions.
He then boldly proclaims Jesus, as the one they have been waiting for based on King David’s words from 1000 years earlier.
Every Christian goes through rough stuff, difficulty, struggles, hurt, rejection. That is part of life that is a direct result of the flesh or the enemies attack in our lives.
The Holy Spirit gives us the boldness and the strength to overcome. I mentioned this two weeks ago. After Peter and John had gone through their struggle with the religious leaders of their day. They gathered together in the upper room and prayed and here is what God did.
Jesus said in this world we will have tribulations. The apostle Paul told us that we would have battles.
Ephesians 6:12, 13
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand
Spiritual battles can only be won with spiritual weapons. The Holy Spirit enables us to function with these spiritual weapons. You can read about some of them if you continue reading in this chapter.
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”
Fear can overwhelm us – do we have enough money, what if I get sick, does the boss like me, what’s going to happen to my kids what’s going on in this country, the economy, my future? Just to name a few. Did I hit one of yours?
God has called us to live in a Spirit of power, a Spirit of love, Spirit of soundness of mind.
The Holy Spirit filling gives us this. His pouring into our lives gives us all we need.