A period of unity, one accord, fellowship, love for one another, treating people as equals, not in a completely socialistic manner that we understand from our modern context of socialism, or the welfare type of society. What is of particular interest is that this revelation came about through the Spirit.. I think it was because Jesus had revealed the mystery of the church to them. I wonder if more people came to Jerusalem for Pentecost in that year because of what had happened 50 days earlier, plus three, and they had heard about that. In the context of Acts (and the Epistles), we should see that the Holy Spirit is a significant part of the enablement we need. 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. The Cross And Our Response to Trials (1 Peter 4:12-19), 8. The Holy Spirit confirms the apostles testimony, especially their claim that they have seen Jesus Christ risen from the dead. These accounts of like what we have read in the gospels and others for a 40-day period. A violent wind sounds. So that when they came to that morning of Pentecost and this mighty event takes place, they were ready then to move into the experience provided, and that extra dimension of power that the Spirit of God would give them and did give to them, and Peter takes the lead to give the sermon of his life. These were redeemed from among men being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43years. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and other disciples following the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ (Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2), and it marks the . They call attention to references tothe twelveafter this (Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 15:5). That is how the mission of the Church is done and that is how then that vision of a community, of a Church, of a people who are rooted in the Word of God, who actually do care for one another, is accomplished; by no other means, by no other means. During those 40 days, He provided them with many convincing proofs that He had indeed risen from the dead. They immediately began telling others about Jesus. They came together, in verse 1 of chapter 2, "On the day of Pentecost when it was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. Indeed, Acts 2:1 literally reads, "As the Day of Pentecost was being fulfilled." What was fulfilled was the prophecy given by both Jesus and John the Baptist concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit. "Pentecost" is actually the Greek name for a festival known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks ( Leviticus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:9 ). In days gone by, I have sided with those who found the selection of Matthias as an example of fleshly action hastily taken. 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. The ministry has had those two themes for the past two conferences. Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 14 shows that Christ will, on that day, set foot on the Mount of Olives. Maybe they had their hands in their pockets kind of like this, thinking, "Wow, that was neat. And so it was very key that His final ascension would be from this mountain. Trials hit us that will shake our faith, test our faith. This is Peter's first sermon since Jesus left for heaven. After seeing how God works through His Spirit in Acts 2 and beyond, who would ever want to go back to the old? That they're not drunk, that this is of God. Jesus had already gone back to Heaven so the disciples and new believers of Jesus were waiting to receive the Holy Spirit because that's what Jesus told them would happen. This then begins to be the anchor and the soil into which they can anchor a life of faith that they were to have and to develop. 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. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Instead, He would come and go. God's Word and Spirit give us power to overcome and to change to accomplish the work of God. During the 50 days after Jesus' death, He had many interactions with his Disciples and followers, providing them with guidance and . Lukes account of our Lords ascension is brief, but informative: 9 After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. There was doubt. Put another way, the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus as He gave the Great Commission is the One who will empower the apostles (and the church) to carry out this command. I would suspect that it may have been during that 40-day interval between our Lords resurrection and His ascension. I remember taking my little bag and walking over and kind of looking around, and sitting down on a bench. 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." And God will expose sin, ours to ourselves, sometimes to others. When Jesus arose from the dead, He did not remain with them continually, as He once did. 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Having said this, our Lord ascended into heaven. In Ephesians 2, Paul contrasts the Gentiles in their unbelief with the Gentiles as saints, now a part of the church. It is the Word of God and it is the Spirit of God that did it for them, and will do it for you and for I today as we live our lives, as we go about our lives. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? The decision to proceed with the process of replacing Judas was seen as obedience to Psalm 109:8, thus leading to its fulfillment. Before the church could begin Jesus had to die, rise again, and then ascend into heaven. The Feast of Weeks celebrated the end of the grain harvest. They'd likely not seen it. Now it has become popular to carry this theme over to homes, where pitiful or plain houses are transformed into palatial homes. What we read about back in Matthew 28:19 of the gospel being taken to the world. Our text has much to teach us, which is why Luke designed this chapter as his introduction to the Book of Acts. 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. But it was a very intense period of time of Jesus appearing to them both in Galilee and Jerusalem, teaching them from the Scriptures, appearing to them in larger groups, perhaps even, more smaller groups, and in some of the ways they're talking like He did to Peter, on the Sea of Galilee, having meals with them. These events happened in the book of Acts within the Bible and proved a major turning point in the New Testament. 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. We can internalize that and think that through. And then the 50th day came, the morning of Pentecost, and they were gathered together. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.". In the Great Commission of Matthew 28, Jesus claimed all authority, and He based His command to proclaim the gospel to all nations on this authority: 18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. They determined that others needed to be appointed to oversee this ministry. The following is an excerpt from "A Year of Grace: Collected Sermons of Advent through Pentecost" written by Bo Giertz and translated by Bror Erickson (1517 Publishing, 2019). It seems to me that these loyal followers of Jesus are at their finest in verses 12-14. Acts 2. They had a very life is now, living in the present mindset that this was all going to happen in their lifetime, which is something that pertains to every group of people from that time forward, that looking for the appearance of the Kingdom, the return of Christ. And then there came a time, in verse 4, where they were assembled together with Him and 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, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.". First, I note the wording of the first part of verse 13: When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs roomwhere they were staying(Acts 1:13a, emphasis mine). 7The apparent contradictions between this account and that of Matthew 27:3-10 are not insurmountable. Pentecost is a special day for any Christian, but it is emphasised particularly by Pentecostal churches. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. The church, the body of Christ, began on the Day of Pentecost by the work of the Holy Spirit. In Colossians chapter 1, Colossians 1:27, Paul writes, "To them, God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (2 Corinthians 3:4-11). Hymns sung at Pentecost take the Holy Spirit as their theme, and include: The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include flames, wind, the breath of God and a dove. They must not attempt to carry out the Great Commission without Pentecostal power. Peter was quoting Scripture and applying it to something that had happened and that is Jesus, His death and His resurrection. When the apostles asked Jesus regarding the timing of the coming of the kingdom of God, they appear to indicate that they know the kingdom will be set aside for a time: So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6). He made it clear that the Holy Spirit played a key role in their appointment. The apostles were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them. The Jewish authoritiesthe Sanhedrin, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadduceesthat authority was intact in Jerusalem, running the temple, running the religious side of the culture and the social life of Judea under the Roman cap, and it too was a very, very powerful force you didn't run up against. Find the date for Pentecost 2014 in the multifaith calendar. Not completely unraveled, but the doubt and the disbelief has an impact. That's a little-understood part of what was taking place. In times past, though I have not seen this as much lately, we saw the before and after of advertising for weight gain. Farewell (Acts 15:28-29, emphasis mine). He said He wouldn't and He didn't, even though there was a moment in time when they thought that they were orphaned, as they stood gazing up and looking and wondering, "What do we do next. And when they saw Him they worshiped him. PrivacyPolicyTerms ofUse. Before Pentecost: What Were They Thinking. As I was sitting there gazing around, nobody came. This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven (Acts 1:1-11). They might have fidgeted a bit and wondered, "Well, should we go fishing?" And more specifically for this group that they would be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth being fulfilled. They watched Him rise until a cloud obscured their vision. What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? In Acts 13 while those at the church in Antioch were fasting, the Holy Spirit indicated that Barnabas and Saul should be set apart and sent out as missionaries. A sermon for Pentecost - Durham Cathedral. It comes from the ancient Christian expression pentekoste hemera, which means . 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.