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On Jun 17, 2020: Acts 2:1-21 A Spirit Filled Beginning · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. In the book of Acts, and so Jesus had established, you know, his disciples, but then he ascended into heaven and he then commissioned his disciples with the task of reaching the world with the gospel. But before they were to embark on this task, he said, don't go just yet. You're not quite there yet. You've spent three years, you know, studying with me and learning from me, following my teachings. But you need to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that's what we see unfold, the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus gave them of the Holy Spirit. It takes place here in Acts chapter 2, and so I've titled the message tonight, A Spirit-Filled Beginning. And this is what we see, really, with the church. It's a spirit-filled beginning. It's a beginning of the church. The disciples had gathered together, but they weren't yet... seeking to accomplish their mission. They weren't seeking yet to accomplish the Great Commission. They were gathered together, but they had yet to go out in the way that the Lord had instructed them. And so they were gathered together, but they were not quite the church yet. until the pouring out of the Holy Spirit that we find here in Acts chapter 2. And so we find the beginning of the church, and it's a Spirit-filled beginning. As the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them, He begins the mighty work in them, but then also through them, Which is the way that the Holy Spirit works in our lives today. And so we're going to look at this to get some insight for ourselves and some encouragement for us to continue on. As Paul challenged the Galatians later on, he said, having begun in the Spirit, are you seeking to be made perfect in the flesh? We began in the Spirit. If you look back to our history, to Acts chapter 2, you can see we began in the Spirit. As we think about our own personal lives and our own personal testimonies, we began in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerated us. We became born again when we believed in Jesus. And so having begun in the Spirit, we want to continue to operate in the Spirit. By the Holy Spirit and in the ways and the methods and the flow of the Holy Spirit that God is pouring out upon us. And so we're going to look at four aspects of this and hopefully get some insight and encouragement for us in that. And so the first thing we'll look at is in verses 1 through 4. And that is that disciples are filled with the Spirit. Disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. And I would pray as you consider that this evening, that you would first of all count yourself as a disciple, and then you would stop and reflect on this idea of being filled with the Spirit. Are you filled with the Spirit? Because disciples... are filled with the Spirit. Now that's describing what took place here is when you know the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and yet at the same time we find the instruction throughout the scriptures to continue on being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so as disciples of Jesus Christ we are to be filled with the Spirit. Well here's where it began though. Let's look at verses one through four again here in Acts chapter two. It says, when the day of Pentecost had fully come They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Here again we find the beginning. It's taking place now on the day of Pentecost. This is a few days after Jesus had ascended into heaven. We know Jesus, of course, was crucified at the Passover, and that was a feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that was important for the Jewish people. But there was also the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, as it's also referred to in the Old Testament. You can see that instruction given in Exodus chapter 34, where they were to celebrate this feast of of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. And so they were to observe the feast of weeks. And so there would be this regathering. It was one of the three feasts that were required of Israel every year. So there was more than three feasts on the Jewish calendar, but three feasts, it was required that all the males who were able to make it would come to Jerusalem and celebrate the feast there. Passover was one of those feasts. Pentecost was another one. They were to gather there and to celebrate what the Lord had been doing and providing for them. And so on the day of Pentecost, when it had fully come, Jesus had ascended a few days prior, and the disciples had remained together. They were, you know, taking care of some things. You see in Acts chapter 1, and as they were gathered together, it tells us in Acts chapter 1 verse 15, there was about 120 of them that were the disciples of Jesus that were kind of stuck together after his death and resurrection and ascension. And they were sticking together in prayer, in fellowship, and it tells us here in verse 1 that they were in one accord in one place. They were all together, they were united, and they were waiting for this promise that Jesus had given to them. And so as Jesus instructed them to wait, they were waiting. Well, as they're waiting... As this group is gathered together, it tells us in verse 2 that suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind, or a rushing mighty wind. And so there was this massive sound, this sound-like wind that began to blow upon the whole house where they were. Now, there's some questions that Bible scholars ask about the house that they were in, and some would suggest that the upper room here refers to an area actually on the temple grounds where there were gathering places, and so they might have been in one of those rooms, in an upper room gathered together on the temple grounds, or they might have been at a nearby home. But as this mighty rushing wind comes upon the house, it's not just them that are hearing it, but we'll see in just a few moments, a whole crowd gathers as a result of the sound. There's something noteworthy about this. And it's loud enough and it's unique enough for people to stop what they're doing and go investigate the sound. And so this rushing mighty wind comes. It fills the whole house with... where they are sitting. And then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. As the Holy Spirit is going to come upon these disciples, there is these manifestations of sound and vision or sights that are taking place. And so the fire, the tongues of fire are divided up and upon each of the disciples, there is this appearance of this tongue of fire upon them as this manifestation, this pouring out of the Holy Spirit is taking place. Now, if we stopped there, we could, you know, have a lot of speculation about what exactly was happening. But it tells us in verse 4 exactly what's happening. It says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the disciples gathered together being filled with the Holy Spirit. First occasion of this kind of thing as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them collectively. Now, throughout the Old Testament, you see the functioning and the actions of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit would come upon someone and they would do works for the Lord and represent the Lord in the way that he commissioned them and called them. But here it's unique because it's now opened up to all believers in Jesus, all the disciples now, not just a prophet or a select few, but they are filled with the Holy Spirit. And you can see the... the indication that this isn't just a select few of this group or just the key prominent leaders, but as the tongues of fire rest upon each one of them, you see there the indication from the Lord that each one of them is now filled with the Holy Spirit. And so as they're filled with the Holy Spirit, it tells us in verse 4, they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And so the manifestation of the Holy Spirit continues on. It's the sound of the wind. It's the dispersing of these flames. And now as the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit, they begin to speak forth, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now as we begin to look at this, of course, there is much that we could discuss. There's much that we could consider in talking about The ministry of the Holy Spirit, the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. There's much doctrine that we could discuss. There's much debate that we could address and different views and different perspectives that people have had throughout the years. And of course, if you know me, you know I'm not going to get into all of that. But really just kind of summarize it down to some of the things that I think are clear from the scriptures. And so I will often refer to the empowering of the Holy Spirit to kind of sidestep some of the things that are kind of built into the terminology. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes these things can be hotly debated and argued in different ways. And sometimes I think it doesn't benefit us to really camp out on those things. and miss the actual experience of whatever it is, being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so I like to refer to the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Let me get my place here. All right, so here's the empowering of the Holy Spirit. And I point this out here because This event that happens here in Acts chapter 2 is referred to in three different ways in just the surrounding verses. And so you have in Acts chapter 1 where Jesus is foretelling this event and he tells his disciples that John baptized with water, but you're going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. At this point, the disciples, they have been with Jesus for three and a half years. They're believers. They've seen him resurrected and ascended. They are Christians. They are believers. They have received the Holy Spirit in the sense of the indwelling of the Spirit. And that took place in John chapter 20, verse 22, when Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And yet at the same time, here he says, there's something more that I have for you. And so not many days from now, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And so that's one way to refer to this event and what took place here with the disciples. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus put it another way. He says, And so this expression of the Holy Spirit coming upon you is used to describe this event that we're reading here in Acts chapter 2. So baptized with the Spirit, the Spirit upon you. And then here in Acts chapter 2, when the event actually occurs, he describes it as, or the Holy Spirit describes it for us as that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And so sometimes, again, these things can be kind of hotly debated and dissected and tried to, you know, distinguish one from the other. But I find here that all three are referred to in this way, or this one event is referred to in all three ways. Baptized with the Spirit, the Spirit upon you, and filled with the Spirit. Now, I do believe that there is a clear distinction between the empowering of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit. And so, just to consider that for a moment, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is something that is received by every believer at conversion. It's part of the process of being born again. The Holy Spirit regenerates us and gives us spiritual life, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We're given the Holy Spirit as a seal, as a guarantee of our salvation and of our redemption. And so that's taught in the book of Ephesians and all throughout the scriptures. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received automatically. There's not something special you have to do. When you pray the sinner's prayer, make sure you check that extra box. Yes, I want to receive the Holy Spirit with salvation. And then you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No, there's no extra request. There's no extra step. It's part of the process. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling within you. And if you don't have the Holy Spirit indwelling within you, You're not a believer in Jesus Christ. Paul makes that point in Romans chapter 6. Next, I would say that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a permanent condition. It doesn't come and go. The Holy Spirit doesn't, you know, well, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and so you don't have the Holy Spirit today, you know, because you're grumpy, you messed up, you fell into sin, so you don't have the Holy Spirit today. You quenched the Spirit, you know, so the Holy Spirit's gone, he's out of your life, and the Holy Spirit's back and forth, back and forth, depending on your performance and how you do. That's not the way that it works. The Holy Spirit indwells you permanently as a child of God. You have the Holy Spirit with you continually dwelling within you. And there is a work that the Holy Spirit is doing internally that is kind of a different subject from what we're looking at tonight. Again, as I said, there's some depth to these things in the doctrine here. And if you're intrigued by or you need more information about The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. There's plenty of resources that I could share with you to help you understand and discover what the Bible teaches about these things. But just in attempt to give a little bit of a summary, again, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it's received by every believer, received automatically. It's a permanent condition, and it's primarily for work within us, the producing of spiritual fruit. the fruit of the Spirit as referred to in Galatians chapter 5 and the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives and directing us in the plans and purposes of the Lord. Again, we could spend much time on that. But in contrast, indwelling versus empowering. Empowering is a little bit different because we see the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Again, that summarizes baptized by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon a person or people and then being filled with the Holy Spirit. We see that taking place at various times throughout the lives of believers in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. So the disciples here in Acts chapter 2 are filled with the Holy Spirit. But then a couple chapters later, in chapter 4, they're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit again. And so some believers have that happen again. the beginning at their conversion. Some have it later, but all believers should be experiencing the filling of the Holy Spirit repeatedly throughout their lives. And that's the idea here. And so sometimes the Holy Spirit came upon believers at their conversion. As you look at the different accounts in the book of Acts, and we'll see that as we continue to read through the book of Acts over the next several weeks, we But whenever it began, it is an ongoing, repeated process. And it's different than the indwelling in that it's not necessarily received automatically. Now, sometimes it was. In the case of Acts chapter 10, where Peter was preaching to the Gentile household of Cornelius. As he was preaching, they were baptized with or filled with the Holy Spirit. And they didn't ask for it. There was no extra step that they did. They just received it. And yet other times, in Acts chapter 19, you see the Apostle Paul encounter a group of believers, and they had not been filled with the Holy Spirit. They didn't even know that there was a Holy Spirit. And so Paul then lays hands on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit. And so there are these different experiences that you can see. It happens at various times, and it is received, the Holy Spirit is received by asking. As we see, it's not in every case, but again, it is this ongoing action where we are asking the Lord to fill us, to baptize us with his Holy Spirit. Now again, the bottom one, the last item here for the empowering is also key. The empowering of the Holy Spirit is primarily for reaching unbelievers. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is primarily for work within the believer, but The empowering of the Holy Spirit, as we see it exampled throughout the New Testament, specifically the book of Acts, it is primarily for outreach. It's primarily for us to be a witness to by the power of the Holy Spirit to Jesus, to the world around us. Again, in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus said, And so there was this empowering of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us. would be specifically for the purpose of witnessing, the purpose of being a testimony of Jesus to the world around us. And of course, as you think about that testimony, that witnessing, it doesn't necessarily take the form of, as Peter did, stood up in front of the crowd and preached. That's one form of witnessing and testifying. But there's other aspects of our life that we could consider as well, and so we we need the empowering of the Holy Spirit to be the witnesses to Jesus that we are called to be. Now, this was not just an event for these 120 disciples. This empowering of the Holy Spirit was not limited to just this one occasion. As Peter is going to preach to the crowd in just a few moments, we'll see the beginning of that. But in tomorrow's reading, we'll continue on and see as he gets to the conclusion of his message, he calls the people to repent. In Acts 2, verse 38 and 39, Peter says, For the promise is to you, And so here Peter explains and shares with us that the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise to all who will believe. And so he invites the crowd, by extension, he invites you and I tonight to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. to repent and be baptized if, you know, we haven't done that step yet. But as we believe in Jesus and turn to him, there is this opportunity to be empowered and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact, it's not just an opportunity. It's not just, you know, hey, if you feel like it, if you, you know, want to go a little bit further in your relationship with the Lord, you know, here's some really good recommendations and Actually, this is commanded in the scriptures. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, verse 18, do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with wine. the Spirit. It's in the imperative tense, which means this is a command. This isn't an optional thing. And in fact, if you really want to live the Christian life, you don't want to try to live it in your own power, but you want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit because there's no way to be a witness to Jesus. There's no way to represent the Lord. There's no way to be able to do that in our own strength and with our own resources. And so we're instructed, we're commanded, don't be drunk with wine, don't be intoxicated and captivated and having your senses dumbed down with those kinds of things. Instead, have self-control by the Holy Spirit, have a greater control and empowerment by the Holy Spirit to be able to live the life that God has called you to live. And so this evening, I would invite you to consider disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. First of all, are you a disciple? Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Are you committed to living for him, to representing him, to being a testimony of him to the world around you? That's what a disciple is. Are you a disciple? And then secondly, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? And I would encourage you to consider not, you know, looking back at, well, there was this one time, this one event, you know, back in the book of Acts, you know, maybe you have an Acts chapter two of your life that you look back and there was this, you know, inaugural moment of your life. And those are awesome and, you know, memorials and we should remember and be encouraged by them. But at the same time, there is this command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not a one time back in the past thing, but an ongoing thing. Again, as I shared the scripture here in Ephesians chapter five, it is imperative, it's a command, but it's also in the present tense, which gives the understanding it's to be an ongoing thing. Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so Pastor David Guzik says this. He says, we should perhaps, ask, are you baptized in the Holy Spirit, instead of asking, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? There is that previous occasion, perhaps you have been filled with the Spirit, you have been baptized in the Spirit, but the question to consider is, right now, are you right now filled with the Holy Spirit? Right now, are you baptized with the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to live the life that God has set before you. Disciples are filled with the Spirit. Now again, this is a deep subject. and so if there is further insights or instruction or help that you would like in this feel free to reach out to us because there's definitely some instructions and resources there's some things that we've worked through in the past some scriptures that we could share all kinds of things that could instruct you and you could pursue an understanding of what it means to be filled with the holy spirit and yet All of that being said, again, if there's some spark of interest there and the Lord's prompting your heart, pursue and understand the role of the Holy Spirit as taught throughout the scriptures. That's important. At the same time, I would encourage you to consider and understand that God is able to work beyond our understanding. That you don't have to have it all figured out before you invite God to work this way in your life. And so disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. Even if you don't fully understand what that means or how that looks or how that would work, I would encourage you this evening to ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit. I would encourage you to just trust him. He knows what's best for you. He wants what's best for you. He doesn't depend upon your understanding to do his work. And so he can do that work and he can pour out his Holy Spirit upon you in a special way to empower you to be a witness and to live the life that he has called you to live. Well, we're going to move on to verses 5 through 11 to consider the second point this evening, and that is that spirit-filled disciples praise God. As we see this event unfold and the Holy Spirit comes upon them, there is this response that takes place as they are speaking forth in tongues, which I didn't address, but we'll talk about a little bit here in this passage. And as they're speaking out in tongues, it's a praise to God. It's a worship of God that is taking place as they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Jumping into verses 5 through 8, here's what it says. And they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when the sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Here, as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church, As they experience this spirit-filled beginning, the rushing mighty wind of the Holy Spirit catches the attention of the crowd. And they began to gather together to investigate. And it points out here in verse 5, "...at this time there were Jews who were devout men from every nation under heaven in the area." Now, this was, again, one of the three feasts. The Feast of Pentecost was one of the three feasts that were required for the Jewish men to participate in every year. And so it took place at a time where Jerusalem would be full of people, where around the temple area, where the disciples likely were when this happened, there would be a massive amount of people, again, from all over, because they would make this journey from wherever they were to meet at Jerusalem and celebrate the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks. And so it happens at this time when there are these people from all over the world. Now, Some of them are Jewish by blood. Some of them are perhaps Gentiles who have converted to Judaism. But these are people who are living in a variety of places. So they speak Greek. They perhaps speak Hebrew or Aramaic. But they also speak the language of the location where they are. And that's what provides really the foundation for this event. As they gather together, it says that in verse 6, everyone heard them speak in his own language. And so wherever they were coming from, you know, if they came from Spain, which they didn't, but just pretend, okay, if they came from Spain, you know, they would hear this in Spanish. If they came from, I don't want to start butchering locations and languages, so I'm going to stop there. But you get the point, that wherever they were from, the language that they knew, the language that they grew up with, they were hearing the disciples speak in that language, right? And what is being taken note of here is that the disciples didn't speak that language. In verse 7, they're looking at each other amazed and they're saying, are these not Galileans? These people who are speaking, they're not from my town. They're not from my city. And yet I'm hearing it in my hometown language. And verse 8 always intrigues me as well because it says, how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? I just like to picture sometimes, you know, what's not said in the scriptures. Can you imagine there being in a crowd? There's this big event. There's this, you know, speaking forth that is going on. And you kind of look at your neighbor. You're like, I have an inside track on this because I know what they're saying because they're speaking my language. And so you look at the guy next to you and say, this is interesting. They're speaking the language of my hometown. But then the guy next to you looks back and says, wait a minute. Where are you from? You're not from my hometown. You speak a different language, but they're speaking in my language. No, no, no, no, no. You must misunderstand. They're speaking in my language. No, no, no. You must misunderstand. They're speaking in my language. And then they got... What are you hearing to the third person, right? And so there's this like comparison that's going on. Now, none of this is recorded. This is my imagination. But imagining how this might have taken place as they begin to understand it, it begins to dawn on them. We all are hearing them speak in our own language. And so there's this miracle that's taking place. That is the disciples are speaking forth. They're speaking forth in a language they don't know. And whatever it is that they are saying, whatever language they are speaking in, people are hearing them in their own language, in the language that was natural to them or their first language in the region where they were from. Now, Luke, the author of the book of Acts, goes on to record some of the examples of the areas where these people were from. In verse 9, he says, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Virga, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya, adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, and Verse 11 says, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. And so Luke gives us some specific examples. And these are regions all around the known world at that time. And so there were Jews, there were proselytes, those were those who had converted to Judaism, from all of these different places. And as they were here on this day, they were each hearing in the language of their region, in the language of their hometown, these things that the disciples were saying. And what was it that they were saying? Well, they tell us in verse 11, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. And so there's a lot to consider about this passage, of course. Again, there's some deep things here. There's a lot of details here that we're not going to dive into. But what's interesting to note is that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in these believers is was in such a way that God was being glorified. The wonderful works of God were being declared. And he used this means to get everybody's attention. Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way, "...the Spirit desired to arrest the attention of the crowd." What better means could he adopt than to have men who quite evidently did not speak the dialects in question suddenly be endowed with the ability to speak these languages and declare the wonders of God before the astonished assembly. They are able to praise God in a way that gets the attention of all of these people. All of these Jews who no doubt had heard about Jesus because the Passover was another of those feasts where, you know, the Jews would gather together and those events transpired not too long ago, you know, 50 days previously. Here as they're regathered again, God gets their attention. And this is an important thing to understand. The disciples did not, you know, orchestrate this or Think about this ahead of time. All right, so in just a few days, you know, people are going to be here from all over the world. And so let's come up with a plan. How can we get their attention, right? The disciples didn't have to come up with an agenda or a plan or try to figure out that. The Holy Spirit had the plan. The disciples were there just following their last instruction. Jesus said, wait, wait there until you receive the Holy Spirit. And then as they received the Holy Spirit, they were going to come up with a plan. the Holy Spirit comes upon them in a way that is exceedingly appropriate for the situation that they are in. Really capturing the attention of the people that are there. I think this is important to consider because the Holy Spirit works in different ways. Just as Jesus performed his miracles in different ways, even when he was healing a blind man, he didn't always heal the blind, you know, the same way that he healed the blind previously. But There was always something unique, something appropriate for the situation at hand. And in a similar way, as we look at this, we can understand that this is not necessarily, you know, the rubber stamp, you know, formula that this is the way the Holy Spirit always works when his disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. But but that it was the exact right thing for the situation at hand to accomplish the purposes of God. But the one thing that is consistent, so the manifestations may change, and the way that the Holy Spirit works may change in the different situations, but what is consistent, as you look at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, is a direction towards God. the Lord, directing attention upon God, the praising of God, the glorifying of God, right? Even as you think about the life and ministry of Jesus, as he went about healing and working miracles, it was stirring up within people a praise of God. It was directing people's attention towards the Father, right? Even as Jesus himself was there doing the work by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is something consistent with the working of the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 14 and John chapter 16, Jesus gives a little bit of instruction about the work of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and shares with us that the Holy Spirit's not calling attention to himself. That's not what he does. He causes people to pay attention to the Lord Jesus and the Father. He directs our attention to the other persons of the triune nature of God, the Father and the Son. And so here the disciples are spirit-filled, and what are they doing? They're testifying. They're speaking the wonderful works of God. And so they're drawing people's attention towards God, towards his works. They're building people up in their faith and understanding and instruction of the Lord. And so here, as we look at the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, this is something that we should be looking for. The Holy Spirit manifesting himself in our lives as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that it causes us to praise God, to direct our own attention and our own hearts towards God, but then also to be used by the Holy Spirit to direct the hearts and minds of others around us to God and his goodness and what he has done. Well, moving on to verses 12 and 13, we get the third point to consider this evening. In this spirit-filled beginning, we find that spirit-filled disciples receive mixed reviews. Look at verse 12 and 13. It says, So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Others, mocking, said, They are full of new wine. As this event continues to unfold, Everybody's amazed. They're perplexed. This is not something they've seen before. They're not sure what they're seeing yet. And so the takeaway that the crowd has is kind of captured here in verse 12 and 13. There's curiosity that's triggered. What could this be? What could this mean? But then there's also those who are not interested in finding out what this means. They're not interested in discovering the work of the Lord or what the Lord is saying. They're not interested at all. Instead, they reject immediately and they begin to mock, saying they are full of new wine. Now, I don't actually have a lot to say about this point or about these verses, but I do point it out because... Well, it's important for us to understand and to recognize that sometimes we get... in our minds, in our imaginations, this idea that, hey, the Lord's in it, so everything's going to be amazing, and people are going to, you know, respond. You know, whenever you're doing something the Lord put upon your heart, it's easy to just, you know, kind of imagine the results are going to be amazing, and out of this world, you know, it's going to be, you know, well, I'm going to win that debate because I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, or it's You know, whatever the case may be, we can kind of build up this expectation that is not necessarily accurate to reality or to what the Lord has for us in this situation at hand. And so there's going to be mixed reviews. There are going to be those who are, well, if they're interested in the things of God, Again, the whole purpose of being empowered with the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of outreach. And as outreach is taking place, as the Lord is being lifted up and magnified in the life of a believer, there are going to be those who respond well and because they are hearing the voice of God. God's calling out to them. God is drawing them in, and they're responding to that, and they're wanting to receive from the Lord. But there's also going to be those who resist the Lord. And as they resist the Lord in their own private life, in their own private moments, they will also resist the Lord when he is manifested before them through the empowering of the Holy Spirit on the life of a believer. And so there will be those who mock, there will be those who reject, there will be those who attack or fight against or hate God. And there will be those who are intrigued, those who are perplexed, those who are interested and want to learn more. And so there will be both kinds of responses as we, his disciples, are filled with the Holy Spirit and operating in the power and the direction of the Holy Spirit. We can expect a similar kind of response depending on who it is that's around us and what the Lord is doing in their lives. Well, finally, verses 14 through 21 give us the final point, and we're not going to go too in-depth into all of this, but the point is that Spirit-filled disciples stand on the Scripture. Spirit-filled disciples stand on the Scripture. Verse 14 says, For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And then he's going to go on to quote from Joel chapter 2. As the crowd gathers together and there's mixed reviews, but overall they're perplexed, they're confused. But now there's these accusations. These guys must be drunk. They must be intoxicated and drunk. So now Peter is emboldened and prompted by the Lord to stand up and answer that accusation. And so he stands up and he says, let this be known to you. They're not drunk, as you suppose. He begins to shoot down that theory to make sure that doesn't continue. He begins to eliminate that as an option. And then he goes on to explain what it actually is that they're seeing occur. But first of all, here in verse 14, it says, Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised up his voice. And here we can see in the life of Peter an immediate change, an immediate transformation. Because Peter here is standing. You have to think back. It was only a few days earlier. There was a servant girl in the courtyard near where Jesus was being tried. And she looked at Peter and she said, I'm pretty sure you're one of his disciples, aren't you? And Peter said, no, I don't know that guy. And then a little bit later, another one asked and said, I'm pretty sure you were with him. I think I saw you with him. No, no, no, I don't know that guy. And then others around said, are you sure you're not with him? Because you have a Galilean accent. And so we're pretty sure you're one of his disciples. And Peter, it says he called down curses upon himself, saying, oh man, may God curse me completely if I know that man. I don't know him. You find this recorded in the Gospels, particularly in Mark chapter 14, John, I think, chapter 18. You can see the denial of Jesus, that Jesus told Peter what happened, but it was just a few days before. And here are these encounters that Peter had prompted him to deny that he ever knew the Lord. And as bold as he thought he was, as strong as he thought he was, with just a little bit of pressure, he caved. And he denied knowing the Lord or being the Lord's disciple. But here, just a few days later, there's this massive crowd that's gathered. There's lots of pressure as now Peter stands up and the spotlight's on him. And he has great boldness and clarity and a command of the scriptures that is impressive. You can see the transformation in his life that has taken place today. Again, only a few days have passed. What changed? Did he take a course, how to become a public speaker in 30 days? How to not deny Jesus, that 30-day course that Peter took that one time? No, no, no. It wasn't that. It was the working of the Holy Spirit in his life. He had been taught and he knew the scriptures. He'd seen the Lord. He walked with the Lord. He knew what the Lord taught. He knew what the Lord did. He was the Lord's disciple, but he didn't have the power to live out the life of a disciple of the Lord until Acts chapter 2. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. So he stands up before the crowd and he's able to clearly declare that what it is that's going on. First of all, he declares what it's not. They're not drunk. It's only 9 a.m., Peter says. They're not drunk. This isn't a manifestation of alcohol or intoxication in some way. Instead, he says in verse 16, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And this is so important for us. As we talk about the working of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, there is so much that That has been misunderstood. There's so much that's been abused and misused of the working of the Holy Spirit throughout the history of the church. From the very beginning. I mean, you look at the letter of 1 Corinthians from Paul to the church in Corinth. And already there, it was early on in the life of the church, but there was a huge misunderstanding of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they were to operate and what they were for and how they should take place in a gathering together of believers. And there was all this confusion as a result. And so as we come to this subject, it's an important one that we don't neglect because It's important that we don't, you know, kind of pour cold water on, say, now we'll just, you know, the Holy Spirit, that's not a thing for today. We don't need to think about that or worry about that. It's an easy one to kind of shove aside because it's so complex and messy in so many ways in our minds. And yet at the same time, the Holy Spirit, we're commanded to be filled with Him. We're commanded to be empowered by Him. We're commanded to walk in the Spirit. And so we need to, but then we need to balance it with some boundaries, right? some foundation, and we find that to be the scriptures. Here's what Peter says, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is something that I believe should be taking place for every church, for every activity that we as believers do, whether we're gathered together as a church or whether it's our own personal lives. Whenever we are engaging in some activity or behavior, we should be able to, like Peter, open up the scriptures, point back to that passage and say, this is what we're doing here. This is what we're practicing. This is what we're experiencing. This is what is going on. It's important that we allow the scriptures to be the authority to protect us from being misled by experiences that might be impressive and powerful and emotional, but are not necessarily of the Lord. Pastor Chuck once said it this way. He says, And there's been all kinds of experiences that people have had, and there's been a claim that this is the working of the Holy Spirit. But we need to be very careful that we are able to then look at the Scriptures and say, this is what the Scriptures foretold. The Scriptures told us the Holy Spirit will operate this way. The Holy Spirit will behave this way and work this way in the lives of the believers. Now, sometimes there is... some emphasis upon the Holy Spirit in a way that kind of minimizes the Scriptures. It's almost like, hey, if we're gathered together and, you know, there's a teaching instead of the operating of the gifts of the Spirit, then, you know, it's a lesser experience. It's a lesser work of the Spirit or a lesser move of the Spirit. Or if we are restricting ourselves to what the Scriptures instruct and teach, then there's a restriction upon the Holy Spirit. But here's what I would encourage you to consider. Ephesians 6, verse 17, as Paul gives the armor of God for us as believers, he says, "...take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The Word of God is not a restriction or a, you know, extinguisher of the Spirit. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It's the tool of the Spirit. And so it's one of the ways, it's a powerful instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. And the Scriptures are provided for a variety of things. Paul will talk about in 2 Timothy 3, Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that you and I would be complete, fully equipped for every good work. The empowering of the Holy Spirit with the scriptures, the sword of the Spirit, is a powerful tool in our lives to shape our doctrine, to correct us where we're going astray. And you see that take place right here in this passage, right? Peter stands up and says, here is a sword of the Spirit for correction. This is not drunkenness that you're watching. This is the outpouring of what was prophesied in Joel chapter 2. And so we see the scriptures are foundational for us. They're the authority by which we live, by which we judge experiences and things that take place in our life. And so we need to seek to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to allow the Lord to manifest himself and the Holy Spirit to manifest himself through us in a variety of ways while looking at the scripture as the basis for the behavior. Paul will instruct the Corinthians later on that the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophet. That is, the Holy Spirit doesn't work in our lives in a way that, well, I couldn't help it. I didn't have control. I just went this way and I did that. I behaved this way because I was filled with the Holy Spirit. But Paul says, no, you have still agency. You still get to choose how to operate. And you need to allow the Holy Spirit to use the scriptures in your life, to set the boundaries, to set the perimeters, to set the boundaries. to make sure that you are walking in fulfillment of those things and not off on a different trail that takes away from what it is that God has said and what God wants to do. Well, finishing it up, looking here at this passage that Peter quoted. Again, it's from Joel chapter 2. I'm not going to get into a lot of the details, but just to walk through it. It says in verse 17, It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and on my maidservants, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy." I will show wonders in heaven above the signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Here in Joel chapter 2, there is this promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now, This passage in Joel chapter 2 and this prophecy that is given is not fully and completely fulfilled. Not yet. It will be. There is the part that's talking about the sun being turned into darkness, the moon turns to blood. Speaking of those things that will happen during the tribulation period, you can look at Revelation chapter 6, where it confirms those and re-prophesies those same things. But like many prophecies of scriptures, there's a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment, or a dual fulfillment, it's often called. And so you see the first part being fulfilled in that the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon God's people. And what's unique about this, again, is it's upon all the disciples, right? All 120 had the flame of fire above them. They received the filling of the Holy Spirit. In contrast to previously where there would be select few prophets, certain kings, you know, certain men and women of God that were filled with the Holy Spirit for certain occasions. What Peter is highlighting here through the prophet Joel is that all of these who are speaking forth these works of God, they're all filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the fulfillment of that. This is what Joel talked about. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And so we're seeing just the beginning of that, Peter is saying. There's going to be prophesying. There's going to be visions. There's going to be dreams. There's going to be a ministry that is taking place by the Holy Spirit as a result of this day where we begin to see the fulfillment of this. Now, when we think about the last days, we can kind of think of a variety of things. I just want to illustrate it real briefly with this idea. In Joel chapter 2, as Peter quotes from this, we see that in the last days, this is going to take place. And And you can think about history, you know, continuing on, and there's going to be eternity, and leading up to that is the last days. And there's, you know, some discussion about, well, when exactly do those begin? What are we talking about? There's the day of the Lord, there's the last days, you know, we can refer to these things in a variety of ways. But The simplest way for me to understand it and to think about it is to think about the timeline continuing down. We're continuing, we're working our way towards eternity. We enter into the last days and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church. And for us, that's been 2,000 years ago. And so it seems like, wow, that's a long period of last days. And that's true, but you can think about it in the idea of the timeline changing direction. So this is the way that I picture it. So, you know, the timeline's working its way towards eternity, but then at the birth of the church... At the ministry of Jesus Christ and his ascension, there's a change of direction. And so time continues, but parallel towards eternity. And that we are in the last days, and we've been in the last days for the past 2,000 years, for sure. We're right on the edge of eternity. At any time, we're going to change course again and change. go right into even the last last days, right? The tribulation period, the millennium, the kingdom of Christ that you could kind of insert in there between the last days and eternity. There's all these things that are packed in there, but we We are in the last days, and you can't think about, you know, well, so much time has passed, and so this last day's idea, you know, it's kind of nonsense, you know, because there's been so much time. But to understand it this way, that yes, we are living. We've been living in the last days for the past 2,000 years. And as Paul says later on in Romans chapter 13, he says, it's high time for us to wake because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. We're still continuing our way right next to eternity, and we will be there any moment. And so we're in the last days, and we need the working of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, just as much today as the disciples did then. It was a Spirit-filled beginning, and having begun in the Spirit, let's not seek to be made perfect or to bring it to completion in the flesh. As His disciples, let's be filled with the Holy Spirit. We'll see a difference in our lives. We'll see manifestation of the Spirit in our lives in the praising of God. It may not be received well by everybody, but witnesses are not charged with the response. They're charged with an accurate testimony. They're charged with accurately reflecting the Lord and His Word to the world around us. And so let's stand on the scripture. Let's hold fast to the word of God. Let it be the authority. Let it be the framework by which we operate to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us in the way that he desires. Again, these are deep subjects. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, the moving and the working of the Holy Spirit. If you want to explore that further, please do reach out. There's lots more information and direction and instruction that can be provided. But I want to finish off this evening with something that Jesus said in Luke chapter 11. He talked about the Holy Spirit. He said in Luke chapter 11, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. And a couple of verses down in verse 13, he says, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Jesus says, ask and it will be given. And again, this is a command. We're commanded to ask. It's in the present tense, which means it's meant to be ongoing. Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. He goes on to give an illustration of fathers being able to provide good gifts to their children. And yet fathers are fallen. They're sinful creatures. They're evil, Jesus says. And so if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more, when you ask and when you seek and when you knock, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? And so for us today, we don't have to wait in an upper room, you know, for a certain number of days for this baptism of the Holy Spirit, for this filling of the Holy Spirit, but we can follow the instruction of Jesus to ask. And we have this promise. Look, you're not a good person. You're sinful. You have a fallen nature. And yet you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more? When you ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, when you ask God to fill your life, how much more will he give to you that which is good for you? Throughout the book of Acts, we see people being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways. Sometimes people are there to lay hands on them. Sometimes they're not. Sometimes it's just in the middle of the teaching. It happens in a variety of ways. But here, looking at what Jesus said, he said, just ask. Just ask. You don't have to come up with a scenario. If we were all together in the church sanctuary tonight, you know, we would... Typically end service after a passage like this with, you know, we might call it an afterglow. We might have a time of worship and people available come on up and have hands laid upon you and receive the filling of the Holy Spirit by prayer. And that would be all great and good and appropriate. We're in different circumstances right now and we're separated and in different places. And I think that's good. This is a good doctrinal moment here. Because that scene, that typical afterglow scene, that's not required for you to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Luke chapter 11, Jesus doesn't say, okay, if you want the Holy Spirit, here's what you got to do. put on, you know, a service and then have like an after-after service, right? And make sure that the worship is really soft and melodic and kind of really gets you in the mood. Dim the lights if you can. It's really good if you can dim the lights because the Holy Spirit doesn't like bright lights. That's kind of uncomfortable. So dim the lights and, you know, we don't have to set the stage. We don't have to like set the mood. All of that is... helpful. In some circumstances, it's good. It's not necessarily bad. But sometimes we build up in our minds this connection that's not really valid. And so again, this is a good doctrinal moment because what Jesus says is, you want the Holy Spirit? Ask and keep on asking. And you can hold on to that promise. The Father is good. He loves you. He wants what's best for you. He's going to to give you his Holy Spirit. He's going to pour out his Holy Spirit upon you. He's going to bestow upon you the filling of the Holy Spirit as you ask and keep on asking. And so keep on asking. And I would encourage you this evening, instead of having an afterglow here altogether, you on your own, trust God, believe God at his word, and invite him to work in your life like you worked in the disciples in the book of Acts. Ask him to fill you, to baptize you, to come upon you. However you want to word it, whatever doctrinal side of it you want to, don't worry about all those things. Just ask. Ask God to work in your life and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you, to fill you, to flow through you, to empower you to be a witness to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this example of a spirit-filled beginning. The church didn't begin with a disciple's plan. It didn't begin with an agenda, a schedule, Lord, ideas that the disciples had come up with. It began with you breaking in and pouring out your Holy Spirit. And so, God, I pray for each of us. Lord, as we face the situations that we face in this life, And we do have our plans and we have our thoughts and we have our ways. And even when it comes to being a disciple, we have our thoughts about that and our plans for that. But Lord, I pray that you would take us back to the beginning. Lord, that we would begin in the Spirit. Even if it's beginning again for the hundredth time, Lord, that we would go back to your work in our lives. Not so much our work for you, your work for us and your work through us, your work in us. to accomplish your purposes. Lord, would you help us to lay aside our will and our plans and our desires to look to you, to ask, to seek, to knock. Lord, would you work in our lives in a way that brings glory to you, in a way that honors you. Would you empower us with your Holy Spirit to be your witnesses, to testify of you. The world around us needs to hear the message. They need to hear your voice. They need to see your example lived out by us. And so, Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us to be your agents, that we would have power to be your witnesses. The corona, Norco, wherever we might be, the regions around us, our home, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, to the ends of the earth, may you be glorified and magnified by your work in us and through us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. Have a great week as you walk filled with the Holy Spirit.