Speaking The Wonderful Works of God

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: Acts 2:11
Psalters: 375, 67, 194, 288
  1. The event.
    1. Pentecost, a Sabbath feast at the end of the wheat harvest, was “fully come,” i.e., completed.
      1. The completed feast day was to praise and thank God for the harvest.
      2. A picture of the magnificent spiritual harvest God had just given as a result of the work of Jesus.
    2. The followers of Jesus (120, 1:15) were “all with one accord in one place” (2:1).
      1. Since Jesus’ death they frequently gathered to consider what His death and resurrection meant.
      2. They were obedient to Jesus’ command that they should wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father (1:4).
    3. Suddenly and miraculously they all were filled with the Spirit of the ascended Jesus Christ.
      1. Each was filled to their capacity with the Comforter (John 14:16-18,26; 15:26; 16:13,14).
      2. This is the promise of the Father (1:4). The promised Savior, in turn, promised another Comforter (John 14 - 16).
    4. Pentecost is God fulfilling His promise to apply salvation and its blessings through the Spirit of Christ.
  2. God used three signs to show the presence, power and work of the invisible Spirit.
    1. The signs.
      1. The sound, out of heaven, of a rushing, violent wind, centering around the disciples, but heard in all Jerusalem.
      2. A column of fire, from which tongues came out and remained over the heads of each of the disciples.
      3. The ability of the uneducated disciples to speak fluently in the different languages of the people present there.
    2. God declared that He was gathering a universal (catholic) church.
      1. The significance of the tongues is that the gospel is brought to other nationalities.
      2. The result is that every elect heard the same message of the gospel in their own language.
  3. Every member (the entire church) is filled with the Spirit of Christ.
    1. The indwelling Spirit saves, applying the work which Christ began in His life and death and resurrection.
    2. The indwelling Spirit purges, by humbling us so we confess and seek the righteousness of Christ (not our own).
    3. The Spirit makes every believer a prophet, priest, and king.
    4. The indwelling Spirit qualifies each believer to be a witness to Christ (Acts 1:8; Isa. 43:10,12).