Acts: The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Good to see everyone this morning. Thank you for being with you us.

If you have your Bibles, hope that you do. If you'll turn with

me to act chapter one, I mean act chapter two, Act chapter two.

When we started verse one in just a moment, I tell you I've

been a while for a few weeks, which is with my schedule and being

away from vacation, and then we had a chance to be with some friends

and rock Hill. But I did not expect y'all to roll out the red

carpet for me to come back. I mean, see you y'all have really

outdone yourself this morning. But as you see, there's a lot of decorations

this morning, and VBS starts this week, and so I hope that you

will be a part of that. Or you'll have a child or a grandchild

or a neighbor's child or someone that you know and your family that have children,

and please invite them to come and have they not done that wholesome job

with this stage and so it's exciting to just to see that happening this week.

I don't know about you, but for me as a young man,

BB, this is where God began doing a work in my heart. As

a child drawing me to him. And so I really believe this week during

VBS, and I hope that you will as a church. If you're not

don't have your children here or not involved, And I hope that if please

see Devin, I'm sure there's still some way that he could plug you in

if you're not serving in some way. But that is a tremendous week to

make an impact on the life of a child. But I hope if you're

not serving in some way that I pray, I hope that you will be

praying this week for VBS. You'll be praying for our workers. You'll be

praying for our children that's coming, that God may implant his gospel and the

lives of children. Amen. And so we're excited about that, excited about

being back with you. M Devin's probably not someone I told someone just yesterday.

I believe I said Sunday's gonna be good. I'm gonna be an act

and said, oh, Acts chapter two, that should you know, we

should bring a bag lunch. And I thought he was talking about just me

preaching so long and me being gone for three weeks. Shall I'll probably thinking

this, he's going to be fired up today. He'll probably be bringing it

back lunch, but he was talking in particular about this text is a very

important text. You know. I grew up at um in Munda and North

Carolina and my actually played high school tennis and I it was a period of

time of my life my parents. After my parents separated, I really had

gotten hard towards the things of God and really was running from God and really

just didn't want to just hurt. And I'm a runner, I want to

you know, I'm a runner physically, but I'm also a runner that I

liked to run away from problems. Anybody else like that like that, and

I was a type that liked to run away from problems. And I'd like

to run away from the Lord when things were hard, and things were hard

in my life as a child, as a teenager fourteen fifteen, my parents

separated and I struggled, struggled with why God you allow something like that happened

to me? And really just was running and didn't I was a believer,

but just really wasn't seeking the things that was seeking The Lord had a tennis

coach and I played high school tennis, and tennis coach came to me and

I had a hard season. I was showed my frustration with life on the

tennis court and had some anger management issues. Some rackets took bore the punishment

of that often. But she came to me one day after practice and after

all my antics throughout the tennis season, she came to me towards the end

and she said, I need to talk to you. And I thought,

oh, I'm in trouble again for something I probably said or did on the

a tennis or in the match or during practice. She pulled me aside and

she said, um, Jonathan, She said, I got saved, and

she said you're the only Christian I know. And I thought, who I

am? Not a good example that you know. But she she knew as

much as I had my own antics, that she knew I was a Christian

even though I really wasn't living for the Lord. And she said, Jonathan,

would you come to church with me? She said, I'm getting baptized

and she's my husband and my two boys are not Christians. And she said,

you're the only Christian I know, and I want a Christian to be

with me there that Sunday who be baptized. And I could not turn her

down and so yet I said, yes, Coach Horvath, I'll be there

and say she told me what Sunday was to be there, and I went

to and I went to First Baptist in me in Trail, and I remember

walking into that sanctuary for that first time and first time I'd ever been to

church there. Grew up in another church, went into that church. But

as I walked in the doors of that church, I felt the presence of

God. There was something about God was doing something in that place like I

had not seen before. There was a fresh movement of the spirit in that

place, and it was something like incredible there that I just could not explain

it. I even went home that Sunday after church and I went to my

mom. After my parents separated, my mom was going to we grew up

in Ebene's or Baptist church. My mom was going to hear a Gray Baptist

church in Charlotte, and I was still at my home church. But I

came home that Sunday and this is and I said, Mom, I'm even

my membership to First Baptist Intro And I remember saying, Jonathan, you've only

been there one time. You don't make your you don't move your membership after

one time and I said, Mom, there's something that the Spirit of God

is doing in that place, and I want to be there. And it

was not long after that I was I was sixteen years old. A year

later I would surrender into the ministry. God was doing something new in that

church, and I wanted to be where the Spirit of God was at work.

Well, this morning, as we come to Acts chapter one, we

see the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, moving in the life of

the church. There was something about that place in Acts. There was something

that God was doing at Pentecost like he'd never done before. And this morning,

as we see I want you to see, this is the coming of

the Holy Spirit. That's the title of my sermon, the Coming of the

Holy Spirit. If you want to write it down in your notes. You

know. I think it's important that we looked through the Old Testament. This

is not the first time the Holy Spirit has come. Holy Spirit has come.

It's done work. We've seen Holy Spirit working among God's people in the

Old Testament. But here God is doing something new. Salvation is not just

for the Jews. Now, Salvation is coming to the Gentiles. God's the

Kingdom of God has come. God is doing something new. But as we

come to this passage scripture, I think it's very important for you to understand

this is not the first coming of the Holy Spirit, but this is the

first work or the first work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has

worked in the past. But I do want to be clear with you this

morning, as we come to this passage scripture, this is the Holy Spirit's

first work in the life of the church. Hear me. So I'm not

saying that it's not it's first work. It has worked in the past,

we have seen that, but this is the first work of the Holy Spirit

in the life of the Body of Christ and the life of the church global

Church. And so this morning, as we look at the first work of

the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, I want us to examine

the work of the Holy Spirit. I want us to see what did it

do, how did it work? And I believe as you look and see

what it did here in this initial coming to the church, I think you'll

see how this work of the Holy Spirit that was found in Acts chapter two

is the continual theme of the Holy Spirit's work through the Book of Acts.

So I think you can understand a lot about how does the Holy Spirit works?

You know, there is when it comes to you come to this subject.

Let's just be honest, get the elephant out of the room. When

it come to the work of the Holy Spirit, and you come to chapter

two, we and as evangelicals, we can get to where there's a lot

of confusion about the work of the Holy Spirit. And so there's what is

the Holy Spirit, how does it work? Well, I think it's very

clear as we walk through about what the Holy Spirit does in this passage.

But I want you to understand here there was some confusion about the Holy Spirit

and Acts chapter two. But I want you to hear what I'm about to

say. But it was not confusion among the believers. For the believers in

Acts chapter two, there was no confusion about the Holy Spirit. The confusion

about the Holy Spirit and Acts chapter two was among the unbelievers. So listen,

today, the Lord wants us to clearly see without confusion his work,

what he did on that day and what he wants to do through the work

of the Holy Spirit today. And so today let's look and see how the

Holy Spirit came and let's look together at the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Let's stand together and let's read. Boy, this is an exciting day.

Hang on, go get your bestick if you need to, all right,

Acts Chapter two, starting verse one. When the day of Pentecost arrived,

they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a

sound like a mighty rushing wind, and that filled the entire house where they

were sitting, and divided tongues as fire appeared to them and rested on each

one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And

they began to speak and other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now

they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

And at the sound of the multitude, they came together, and they

were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak. Listen to this in his

own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not these

who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear each of us in

his own native language? Parthenians, Meads, Lamanites, the residents of Mesopotamia,

Judea, Cappadocias, Pontus, Asias, Viigeria, Pamphanelia, Egypt and

parts of Libya belonged to Shaharene, and the visitors of Rome, and both

choose and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own

tongue the mighty works of God, and all were amazed and perplex saying to

one another, what does this mean? But others Martin said, they are

filled with a new wine. Let's pray, Father, we thank you Lord

for today. We thank you for this passage of scripture. Lord. We

pray today that Lord, just as you work to that church at first,

perhaps in intrail, God, just as you fell upon that church, but

also as you fell upon the church at Pentecost, Lord, may you fall

upon us a fresh and new today. Lord, we pray that for Bethasda,

Lord, that your spirit would be like a mighty Russian wind in this

place, that God, you would move into hearts, into believers that are

here and unbelievers that are here. God, we pray that it would fall

upon the hearers of those who are watching on TV your online today, that

your spirit would move in them, Father, and it would as a mighty

rushing wind. And Lord, as we hear Lord, your word today,

Lord, I pray today we would seek truth, we would seek answers,

we'd be united, we'd be empowered God to share your gospel. Lord,

use us today, Use your word today to speak to us. And your

name. We pray Amen. You maybe seated. First I want you to

see, is the Holy Spirit come. This coming of the Holy Spirit.

The first thing that I think you and I should see as we see its

first work in the church is first, the Holy Spirit came. Listen to

this. The Holy Spirit came suddenly. Scripture says it came suddenly. Look

at the verse one. It says in today a Pentecost arrived. They were

all together in one place. This is the gathering of believers. This is

understood. It's probably around one hundred and twenty one hundred and fifty. That

is disciples. That is the twelve there, or the eleven will have a

twelve that will be added a little bit later. That's eleven there, and

then that's other followers. There's men and women. They are gathered there.

They're all in one place. You can see they're all together. They're all

one place. Is a gathering. We're going to see that as a common

theme the church gathering together in one place to worship. In the Bible says

and by the way, this is in obedience God. Jesus told disciples ount

olive us, as we saw just a few weeks ago, to go to

Jerusalem and wait wait for the promised one. Right. So whatever they've done,

they've been faithful to God's commands. They went to Jerusalem, they gathered

together. And what they're doing, they're doing just what Jesus told them.

They're waiting. They're waiting for the promise Holy Spirit. And so the writer

Luke wants us to see this. This is they're being obedient. They being

obedient what Jesus told them to do. And in verse two it says,

and suddenly they came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. You

have this imagery here that gives us. Tries to describes to us what it

was like. It says, suddenly there and I think it's important to see,

and there came from heaven. So where's the source. Where did this

holy Spirit came from? Well, it came from God. It came from

heaven, the writer of Luke tells us. And it was was it was

from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. Now, you've probably at

some point in your life living in North Carolina or been on the coast,

at some point you've heard of you've seen a hurricane, you've been around a

hurricane, or maybe you've been around close enough to a tornado. But if

you've been through Hugo or one of the other hurricanes that came through, you

know what it's like to be in the house and hear the wind whipping outside.

Right, you can hear it coming through the windows, coming it through

your area where you live. That's the imagery. They heard something coming and

it was like the sound of wind. By the way, and in scripture

in the Hebrew, in the Greek, this Holy Spirit or spirit and wind

are the same word in the Greek and Hebrew. It's this idea that the

spirit is like a wind. You can't see it, right. You can

hear the wind right coming. I mean, you may hear it as a

hurricane's coming, but you go outside and look, you don't see wind,

right. I know. What if you saw our cartoon, you may see

the little wiggly lines right in the sky, but that's not when you go

outside. You don't see that, right. You can hear the wind.

You can feel the wind, but you can't see the wind. So as

the Holy Spirit, right, you may feel the Holy Spirit moving, but

you can't see it. Right. That is the So there you see some

very much imagery. But notice what it says here. It says that it

came suddenly. Notice that there were Scripture tells us there are some unity here.

We talk about that in a little bit. They were all right,

all that everyone was together, right, they were all in one place.

Scripture tells us that they were all sitting. Now, it's customed through times

that it's thought that they weren't praying at this time, and the reason why

it's because it was customer at the time that when you prayed, you either

stand and you knelt. Here they were sitting. They were not praying,

they were not crying for a spirit to come, and maybe they were gether

together. We can probably use some imaginations and maybe what was happening. Maybe

we're passed the scripture, Maybe they were talking, maybe they were working through

some teaching, but just suddenly, I don't know where the spirit came.

I think it's important to understand that just how suddenly it come upon them and

We're gonna look at that in a little bit. Sometimes as we think about

the Holy Spirit and we want the Holy Spirit to move in our life,

sometimes we wish there was a magic button. You ever seen the old office

commercial where there was a little button, a big red button. You just

hid it and something happens. Right whatever you won't happen, sometimes we want

to. I think the Holy Spirit is that way that maybe we can push

some big red button, magic button, and we can hit it, and

the Holy Spirit's gonna come. It's gonna just move in us. It's gonna

work in us. It's gonna come and do a mighty work in us,

like a mighty Russian win, and we can just we can just make it

happen. You can even think of um And I would say Tanner would would

really identify with this as much as he plans like on Planning Center and plans

the worship sets for the Sunday and thinks this song would be really good for

this or even um And and maybe once we we I tell you, he

probably has this idea. We're gonna do these two verses and then we'll go

do the course. And then when we get to that bridge, buddy,

I'm telling you those people in that church service, they're gonna fall out,

they're gonna shout, up their hands, they're gonna be singing in this whole

place is gonna shay. And he may have that as much as he planned,

he much as he wished he had a magic button to hit a red

button and you would all really just show your worship. You can't manufacture it,

can't create it, right, same thing when my sermons, I could

think, oh this is gonna be a really good point when I hit this

there will really get to start shout and say amen. But it's I can't

manufacture the work of the Holy Spirit, right. You can't do that in

your life, right. You want the Holy Spirit to come in your life,

You want God to move in certain power in your way, as much

as you prayed about it, as much as you sought it, as much

as you really want it to happen. Maybe you really want to happen this

morning. Sometimes listen, it doesn't come when you want it to come.

It comes when God has ordained it to move. You understand, Holy Spirit

came in suddenly in this passage scripture when God had planned it. And I

think it's important for us to understand that. And you know, you know

why I think it's important for us to understand that, because we have to

depend upon the Holy Spirit to work when it's his time to work, not

when we want it to work. And you understand that, and that gives

us a sense of desperate ration. What Lord, I need you. I

cannot do this of my own. Lord. I need you to come upon

me. Lord. I can't worship like I need without you. Lord.

I can't preach without you. Lord. I can't serve you, Lord like

unless you come. I can't work through this situation to my family. I

can't share the gospel. Lord, I need you to come upon me.

It came suddenly, I think. Secondly, here we send this passage.

It came in unity. Or don't you see what happens here? When the

day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place, and suddenly

that came from heaven. That sounded like a mighty rushing wind, and that

filled the entire house. And they were all sitting in verse three says and

divided tongues as fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

Now you can imagine if you we have a fire pit outside our house house,

and sometimes we'll get it out and we'll create a little fire to have

some moores. Now, if you take that little fire pit and we may

start to fire in one little part of that firepit, but eventually that fire

is going to spread throughout the everything that's inside that fire pit. Right,

it's not one part. It's not gonna say we're just gonna we're just gonna

burn on the right side of the fire pit. No, a fire spreads,

right, that's what happens with fire. That's the imagery here. This

was the spirit of God that was moving, and it was moving with everyone

in the congregation. It spread like fire throughout and it consumed everyone in the

congregation. So much so scripture is very clear, or Lucas very clear,

that divided tongues as fire appeared in them, it spread and rested. Look

at verse three on each one of them, and they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them

utterance. So ins important that scripture is very clear that Holy Spirit came.

It came suddenly, but also came in unity. You see the unity,

and that what it spread across all of them. But listen, scriptures very

clear, they all had tongues, they are all filled with the spirit.

We understand the scripture that as a believer in Jesus Christ, we all receive

the Holy Spirit. That's part of the work of the Holy Spirit. That's

part of salvation, right that he lives with inside our heart. What is

that that lives within us? It's the Holy Spirit that lives within your heart.

Scripture would tell that's part of you know, as you go to the

Old Testament, there are prophecies about the Holy Spirit, and part of one

of the prophecies of the Holy Spirit is Ezekiel thirty six twenty six through twenty

eight, and this is what says, and I will give you a new

heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the

heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of

flesh. And I will put my spirit within you. And I will cause

you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules. You

shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers, and you shall be

my people, and I will be your God. One of the prophecies about

the Holy Spirit that was come, that God was going to give each believer,

Jew or Gentile a new heart. And what was going to be in

that new heart a new spirit? What was that spirit? That was the

Holy Spirit? Can I tell you today? If you're in this body of

Beth Asda, if you're watching online here and your believer in Jesus Christ,

scripture says, there's one thing that you and I all possess in this room

as a believer in Christ, you all possess the Holy Spirit within your heart.

If you're a believer, God's given you a new heart and He's put

his Holy Spirit within you, and we all are united in that. First

Corinthians twelve or thirteen tells us that for one spirit, we were all baptized

into one body. One body there that's the Church, Jew or Greek slaver

free and we are all made to drink of what one spirit. I think

it's important to understand that the Holy Spirit unifies, it unified there, it

all received, it, all had tongues, all were filled as we think

it through um this Pentecost and them coming together as one. I think it's

so important that's you said, what does the Holy Spirit do? Do well?

It comes suddenly. It comes not when we expect or when we plan

it, or not when we try to manufacture. It comes when God ordains

it. But secondly, it comes in unity. So what is one of

the works of the Holy Spirit in the life of it as to bring us

together, to unify us. And we live in a world today that's more

disunified than any time any time in the world. We have more disunity in

our to day than I don't know that I've ever seen in my lifetime.

And there's one thing that should stood out among our world, and that is

the church should be a place of unity. Heard of two churches one day,

and there were a few blocks away from one another, and they were

all small churches, and they were struggling, and so they thought they would

decide that they would merge together. They become one body, a larger and

more effective when two struggled churches come together. Just thought it was a good

idea. But the problem was they wouldn't able really to pull it off.

The problem was they couldn't agree. They couldn't agree on how to recite the

Lord's prayer. One group wanted to say, forgive us of our trespasses,

and the others demanded forgive us of our debts, so they couldn't agree say

the merger didn't happen. They ended up splitting news paper. Local newspaper reported

about the churches and how that one church went back to its trespasses and the

other one returned to its debts. But that is the trouble, isn't it

that at times that we as a church can be so divided over things that

really don't matter. We are the one of the work of the Holy Spirit

is unite us. That is the word we see in Ephesians. As Paul

tells the church, I love this passage. I therefore, as a prisoner

of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of calling to

which you have been called, with all humility, gentleness, with patience,

bearing one another, and love, eager to maintain the unity. What the

unity of the spirit and the bond of peace? You know, what unites

us together is that Scot's given us a new heart, and God's put a

spirit within us, and that spirit is working within us among us, then

it will unite us. May we be believers that are committed to unity.

Maybe we be at church that's committed to coming together even sometimes when their state

fans and dude fans in North Carolina fans will come together over our differences because

it was within us. Let's strive for that. Third want you to see.

The Holy Spirit came to empower the message of the Gospel. It came

to empower Scripture says. And let's just re keep reading the verses. And

when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them

utterance. Now, therefore, now they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews,

devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude

came together, and they were bewildered because each was hearing them speak in his

own language. So Scripture tells us that this Holy Spirit that unified everyone received

it, that spread like a fire, gave them utterance. It gave them

and empowered them to speak. Well, I think it's important. What did

it give them power to speak? In Scripture we see this term used.

They spoke, and they begin to speak in other tongues. Now that's where

some of the confusion has come in the church is over this idea of speaking

in tongues. I think it's very important to be very clear here in the

New Testament and acts and throughout acts, tongues always is a non language.

It's a non language. It's we think tongues here's something different than us.

But the idea is languages. And you could see that it's actually consistent throughout

this passage. There's three references and acts of the passage we just read Versus

one through thirteen. There's three references tongues in this passage, and all three

references refer to a known language, a foreign language if as how we would

describe it, this was not their native tongue. But they were able to

speak in a tongue that was not their native tongue, a tongue that they

did not know. And we're going to see that how that spreads out,

I mean explains as we keep going, we'll see a little more explanation in

that. So, just to be clear, speaking in tongues here allowed the

disciples or believers of all the one hundred and twenty people there, everyone able

to do it, And I think that's very important before I go further onto

that, it's very important to see all did it right? It's not just

some had to give a speaking in tongues, some did not. In that

moment when the spirit came, everyone in the room did it, all,

Scripture says, And so it allowed all the believers in that day to speak

about God's activity in a foreign language of their audience. So so you might

say, and I think we would come to this passage of Scripture and we'd

say, pastor, how were they able to do that? How could they

do that? They didn't know these language? How were they able to do

that? Well? Verse four tells us this and explains that they were all

what how did they do it? They were all filled with the Holy Spirit?

So how were they How did they have the ability to speak this foreign

language that they did not know? What Scripture tells us is because they were

all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, this term being filled with the

Holy Spirit starts in New Testament and Luke, and in Acts it's used like

nine times or six times some of the references I have. It starts in

John to Baptists in Luke chapter one, verse fifteen, and he will be

great before the Lord. This is when it's prophesied about John to Baptists and

that he would be born to Elizabeth, and it says, and he will

be great for the Lord, and he let us not drink wine or strong

drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his

mother's womb. Talking about John the Baptists, John the Baptists will be filled

with the Holy Spirit. It's we see Luke talk about being filled with the

Holy Spirit. About Zachariah and Elizabeth, John Baptist's parents. It says that

in Luke one forty one that Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary and the baby

be leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

It talks about her husband Zachariah, that Zachariah prophesied, and its scripture says

in Luke one twenty seven, and his father Zachariah was filled with the Holy

Spirit and prophesied, and Peter and acts for that We're going to see in

just a few weeks or maybe a month or so, we see Peter preach,

and he was filled with Holy Spirit in order to preach. It says

that Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them rulers, other people

and elders, it's found and on the leaders the first leaders in the church

and Acts chapter six. As they were selecting leaders or finding leaders, it

says, therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good

repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, and who will appoint to

this duty. It's said of Paul, as he's being confirmed that he is

sent by God. It says, Paul promise, was promised the feeling of

the Holy Spirit. So An and I departed and enter the house. And

he laid his hands on him and said, brother Saul, the Lord who

appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent you. Sent

me, said that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy

Spirit. And the last one here is in Acts thirteen the church is seeing

being filled with the Holy Spirit. And Acts thirteen fifty two it says the

disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Because it's very important to

understand as you look about, you kind of look at the comparhints the view

of being filled with the Holy Spirit and losing and acts being filled with the

Holy Spirit related to one or two things. Number one, it always related

to the proclamation of the Gospel. Always related to the proclamation of the gospel,

Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit to preach, Peter being filled the

Holy Spirit to preach, Zachariah being filled the Holy Spirit to prophesy. It

becomes in order to be filled in order to proclaim the gospel. Secondly,

it's used to equip the saints or equip believers for the mission that God's called

them to. Elizabeth, God called her to be the mother of Zachariah.

These leaders and Acts Chapter six to fulfill the Gods calling on them to be

leaders in the church. So Paul, the church, it's either used to

feel in order to proclaim the gospel or feel in order to do what God's

called them to do. We'll just see as this passive scripture continues. Well,

we talk about we see the speaking in tongues. We see what it

means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Won't you ask the question of

what happens when the Holy Spirit moves? What happens? Well, the passage

tells us look at verse six. It says, here, let's go to

verse four, and when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, they

began to speak in other tongues as a spirit gave them utterance. Now there

were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. I

look what happens. So here at Pentecosts was fifty days after the resurrection.

Fifty days is called the day of feast or the week of feast. There

were three feasts that every Jew were would do and what we call pilgrim feast,

and that meant that Jews would leave their hometown and make a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem for a feast. There's three of these. Pentecost was one of those,

and it was it was fifty days after pass Over, so it's fifty

days after Jesus said rose again roughly. So here they are at Pentecost,

and the Bible says here they're in Jerusalem, probably a million plus people in

Jerusalem at that moment. Verse six says at the sound, you know,

I don't know the answer to this. Some would say, I don't wonder

if it was the sound of the wind, because you say it was like

the sound of the rushing wind. I wonder if it was that sound.

Some commentators said it may be the sound of one hundred and twenty people speaking

in other languages all at the same time. Regardless, it is some sound

that draws a multitude of Jews to where those one hundred and twenty are.

Some believed that this may not be a room that was big enough for them

all to come in, So it maybe after they were feeled that the people

went out into the area. Are out in the open, and people gathered

around. But listen to what says. At the sound of the multitude came

together and they were bewildered. So what happens when the Holy Spirit comes?

People are amazed? Look what happens here, Scripture says. And they were

bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, and they're

amazed and astonished, saying are not all these speaking Galileans? They were amazed,

Scripture tells us verse six. They were bewildered. This word bewilder is

not a term that we use. It actually means the definition means to someone

to be perplexed or confused. In the Greek, it's more closely relates to

someone being amazed or surprised. I think that's consistent with what we see in

verse seven. And they were all amazed and astonished. Why were they amazed?

Well, this goes back to the heart of what the Holy Spirit does.

Look what happens here? Why they were amazed? Why were they confused?

We'll look at what the passage scripture says. It explains why they were

amazed. Verse seven says they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not

all these speaking Galileans? Galileans were seen as someone who was dumb or ignorant

or uneducated would probably be a better term. And so Galileans were looked upon

upon society at the time, especial in Jerusalem, that we're seen as someone

was uneducated. And so the question is how are they How are these uneducated

folks from Galilee, like Galley Galilee? How are they able to speak in

this another language? And that's that's basically what they're saying here. Listen to

what says, amaziness, Are not all these speak? Are speaking? Are

and they're not Galleans? Listen to verse eight. How is it that we

eat that we hear each of us in our own Listen to this. Here's

the word tongues nay of tongue native language. It is another use of this

idea. And then it gives examples Parthenian's meeds atlematizement residents from Mesopotamia, Judea,

Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Bigeria, Pephanelia. It gives all these

different regions where these Jews were from. Again, there's a different debated where

these Jews are here, whether they were people who would been dispersed and now

have come back and living in Jerusalem, but they are from Egypt or from

these different areas, or whether they have made the pilgrimage two Pentecosts as one

of the pilgrimage feasts and they're there just for that feast regardless. Let's just

take the example. Let's just take the Meads here, right, say there

was some who were from or Meads, and they spoke the language of Meads.

The Galileans were not from Meads, they were not Meads. Then it

speak the language of Meads. And in this when the Holy Spirit came in

fire, these Galleans are speaking the language of the Meads, but they do

not know that language. Example would be from me, right, I do

not know German, never been to Germany, don't know German, right,

Brockworth, That's all I got, right, And imagine me never been there

and never been in that area, never lived in that area suddenly being able

to speak German, and there being a German here in the congregation, who

here's me speak in their native language? And they say, how does a

boy from Monroe, North Carolina? How does he speaking German? As what's

happening here? But I want you to understand here, it's important that we

understand what we're hearing here. Right. The Holy Spirit came suddenly. The

Holy Spirit came right. Not only suddenly, but Holy Spirit came in unity.

But the Holy Spirit came to empower. Listen every individual in that church

to proclaim the gospel. Listen what happens here? Look at verse eight?

How are they able to hear each of us in his own language? And

it gives all the different languages. In verse eleven says both Jews and prostol

Cretians and Arabians, we hear them. What are they hearing? What is

the message in these foreign languages? Every believer in they are speaking in a

foreign language. What are they saying? What are they saying? We hear

them telling in our own tongue the mighty works of God? Why did they

speak in tongues? Why did they speak in another language? That the Gospel

may be heard? In that individual's native tongue. The Holy Spirit came going

back. What did I say, What was the consistent work of the Holy

Spirit? Because the work of the Holy Spirit is what to be filled in

order to proclaim the Gospel? What were these believers doing that were empowered to

proclaim the Gospel? I think it's important to say to hear this today,

the movement of God when he removes in unique, incredible ways, Listen to

this. It's never about us. It's always about Him revealing himself to his

people. You know, hear me? And I mean this with all sensitivity

and respect as I can when we come to the subject of Holy Spirit.

But sometimes when we think about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit working and

coming and feeling us, it's really all about us and what the Holy Spirit

can do for us. When the Holy Spirit first came upon the church,

listen, it was about the people that he would dwell with his people and

he would live inside their hearts. But it was also about empowering them that

they might what tell others that they might share the gospel. Can I tell

you to be reminded today the Holy Spirit here is coming to feel that they

might share. It's coming to empower the Gospel. And lastly, as we

finish up this morning, the Holy Spirit came to empower the message of the

Gospel. Lastly, the Holy Spirit came to reach the lost. Holy Spirit

came to reach the unbeliever. Look at what happens here in verse eleven,

and we'll read on. And both the Jews and prophets sights, and the

Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our language the mighty works of

God. Verse twelve says, and all were amazed and perplexed, saying to

another, what does this mean? But others mockness says, they are a

field with new one. She come to this passage of scripture, come to

the end. You see these people struggling to kind of figure out what's going

on here. A multitude is together, they're hearing this. There's kind of

two responses at the end here to this coming of the Holy Spirit among the

unbelievers. Again, there's not confusion among the believers about the coming Holy Spirit

and confusions with the unbelievers. Were the last few versatilas t verses show how

they respond. The unbelievers of the laws respond to the movement of Holy Spirit.

I think it is a question for you today, if you're here and

you're not a believer, or here you're watching online and you're not a believer,

is what is your response to the work of Holy Spirit? You know,

I believe this without a doubt that every time, every time the Gospel

is proclaimed, the Word of God has proclaimed, the Holy Spirit moves.

Without a doubt, Holy Spirit moves, and you're hearing it. You're in

the day watching the line, you're here at today in this room, and

you can respond in two ways, just as they did there. How did

they respond to this magnificent presence of God? I really believe, like I

was at that church. They felt the presence of God in that place.

They heard God speaking like they had never heard God speaking before. They heard

God speaking, and they are what we call heart language. How did they

respond? Where there were those who sought what is this? That's what Scripture

says in verse twelve, And all were amazed and perplexed and saying to one

another, what does this mean? There were those that were sensitive to the

work of the Holy Spirit, and they sought the Lord. They were seekers

seeking the Lord. But then secondly, there was another group there that day

when the Holy Spirit came and they felt the presence of God, they heard

the spirit of God speaking, how do they respond? They rejected scripture says

in verse thirteen. But others mocked, saying they are filled with new line.

Can you imagine the Holy Spirit coming like it did in that place.

It's like a mighty rushing wind. You're feeling the presence of God. You're

hearing the Word of God speak and your heart language speaking directly to your heart.

There were those who said, God, I don't know what this is,

but Lord, I want to know more about what it is. They

were seeking the Lord. But there were those and they're the experience. Listen

to this. They experienced the very same thing. And their response was,

Oh, they're just drunk. They just got a hold of some new bottle

of wine. They're just full of it. And they mocked the things of

God. Listen to me today. Everyone is here and everybody's watching online today.

If your believer unbeliever this morning, if you're lost this morning, there

to spoken and you respond one or two ways. You will either seek him

or you'll reject him. Today seek him why he may be found. I

loved that passage in Hebrews. Today, if you hear his voice, do

not harden your hearts as in the day of rebellion on the day of testing.

Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Let's

pray together. Lord, we love you and thank you Lord for the beautiful

word that You've given us today. Thank you for the truth that's in this

Lord, I pray today that we would Lord long for your Holy Spirit to

come upon us, just like pastors like d White, ELM. Moody and

the church, how they were waiting God for you to come. Lord,

may we be faithful to wait for You Father to come and the work of

your Holy Spirit to move in a new way. Lord. We pray Lord

today that Lord, not only Lord, may your spirit work in us.

God, we ask that you would work in bringing unity among us. Well.

We pray that your Holy Spirit would work to empower us to proclaim the

Gospel. And Lord, I pray today that God we would see how Lord,

your Holy Spirit came for the lost, and Lord you sent the work

of your Spirit to move in the hearts of people unbelievers. And Lord,

may Lord we see Lord your love for the lost. Lord, help us

today respond faithfully Lord, to you today in your name we pray Amen.