Used by God — Acts 2:1–13 - video Dailymotion

Medical Lake Community Church

Please enjoy this message delivered by Pastor Mark Hudson.  🔗 https://medicallake.church  #mlcc #church #churchonline

Transcript

00:00It has been said, it may be difficult to wait on the Lord, but it is worse to wish you had.

00:08Let that one sink in. It may be difficult to wait on the Lord, but it is worse to wish

00:14you had. Last time we left the disciples, they were waiting on the promised Holy Spirit that

00:20was coming. And if you remember correctly, Jesus didn't give them a time frame. He didn't say,

00:25okay, it's going to be, you know, 10 days from now or seven days from now. And he just said,

00:32it'll be not many days from now. So they're waiting and they don't know when, when it's

00:36going to end, but they're obediently waiting together. And you and I find it difficult often

00:41to wait for things, especially if there's no duration. Just wait. Well, how long? Well,

00:47just wait. We'd like to wait a week. I can maybe do that, but just wait. And so they're waiting

00:52exactly like he asked them, except for when we know when we're obedient and wait, there's

00:57always a blessing that's attached to it. So they've been waiting in Jerusalem as instructed

01:01by the Lord, go there, don't leave. And now God is about to fulfill a very ancient promise

01:07that he made here in chapter two of the book of Acts. So hopefully if you have your Bible

01:13or your biblical device, whichever the case may be, turn it on. We want to look at it together.

01:16We'll be starting in verse number one of chapter two. We see here in this text that at Pentecost,

01:22God fulfills a centuries old prophecy, promising the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to his people.

01:30Here is a promise that he made centuries earlier that he's now going to bring it into fulfillment

01:35and everything will change on this day. The Holy Spirit is going to come and indwell the believers.

01:43And since we're part of the church and we, I mean, since we've gotten saved and we were part of all

01:48this, it was not new to us. There was no Holy Spirit that didn't come and then he came. He's always

01:53been here. So for us, it's not a big thing that, oh yeah, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but it really

01:57is a big thing to be indwelled now by the very spirit of God, the one who hovered over the face of the

02:04waters in creation. Time and waiting is over. The day of Pentecost has finally arrived. If you look with me

02:12in verse number one, so when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Now

02:19last we knew there was 120 of them. So we're, we're, we're, we're going to go from the thing,

02:23one idea that it's all 120 are present. They were all together in one place. And suddenly there came

02:30from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting

02:36and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all

02:44filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance.

02:50So here it is now it's finally come to pass exactly what God had promised centuries ago through the

02:56prophet Joel on the day of Pentecost, that great feast of the Jews between Passover and the feast of

03:02tabernacles. Actually this year it falls on June 8th is the feast of Pentecost, June 8th. It's right

03:09between those two feasts and, and Pentecost means 50th in Greek. So that's where we get the idea of

03:16Pentecost. It means 50th in Greek and for the festival comes 50 days after the Passover. So we have this

03:21term Pentecost 50th. So 50 days after Passover is the, is the feast of, of Pentecost. On that day,

03:29something very interesting happens in the temple. They are instructed to bring two loaves of bread,

03:35two separate loaves of bread and bring them into the temple and to wave them before the Lord on this

03:40day. And they were to be made from the first fruits. So June is not harvest time. Harvest time is

03:45September. So from the first fruits, they were to make these loaves and they were to present them to

03:50the Lord, wave them before the Lord. Yet something is different with this sacrifice. With this sacrifice,

03:55they were to use leaven in the bread. Now leaven is not always sin in the Bible. Sometimes this

04:01refers to something else, but often refers to sin in the Bible. So why two loaves and why leaven? Well,

04:08the idea on the day of Pentecost, we see that both Jews and Gentiles are brought together, two Jews and

04:13Gentiles brought together in one body. Leaven, again, often representing sin, just shows that this church

04:20is not going to be sinless until she's in heaven. She's still going to struggle with the echoes of Adam

04:24inside of her as she's trying to live out her faith for Christ.

04:31Leviticus 23, you shall bring from your dwelling places, two loaves of bread to be waved made of

04:37two tents of an ephah. They should be a fine flour and they should be baked with leaven as first fruits

04:43to the Lord. Again, it's an unusual offering with leaven in it. So it's likely they're probably in the

04:48same place that they were before, probably in the upper room. It's likely, I mean, we're not told,

04:52the text doesn't say, but it's likely that's where they're at. They knew that the Holy Spirit was

04:56coming. Jesus said, wait for this promised spirit, but they just didn't know when. And when it happened,

05:01it happened so suddenly it even shocked them. They were, they were not expecting it. We know

05:05because we're after the fact it's Pentecost, but they didn't know that it was going to be on

05:09Pentecost. They were shocked when it came as well. It came very sudden and a sound came audible,

05:16the wind and tongues as a fire appeared visible. And they began to speak in known languages and

05:21outward demonstration of inspired speech. All of these took place at the same time.

05:27But you notice the language that Luke uses? Notice the language. Notice the symbolic language

05:32Luke is using. A sound like a mighty rushing wind. Tongues as of fire. So he's using symbolic

05:42languages. It doesn't mean it necessarily was a wind, but it was like a wind and it's not

05:46necessarily fire, but as of fire, it looked like fire. So he's using symbolic language and

05:52this blast of wind came through. Now we have to, we always associate a blast of wind with

05:56something moving, trees moving, brushes, brushes, bushes rustling, but there's no indication

06:02that anything moved. They only heard the sound. So could you imagine, you ever been in a

06:07tornado or maybe watched the movie Twister? That sound that a wind makes like that,

06:11that's what they heard. It wasn't necessarily blowing stuff around.

06:17Wind often accompanies appearances of God in the Old Testament. It's associated with God

06:23coming into the midst of his people. One of the instances is in Genesis chapter three,

06:28verse eight. This is when the man and the woman were in the garden and they heard the sound of the

06:33Lord God walking in the garden in the cool. That word in Hebrew means wind and the wind of the day

06:40and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the

06:45garden. So wind often accompanies the presence of God in the Old Testament. Fire also in the Old

06:52Testament can depict the presence of God, that God's presence is there and we see by the fire

06:57and actually Dennis was talking about that in the Christian education hour on Mount Sinai.

07:01Exodus chapter 19, verse 18. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended

07:08on it in fire. So we see the presence of God again. Both of them talk about the presence of God

07:13in the midst of his people. Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke

07:19of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And all 120, again, there's no,

07:27in the text it says it's not 120. The 120, all of them, all of the 120 were involved, both men and

07:35women, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. You say, well, of course, why not? Well, you have to

07:40think Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people like priests and kings

07:46and prophets. There were a couple of women prophets, but not many in the Old Testament. That's the only

07:52people that the Spirit of God came upon. Kings and priests and prophets. But in this case,

07:57all of the people of God are to receive the Holy Spirit. Not just the men, not just the leaders,

08:02but all the people of God are to receive the Holy Spirit. That is something brand new that has never

08:07happened before. He has come, just like Joel promised in Joel chapter 2. And it shall come to pass

08:14afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

08:20your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, even on the male and female

08:25servants. Not just on the leaders, but on the servants. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit.

08:32The Holy Spirit has come to indwell all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just the men,

08:37not just the leaders of the church, but everyone. I don't know. Have you ever thought about it?

08:43It's lovely, isn't it? Have you ever thought about it? That the God who spoke the world into existence

08:52dwells in you? The one just by his power took out of nothing, created everything that we see.

09:01He lives inside of you, believer. Not only does he live inside of you, he has sealed you to the day of

09:07redemption. He indwells you to empower you to live out this Christian life, to become everything that

09:13God intended us to be. He has poured out on all of his people, his Spirit. It rested on all of them.

09:19No one was exempt from it. John Pohill wrote, the picture is that of one great flame representing the

09:26Spirit, which separates into many tongues of flame with one resting on each individual, is the idea.

09:32So it's coming down and it kind of disperses itself on the top as of fire. Tongues as of fire.

09:39And we read about, in Leviticus, about the first fruits. So you think of it like that. Pentecost was

09:44also a celebration of first fruits. The first fruits are, you have a harvest, okay? Early on, you would

09:49take part of the harvest and bring it to the Lord and thank him for it because the harvest was going to

09:54come months later. So this was the foretaste of what God was going to bring to you later on and you're

10:01thanking him for his harvest. That's coming. The first fruits. Celebration of the first fruits.

10:07These people now are the first fruits of the harvest of the Holy Spirit. There's more to come

10:12is the idea. This is just the first, but there's more to come. The Holy Spirit was the first fruits

10:18of the believer's inheritance. He's been given to us to guarantee that what we have been promised

10:23in Christ, we will come into it someday. Ephesians 1, in him you also, when you heard the word

10:30of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, we're sealed with the promise

10:35Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance. He's guaranteeing that one day we will come

10:40into everything God has promised his people to come into. He guarantees it until we acquire

10:47possession of. Not only that, we are told in 1 Peter that he holds us together till we come

10:52into that inheritance that he's promised to us. Till we acquire possession of to the praise

10:58of his glory. So the Holy Spirit descends that day as promised, brings all of these people

11:03together now, uniting them together to Christ in one body that we call the church. Here we

11:08have the beginning of what we know as the church. 1 Corinthians 12, for in one spirit, we were

11:14all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. Again, it doesn't matter, not

11:20the leader, not just the leaders, not just the man, everyone. Slaves are free and all were

11:25made to drink of one spirit. He baptized them. He came into them. Warren Wiersbe wrote,

11:32water baptism is a public witness of a person's identification with Jesus Christ, while spirit

11:37baptism is the personal and private experience that identifies the person with Christ. The word

11:43baptism literally means to immerse or to submerge. It also has the idea to identify with. So when you

11:50come forward for baptism, you say, I identify with Jesus Christ, I identify as a follower of Jesus

11:56Christ, therefore you're baptized in water. The spirit now identifies them together with Christ with

12:01their exalted head. He brings them together in one body. The Holy Spirit, we are told, baptizes

12:08believers and dwells believers and seals believers. And nowhere in scripture, nowhere in scripture do we

12:15see a command to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, to be indwelt by

12:21the Holy Spirit. These are all acts of God. And in that case, we are passive. He does it on us.

12:29He's acting on us. We're not commanded to be baptized with the Spirit. That's what he does for us. We're

12:33not commanded to be sealed with the Spirit. That's what he does to us. We're not commanded to be indwelt

12:37with the Spirit. That's what he does to us. In this sense, we are passive. We are the recipients of his

12:42grace. He does tell us to be filled with the Holy Spirit though.

12:46That is a command. To be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's in Ephesians 5

12:5018. And do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but

12:54be filled with the Spirit, which is a command form. Be filled with the Spirit. So

12:58God baptizes us and dwells us and seals us. We are commanded to be

13:02filled with the Spirit on a daily basis. It's a present act of daily basis. We're to be

13:06filled with the Spirit. So here's these tongues that came down and

13:10found on that. The word tongue has multiple uses. It could be this organ in the mouth.

13:14It could also be a spoken language, a tongue, spoken language. Either one.

13:18Either one of those. And from this point on in Acts,

13:22the gift of the Holy Spirit became the normative accompaniment of becoming a

13:26Christian. This is the first time that he was poured out. From then on, everyone who

13:30comes to faith gets baptized with the Holy Spirit, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and dwelt with the

13:34Holy Spirit. From now on.

13:36Then it says down here, as the Spirit gave

13:40them utterance, utterance. There is a

13:43translation of the Old Testament called the

13:45Septuagint, and it's translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic

13:48into Greek language. So in that

13:50Septuagint, that word

13:52utterance is used as the word

13:54prophesying.

13:56So they were prophesying. They were speaking

13:58forth the wonderful works of God, which we're

14:00going to see later on here.

14:02That's found in 1 Chronicles 25.

14:04David and the chiefs of the service

14:06also set apart for the service of

14:09sons of Asaph and of Heman

14:11and of Jeduthun, who prophesied.

14:13That's the word, utterance.

14:14Who prophesied with lyres, with harps,

14:17and with cymbals, the list of those who did

14:19the work. And then it goes on and talks about the list of all those

14:21people. That's the word.

14:22So they were prophesying, talking about the

14:24wonderful works of God and speaking forth

14:26God's glory to the people

14:29there.

14:30This one-time event, the day of

14:32Pentecost, never to be repeated again. Just like

14:34the cross, never to be repeated again. A one-time

14:36event.

14:38The Spirit's always been here. We know

14:40that. It's not like He just showed up there. He's always

14:42there in the Old Testament. He's there at creation.

14:44He was there in the Old Testament, working

14:46in the Old Testament. It's not like He just wasn't there.

14:48He was there. But now He indwells

14:50us. He's not just around us.

14:52He indwells us.

14:54In the new covenant, the Holy Spirit

14:56would be permanent, not temporary

14:58in our lives. He would indwell

15:00us. He would never leave us.

15:02He'll come upon us and dwell us and seal

15:04us and baptize

15:06us. And He'll never leave us.

15:08In the Old Testament, you could

15:10have the Holy Spirit taken from you.

15:13David said in Psalm 51

15:14after his sin,

15:16he said, cast me not away

15:18from your presence and take not your

15:20Holy Spirit from me.

15:22He didn't indwell Old Testament believers.

15:24He came upon them. He would leave them.

15:26But here He permanently indwells

15:28us as believers.

15:30John 14, the promise Jesus made

15:32to His people.

15:34And I will ask the Father and He will give you

15:36another helper to be with you forever.

15:38Even the Spirit of truth whom the world

15:40cannot receive because it neither

15:42sees Him nor knows Him.

15:44You know Him for He dwells with you.

15:46He was around them and He will be

15:48in you after the

15:50ascension of Christ when He sends the Holy Spirit

15:52down on this day.

15:54So they move from here,

15:56we're guessing to an area that could hold

15:58at least 3,000 people.

16:00You'll see that next week when Peter's preaching.

16:02So most likely they move to the temple area

16:04right now because there's no place

16:06around there you can get 3,000 people together.

16:08Look with me in verses 5

16:10down to 13.

16:13Now there were dwelling in

16:14Jerusalem Jews, devout

16:16men from every nation under heaven.

16:18And at this sound, that's the sound of the

16:20wind, the multitude

16:22came together and they were bewildered

16:24because each one was hearing

16:26them speak in his own language.

16:28Remember all of the 120 were speaking

16:30in other tongues

16:32and they're hearing them in their own language

16:35and they were amazed and astonished

16:37saying, are not all these

16:38who are speaking Galileans?

16:40And how is it that we hear each of them

16:42in his own native language?

16:47Parthians and Medes and Aeliumites

16:49and Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,

16:52Pontus and Asia, Perugia and Pamphylia,

16:56Egypt and parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,

16:59visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes.

17:02So the proselytes are those God-fearing Gentiles.

17:04So there's some Gentiles present,

17:06God-fearing Gentiles, the proselytes,

17:09Cretans and Arabians.

17:10We hear them telling in our own tongues

17:12the mighty works of God.

17:14They were prophesying and all were

17:16amazed and perplexed.

17:18So not only are they bewildered,

17:19they're amazed and perplexed,

17:20saying to one another,

17:22what does this mean?

17:25But others mocking said,

17:26ah, they're filled with new wine.

17:28They're drunk as a skunk.

17:30They've been drinking too much of that new wine.

17:32Look at these people.

17:33Who are they?

17:36They mocked them.

17:37They're filled with new wine.

17:39That sign of the wind

17:41got everyone's attention.

17:42So they gathered together and said,

17:44what's going on here?

17:46You can imagine them asking,

17:47what does this mean?

17:49I mean, they heard the wind.

17:51Again, I'm not saying that they felt

17:53any movement of wind,

17:54but they heard it like a tornado.

17:57So what could this possibly mean?

18:00The crowd that's listed here

18:01encompassed the greater portion

18:03of the entire Jewish diaspora.

18:06The diaspora was the ones

18:08who are dispersed about

18:09over the face of the earth.

18:11They're coming back to Jerusalem now.

18:12So this lists basically

18:13all of the nations of the Jewish diaspora,

18:16all of them.

18:19This just tells us now

18:20that the mission of the church

18:22is a worldwide mission.

18:24It's not just for Israel.

18:26Somehow Israel just didn't understand

18:28that the message they had about God

18:29was to be taken to the nations,

18:31that the nations would know God too,

18:33but they forgot to do that.

18:34And this is just a reminder to us

18:36that what the mission of the church is

18:37is a worldwide mission.

18:40Anticipated now in the roll call

18:42of the nations

18:42that are listed right here.

18:45The Holy Spirit

18:46is a gift to every believer,

18:49but it was not always

18:50accompanied by tongues.

18:52In this case it is.

18:54It's not always accompanied by tongues.

18:56In this case it is.

18:57Only two other places

18:58in the book of Acts

18:59do we see tongues used

19:01after someone came to faith.

19:03Only two times.

19:03Chapter 10,

19:04when Cornelius and his household,

19:06the Gentiles came to faith.

19:08Tongues were present that time.

19:09And let's see Acts 19

19:11where there were some followers

19:13of John the Baptist

19:14who had been baptized

19:15by John the Baptist

19:16but didn't know Christ

19:16and didn't know anything

19:17about the Holy Spirit.

19:18They believe on Christ.

19:20They speak in tongues.

19:20Only two other times

19:21in all the book of Acts

19:22are tongues mentioned

19:23accompanying salvation.

19:26The believers were speaking

19:27in a language

19:28that was unknown to them.

19:30And the people were hearing it

19:31in their own language.

19:33These weren't ecstatic utterances.

19:35These were known languages.

19:3715 different people groups,

19:3915 different geographical locations

19:41are mentioned

19:41but they're all languages

19:42that people understood.

19:44Yeah, that's my language.

19:45How's that Galilean,

19:47that backward hit Galilean,

19:48how can he possibly be speaking,

19:50how can he be speaking my language?

19:54Known languages.

19:56And also,

19:57what's interesting is

19:58Isaiah talked about

20:00a judgment on Ephraim,

20:02Israel,

20:03and Jerusalem, Judah.

20:04A judgment on his people.

20:06And it was when

20:07the Nebuchadnezzar

20:08and the Chaldeans

20:08were to come down

20:09and to bring Israel

20:11into exile.

20:13And when they came down,

20:14they would be speaking

20:15a foreign language.

20:17And that was to tell

20:18the people of Israel

20:19that judgment

20:20has fallen upon the nation.

20:22That's found

20:23in Isaiah chapter 28.

20:26So this was a sign

20:27of judgment for Israel.

20:29For the people

20:30of strange lips

20:31and with a foreign tongue,

20:33the Lord will speak

20:34to this people.

20:35And the day

20:35that these people

20:36heard that,

20:37Ephraim and Jerusalem,

20:38they would know

20:39that God is judging

20:40his people.

20:41They would know it.

20:42What's interesting

20:43is Paul uses

20:44that same quotation

20:45in 1 Corinthians chapter 14

20:47to talk about this.

20:49In 1 Corinthians 14,

20:51he says this,

20:52Brothers,

20:52do not be children

20:53in your thinking.

20:54Be infants in evil,

20:55but in your thinking

20:56be mature.

20:57In the law,

20:58it is written,

20:59by people of strange tongues

21:01and by lips of foreigners

21:02will I speak

21:02to this people

21:03and even then

21:04they will not listen

21:05to me,

21:05says the Lord.

21:06That's the quotation

21:07out of Isaiah,

21:08reminding Israel

21:09that judgment

21:09has come.

21:13Thus tongues

21:14are a sign

21:14not for believers,

21:16but for unbelievers,

21:17while prophecy

21:18is a sign

21:19not for unbelievers,

21:20but for believers.

21:21So these tongues

21:22were to remind Israel

21:23that judgment

21:24has come upon the nation.

21:25It's a sign

21:26of judgment

21:26on Israel

21:27by these tongues.

21:30The crowd realized

21:31that there's no way

21:31these Galileans

21:32could speak

21:33that kind of stuff.

21:33There's no way.

21:35It had to be

21:35something that's

21:37supernatural

21:37because these

21:38backward people

21:39from Galilee

21:40can't do anything

21:41like that.

21:42How could they

21:42possibly speak

21:43these languages?

21:44Fifteen different

21:45geographical locations

21:46are listed.

21:48Again,

21:49it just reminds us

21:49that the emphasis

21:50of the book of Acts

21:51is worldwide mission.

21:54It's the same

21:54with us.

21:55We don't keep

21:55the gospel

21:56to Medical Aid

21:56Community Church.

21:57It's a worldwide mission.

21:58We share it

21:59with others.

21:59It's not just for us.

22:00It's for all people.

22:04Their testimony

22:05about the wonderful

22:06works of God.

22:07The truth of God

22:08expressed by preaching

22:09does not always

22:10lead to conversion

22:11though.

22:12No.

22:12Often it leads

22:13to skepticism

22:14and rejection.

22:15Ah,

22:16they're just drunk

22:17with new wine.

22:18And I thought,

22:19first of all,

22:20I'm thinking new wine

22:20is grape juice

22:22that has just began

22:23the fermentation process.

22:24So we're not even

22:25talking about fermented wine.

22:26It's new wine.

22:27Half a percent

22:29of alcohol,

22:30one percent of alcohol.

22:31I'm thinking to myself,

22:32how many gallons

22:33of this stuff

22:33do you need to drink

22:34to get drunk?

22:35I mean,

22:35seriously.

22:36You could have at least

22:37said,

22:37oh,

22:37they're drunk

22:37with aged wine.

22:38But no,

22:39they're drunk

22:39with new wine.

22:40Again,

22:40just making it

22:41so much more ridiculous

22:42to those people.

22:43That's what they're thinking.

22:44Yeah,

22:45the disciples

22:45were under the influence,

22:47but it was not of wine.

22:48It was of the Holy Spirit

22:50they were under

22:50the influence of.

22:52So these people

22:53are amazed

22:54and perplexed.

22:55And that just reminds us

22:56the gospel often

22:57causes,

22:58creates divisions.

23:00Even Jesus said,

23:01I've come to cause divisions,

23:02even one's own household.

23:04The gospel creates

23:05divisions at time.

23:07Now,

23:08this section here

23:09is interesting

23:09because there's been

23:11seen as a comparison

23:12with the giving

23:13of the law

23:13on Mount Sinai.

23:15Later on,

23:16it's not,

23:16I'm not sure

23:17whether in Jesus' day

23:18they celebrated this,

23:20but later on

23:20in Judaism,

23:21about the second century,

23:23the second century,

23:24they celebrated

23:25the giving of the law

23:26at Sinai

23:27as part of their

23:28Pentecostal liturgy.

23:29So it became part

23:30of the service

23:31of Pentecost

23:32was they would remember

23:32the giving of the law

23:33on Mount Sinai.

23:35So there's this comparison

23:36going on.

23:36I think it's a good comparison.

23:38Actually,

23:38Dennis hit it on this morning.

23:40It was great,

23:40Dennis,

23:40thank you.

23:42At the giving of the law,

23:443,000 people died

23:46at the giving of the law.

23:48Moses goes up

23:49on the mountain,

23:49gets the 10 words

23:50to bring back down

23:51and what are they doing

23:52at the foot of the mountain?

23:53They've made this golden calf.

23:54They've taken all their earrings

23:55and nose rings

23:56and throw it in the fire

23:57and poof,

23:58out comes this golden calf.

24:00I don't know how it got there,

24:01Aaron says.

24:02So they're dancing

24:03in front of this thing

24:04and on that day,

24:06we read in Exodus chapter 32,

24:08and the sons of Levi

24:10did according to the word

24:11of Moses

24:11and that day

24:12about 3,000 men

24:14of the people fell.

24:173,000 people died

24:18at the giving of the law.

24:20Now you're not going

24:21to see it today,

24:21but next week

24:22you're going to see it.

24:23At Pentecost,

24:243,000 people are saved.

24:28Acts 2, 41.

24:30So those who received

24:31his word were baptized

24:32and there were added

24:33that day about 3,000 souls.

24:35The giving of the law,

24:36the law brings condemnation

24:38because none of us

24:39could keep it,

24:40but the coming

24:40of the Holy Spirit

24:41reminds us of God's grace

24:42and God's mercy.

24:453,000 people were saved.

24:47So this sign,

24:49both the wind

24:50and the speaking

24:51and the speaking

24:51in different languages,

24:52the sign prepared the crowd

24:53for Peter's gospel presentation

24:55which comes next week.

24:56He's speaking in an Aramaic.

24:58They don't need any tongues

24:59at this point.

25:00He's speaking in a language

25:01that they all recognize,

25:03Aramaic,

25:03as he's preaching this message.

25:05No tongues were needed.

25:07So now the church

25:08has been empowered

25:09for her mission.

25:10She now has the ability

25:11to go out

25:12and be witnesses.

25:13Remember what Jesus said?

25:14Wait.

25:16Power will come upon you

25:17to be my witnesses.

25:18And now we can.

25:19The church is empowered

25:20to be God's witnesses

25:21in this world.

25:23Believer,

25:24you and I

25:25are presently engaged

25:26in a worldwide mission.

25:28It's bigger than

25:29Medical Lake Community Church.

25:30It's bigger than Medical Lake.

25:31It's bigger than

25:31the state of Washington.

25:32It's a worldwide mission

25:34that we're on.

25:35Whether it's at work

25:37or at home

25:38or in the public square,

25:40Jesus said we would be

25:41his witnesses

25:41when the Spirit came.

25:44I don't know

25:45if you've thought about it.

25:46You probably may have.

25:47But then Satan

25:49comes along and says,

25:50no.

25:51Do you realize

25:53that you play a role

25:55in advancing

25:56the kingdom of God

25:57in this world?

25:58Every single one

25:59of the believers do.

26:00Not just the leadership,

26:02not just the pastors,

26:03not just the deacons

26:04or the elders of a church.

26:06Everyone plays a role

26:07in advancing

26:08God's kingdom

26:09in this world.

26:10That's why the Spirit

26:11came on all of them.

26:12Do you know

26:14what your role is?

26:17Do you know

26:18what your role is

26:19in advancing

26:19the kingdom of God

26:20in this world?

26:21We all play different roles

26:22but we all work together.

26:23If you think about

26:24the role of the path of life,

26:26she listed those

26:27four things up there.

26:28Their role in advancing

26:29the kingdom of God

26:30in this world

26:30is number one,

26:31life instead of death.

26:35Life instead of death.

26:37Life, healing from trauma.

26:42Peace instead of confusion.

26:44And harmony in relationships

26:46that are so very important.

26:48That's their role

26:49as they're advancing

26:50the kingdom of God

26:51in this world.

26:51They play their part.

26:53We play our part.

26:55You would say,

26:56oh, but Medical A Community Church,

26:57it's such a small church.

26:59I mean, really,

26:59it's just such a small group

27:02of people.

27:03Well, it may be true

27:03but have you ever been

27:04in a tent with one mosquito?

27:07What possible impact

27:12could we have?

27:12Well, yeah,

27:13your sleepless night

27:15understands what it means

27:16to have one mosquito

27:16in your tent.

27:18Something happened

27:19in Acts 17

27:20which is interesting.

27:21Acts 17.

27:22And when they could not

27:22find them,

27:23they dragged Jason

27:24and some of the brothers

27:25before the city authority

27:26shouting,

27:27these men

27:28who have turned

27:29the world upside down

27:30have come here also.

27:32Just a small group

27:33of people

27:34can turn the world

27:35upside down

27:35because the message

27:37is a message of life.

27:40It's not the size

27:41of the group

27:42but the power

27:43at work

27:43in that group

27:44that's important.

27:46The Holy Spirit

27:47has been given

27:47for us to carry out

27:48the worldwide mission

27:49of God.

27:50We want to be faithful

27:51to carry out

27:51his mission

27:52and watch him

27:53gloriously save people.

27:55God is building

27:56his kingdom

27:57and he's using

27:58us to do it.

28:01All of us

28:02to do it.

28:04What's your role

28:05and are you all in?

28:09Let's pray.

28:10Father, we thank you

28:10that you have given us

28:12your spirit.

28:12You fulfilled your promise

28:14you made centuries ago

28:15through Joel

28:15that you would pour out

28:17your spirit

28:17on all your people.

28:20All who believe

28:21on the Lord Jesus Christ

28:22receive the spirit of God.

28:23Thank you for that,

28:24Father.

28:26You have not left us

28:26orphans

28:27but you have sent

28:28your spirit

28:28into us

28:29to help us,

28:30to guide us,

28:31to instruct us,

28:32to lead us.

28:34And so we thank you

28:35for the indwelling

28:35Holy Spirit

28:36and we thank you

28:37for empowering us

28:38for the mission,

28:38the worldwide mission

28:39and the role

28:40that you've given

28:41to each one of us.

28:42And I pray, Father,

28:43if someone here today

28:44does not know

28:45what role

28:45that they're playing

28:46to advance the kingdom

28:47that you would show them,

28:49that you would show them

28:49what their role is

28:50so that we can all

28:51be about your business,

28:52all of us together,

28:54advancing your kingdom

28:55both in Medical Lake,

28:58Spokane County,

28:59state of Washington,

29:00United States

29:02and around the world.

29:03Thank you

29:04for using us

29:05for your kingdom.

29:07We pray in Jesus' name.

29:08Amen.

Used by God — Acts 2:1–13

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