Book of Acts Series 08-03-02

FIRST PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, JERUSALEM

Acts 2 (v.42) page 771

Valley Assembly is a Pentecostal church. That basically means that we believe that the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Cor. 12 are still for today: a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, the discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues. And we believe that people can still be baptized with the Holy Spirit as the early Christians were here in Acts 2.

This chapter can be divided into 4 parts: The Experience of Pentecost, Peters Sermon, The Peoples Reaction, The Marks of a Pentecostal Church. We will read each of these sections as we go along, and then look at some of the important points in that section.

V.1-13 The Experience of Pentecost. (read).

For the first Christians, Pentecost was an experience to be enjoyed, not a doctrine to be debated. In our day there is preaching and writing and discussion about whether or not this experience is still for today. Many of you have heard these discussions, maybe even taken part in them. But for these first Christians, they were simply waiting in obedience to what Jesus said in 1:4-5 (read).

They waited, they worshipped, they prayed, and God filled them with His Holy Spirit. Five additional times in the Book of Acts we find people being filled with the Holy Spirit. Down through the history of the Church and even today we find people being filled with the Holy Spirit. And I personally believe we need to get away from the theological debate and simply begin again asking God to fill us with His Holy Spirit? to have the Pentecostal experience, not the Pentecostal debate.

The Feast of Pentecost took place 50 days after Passover, and was the second of the three great feasts celebrated by the Jews: Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles.? Pentecost is sometimes called The Feast of Weeks, or The Feast of Harvest, or The Day of First-fruits. It was a time when Jews from all over the nation and even from surrounding countries gathered in Jerusalem to bring to God an offering of the first-fruits of their harvest. The origin of the feast is not known, but we know that at least since the time of Moses, Jews have been observing Pentecost.

On that first Christian Pentecost, all 120 that were gathered together waiting for the gift Jesus had promised them, all of them were filled with the Spirit, and all of them spoke in tongues. This was not a one-time event. In Acts 10 and in Acts 19, when believers were filled with the Spirit they also spoke in tongues. And there is some indication that in Acts 8 & also in Acts 9 when people were filled they spoke in tongues.

As a matter of fact, in Acts 10, when the people at Cornelius house were filled with the Spirit, it says that the reason Peter and the other leaders were sure they had been filled was that they heard them speaking in tongues. It was conclusive evidence to them that these people had received the same Spirit that they had.

Whats interesting to me is that no where are people taught to speak in tongues. They arent even taught to expect to speak in tongues. They were just open to being filled with the Holy Spirit and when they were, they spoke in tongues. They didnt make a big deal over it; it just happened.

In addition to being evidence, there are two other uses of speaking in tongues in the Bible. In 1 Corin 14, the Apostle Paul says: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. 1 Cor 14:18-19

So where did Paul speak in tongues more than them all if was not in the church? In v.14 of that chapter he says If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays. Paul spoke in tongues as part of his private prayer life. Some people call it their prayer language, praying in tongues. Its a way we can pray without our intellect getting in the way. Our spirit is praying, and v.4 says that when we do that, we are personally being built up, strengthened spiritually.

But in this chapter 14^th chapter of 1 Corin. Paul also gives instruction of how speaking in tongues is to be used in the church. When someone speaks out in tongues, someone else is to interpret what has been said so that the rest of the church can be built up.

So in addition to tongues as evidence there is the public use of tongues as well as the private use of tongues in our own prayer life.

On the Day of Pentecost, when all the 120 were speaking in tongues, people from many nations each heard them in his own native language.

Some feel that the miracle was in the hearing? that as they spoke in tongues, each person heard it differently. One said: Listen to them, they are speaking Egyptian. And the person next to him said: No they arent; theyre speaking Parthian. And a third person said: Youre both wrong; theyre speaking Arabic. And amazed and perplexed they asked one another, what does this mean? Which brings us to

V.14-36 Peters Sermon. (read).

Let me explain this to you Peter begins. In Pentecostal churches sometimes there are things that happen that need explaining. There may be times in this church when some of you wonder: What was that all about? And usually we will try to explain it.

But you need to know that sometimes as leaders we are wondering the same thing as you are: What was that all about?

Peter is speaking to a Jewish crowd. All of them who had come to the city for the Feast of Pentecost were either born Jews or converts to Judaism. The Jewish historian Josephus said that the population of Jerusalem, which was normally about 50,000, would often swell to over 1 million people during the Feast of Pentecost.

There was a huge multi-national crowd there when Peter began to speak. He is now in the Temple Courts and it says he lifted his voice he shouted out his message.

He connects what is going on with the prophecy of the Jewish Prophet Joel. God had used Joel to predict that such a thing as this would happen. And he quotes from their ancient King, David. Peter knows his audience, and the Holy Spirit guides him to tailor what he says to that particular audience: Jews who knew the writings of the prophets.

But mostly Peter talks about Jesus: particularly Jesus death and resurrection from the dead. He concludes in v.36 (read). Which leads to

V.37-41 The Peoples Response. (read).

The people were cut to the heart; pierced to the heart, pricked in their heart, Peters word convicted them deeply some other translations say. Every time I preach I pray Lord, use my words to bring conviction to peoples hearts. I cannot bring you to the place where you say: What do I need to do about this? Thats the job of the Holy Spirit.

Peters reply to their question is simple and direct: Repent and be baptized. He did not tell them they needed to attend church for the next 13 weeks to learn more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, no catechism classes, no one-on-one counseling to make sure they understood what they were doing. It was just, repent and be baptized.

Lets look briefly at each of those two things.

To repent means to stop going the way you have been going and turn around and start going a new direction. It means a change of life, a change of lifestyle. You cannot repent and continue to live the same way you lived before you repented. If you do, you have not repented.

Baptism is an outward demonstration of what has happened in your heart. You have repented, and your baptism is a public declaration of that. Thats why infant baptism is not believers baptism. It does not fulfill the command here. As an infant, you did not repent. That baptism was an act of faith on your parents part. But after you repent, you need to again be baptized if you are going to fulfill this Biblical command.

Repent and be baptized, you find it repeatedly through the Book of Acts when people repented, the next thing they did was to get baptized. Baptism is important, far more important than some of you have made it. You have repented, and you thought that?s all there is to it. Read it again in v.38. Your public confession of faith in Jesus through baptism is as much a command of God to you as is repentance.

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit it says in the last part of that verse. And God adds v.39 as His promise to us in the 21^st century: (read)

The promise of the Holy Spirit is for today as well as for the first century Church. We, too, can receive the same gift Jesus promised in Acts 1, the same gift the first Christians received in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost.

I have sometimes tried to put myself in the place of the leaders of this early church. Look at v.41 (read).

Where do you go to baptize 3000 people? We read the Gospels of the Pool of Bethesda and the Pool of Siloam. If only the 12 Apostles did the baptizing, they each had to baptize 250 people, & remember they didnt just sprinkle them. It was baptism by immersion all the way under.

Did they get all their names and addresses? Did they do personal follow-up? Did they talk with each one of those 3000 before they baptized them to make sure they understood what they were doing?

And think about what it would be like for your church to go from 120 to 3120 in one day. I dont know everyone any more. They are sitting where I used to sit. I think I prefer a smaller church where the pastor knows my name. It doesnt seem like there was any of that.

V.42-47 The Marks of a Pentecostal Church. (read as go along)

I think its unfortunate that the word Pentecostal has been defined in many peoples minds as speaking in tongues. In the verses we are about to read describing the first Pentecostal church ever, speaking in tongues is not even included. Did they speak in tongues in the early church? Yes, they did. Was it their central focus? No, it was not.

As Luke wrote these verses, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. God was guiding him as he wrote. He has observed what life was like for these newly Spirit-filled believers. He does not include anything the Holy Spirit did not want to have included, and he does not leave out anything the Holy Spirit wanted him to include. There are at least 11 separate characteristics of this First Pentecostal church that I want us to briefly look at today.

1. The early church emphasized teaching and learning. V.42.

I like that word devoted themselves. The Greek word can mean:

to be earnest towards, to persevere, be constantly diligent, to adhere closely to. That was the attitude of the early Christians to the teaching they received from their leaders. Day after day they came to listen and to learn how they were to live as followers of Jesus.

And its interesting to me that this is the first thing the Holy Spirit led Luke to include here. Teaching was primary in the early church, and the people devoted themselves to what was being taught.

2. The early church was a social church. V.42.

Why was it social? Why was there the fellowship and the breaking of bread? Why before talking about praying does God talk about their social life?

Christianity is not just about listening to teaching. It?s also about relationships. Thats why we keep talking about small groups, and about adult Sunday School classes, and about getting together with others. Thats why our mission statement on the wall behind me says: Becoming healthier followers of Jesus Christ together. God did not mean for you to do this all by yourself. He means for you to live your Christian life as part of a community of believers.

And its really hard to be a community if we never meet other than on Sunday morning during a teaching time. Social life was important for the early church and its still important today.

3. The early church was a praying church. V.42.

The words at the beginning of v.42 apply to each of the 4 things that follow: They devoted themselves to? They devoted themselves to prayer. Remember what that Greek word means? to be earnest towards, to persevere, be constantly diligent, that was their attitude toward prayer.

4. The early church was a reverent church. V.43.

There was a sense of awe as they gathered together. They knew their God was an awesome God, and they treated Him with reverence and respect.

5. The early church was a power-filled church. V.43.

There were many wonders and miracles that were taking place, just as there had been when Jesus was with them. The power of the Holy Spirit enabled them to continue to do what Jesus had begun to do.

6. The early church was a sharing church. V.44-45.

Some have taken these verses as prescriptive rather than descriptive. They believe that since these early Christians lived communally, we need to do that too to sell everything we have and put it into a common pot and all of us live together and pay our bills out of that common pot.

The principle is that we live unselfishly, with a concern for each others needs. To live communally like these people did is not a command, and no place else do we see this example. But we are to be concerned about each others needs and seek to meet them as best we can.

7. The early church was a gathering church. V.46.

They did not spend their time in recreational pursuits and neglect meeting together. As time went on, evidently that became a problem because Heb 10:25 says: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

And they did not only meet in the Temple courts for teaching sessions, they also met in their homes and had meals together.

8. The early church was a joyful church. V.46.

Reverence does not mean we cannot have joy. Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit, and these early Christians had gladness in their hearts and in their life together. They not only learned together they also laughed together.

9. The early church was a praising church. V.47

God desires us to praise Him. He commands us to praise Him. Psalm 100:4 says: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name. That?s exactly what these early Christians did.

10. The early church was a respected. V.47.

This was interesting to me. In the not too distant future, persecution began against these same Christians. But in the beginning, they enjoyed the favor of all the people. Im not sure that included the religious leaders, but the common people respected them. They saw how these Christians cared for and loved each other.

11. The early church was a growing church. V.47

Every day people were being saved; every day people were repenting and being baptized. Every day there were more and more followers of Jesus.

In closing I want us to go back to verses 1-4 for a couple of minutes. When the Holy Spirit was first outpoured, there were three things that happened that I believe have symbolic significance.

First of all there was the sound of a violent wind. Wind usually signifies power, and its invisible power. Jesus said in 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses. When Jesus fills us with the Holy Spirit, its to empower us.

Second, there were the flames of fire. Fire often speaks of cleansing or purity. John the Baptist said of Jesus in Matt. 3:11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is called the Holy Spirit. And His coming brings greater holiness to us.

Sometimes when we think of fire, we think of passion. 1 Thes. 5:19 Do not put out the Spirits fire. Dont lose your passion for the things of God.

Third, they all spoke in tongues. And what was it they were saying? V.11 says that they were proclaiming the wonderful works of God. Tongues speak of proclamation.

When God fills us with His Holy Spirit, it is so that we would receive power, and purity, and passion, and that we would proclaim Him to others.

Are you in need of any of those four things today? The Holy Spirit coming upon you does that for you. We are going to spend a few more minutes in His presence before we go, asking Him to fill us again with His Holy Spirit. And we are going to come together again tonight to worship Him and to wait in His presence, to pray and to ask Him to fill us.

PRAY