On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly,
there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it
filled the house where they were sitting. Then,
what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of
them. And
everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other
languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from
every nation living in Jerusalem.
When they heard the loud noise,
everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages
being spoken by the believers. They were
completely amazed. “How can this be?”
they exclaimed. “These people are all
from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native
languages! Here
we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia,
Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya
around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and
Arabs. And we all hear these people
speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” They
stood there amazed and perplexed. “What
can this mean?” they asked each other.
But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just
drunk, that’s all!” Then Peter stepped
forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen
carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early
for that. No,
what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will
prophesy.
And I will cause wonders in
the heavens above and signs on the earth
below—blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The
sun will become dark, and the moon will turn
blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’ “People of Israel, listen!
God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful
miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But
God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus
was betrayed. With the help of lawless
Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But
God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for
death could not keep him in its grip. King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lord is
always with me. I will not be shaken,
for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David
wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still
here among us. But
he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s
own descendants would sit on his throne. David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s
resurrection. He was saying that God
would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at
God’s right hand. And the Father, as he
had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and
hear today. For
David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The Lord said
to my Lord, “Sit in the place of
honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies, making
them a footstool under your feet.”’ “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to
the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you
must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. This
promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been
called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter
continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save
yourselves from this crooked generation!” Those
who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that
day—about 3,000 in all. All the
believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and
to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed
many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared
everything they had. They
sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for
the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the
while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their
fellowship those who were being saved. Acts
2:1-47
In his book on English social history, G.M. Trevelyan
suggested that the last two decades of the 18th century were the darkest days
of American Christianity. The largest
denominations were declining. College
students held mock "services" of the Lord's Supper. The things of God were a mess in the hands
of selfish men.
But God was faithful, and among a few college students
at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, a revival broke out and swept to other
colleges (Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, and others). Think of that - the darkest days -
light!
Trevelyan may have known his time; the question is, do we
know ours?
I suggest to you that we live in the darkest age of
American history. And it tells me that,
as in America two centuries ago, we are perched on the most exciting, most
sweeping opportunity for revival that the world has ever seen.
Being in the church today is much like the disciples
of Jesus. They had been hiding-out in
the dark because their Master was dead.
We have also seen the rise of spiritual darkness and evil in our land.
This is the connection of our text in the Book of Acts
with the Chronicles of America in our day. It is the same situation – a dark world
getting darker all the time..
Let's look at the events of the supernatural
intervention of God into the affairs of man - and then the light of revival:
We find that the followers of Jesus were not only in
church, but they were in unity.
"One accord" literally means singularity of breath. The one unifying factor wasn't a doctrinal
purity, common social strata or same skin color. Their uniting reality was obedience to
Christ. These people had lives dedicated
to serving Christ, following Christ, being the body of Christ!
This is perhaps the most important factor in any
revival that has ever been recorded.
R.A. Torrey, the great evangelist of another era, and author of such
classics as “The Power of Prayer” listed this as a requirement for a
supernatural beginning to revival: "I
can give a prescription that will bring revival...revival to any church, or
community, or any city on earth.
First: let a few Christians get
thoroughly right with God. If this is
not done, the rest will come to nothing."
How much evidence do we need beyond the Bible? When the people of God “got right” God came
in a mighty, thundering wind, and a cleansing fire.
It can happen here.
A few people who are tired of "business as usual" in church
life can be the catalyst. As the
disciples waited and prayed, we can also be obediently bending our lives to
God’s will. The consuming fire of God's
Holy Spirit showed-up in the upper room – this ordinary place is no different
than that ordinary place.
That can happen if we get our hearts, our families, our
tithes, our debts, and our worship all right with God. We would see the supernatural beginning of
God's move in this place.
Peter’s sermon to the crowd that day was a “spiritual
bulletin”. A spiritual bulletin is the
re-telling of God’s story so that everyone can understand.
Revivals have always had the proclamation of God's
Word as a central core. And the message
hasn't changed; it must simply be proclaimed to each generation. Peter's sermon on Pentecost did that. He told the crowds that…
·
Jesus was the
fulfillment of all prophecy,
·
that He was the
eternal God, Jehovah, entering time and space.
·
He warned them
that with a God who would come and live with us, and die for us, and raise
again from the dead as proof of His mastery over life and death --- that life
was never going to be the same again!
·
He told them that
this same Jesus was the dividing line between truth and perverseness, between
light and darkness, between heaven and hell.
·
He said that
Jesus was the dividing line for each of us, and that we MUST choose for Him, or
against Him.
·
He said we do
choose, even if we try to do nothing; he warned them against trying to sit on
the fence when it comes to Jesus
·
Peter warned them
that there was no neutral choice - no Switzerland - no sideline in this
game.
Peter stood and spoke to the crowds, but there were 11
more apostles and 120 other followers backing him up, and speaking to others in
the crowd. It is like that for us. We have one pastor in this church - but all
are ministers, carrying the Word of God to this community.
Revivals have supernatural beginnings, as the God of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph moves on His people. Revivals have spiritual bulletins as
His people carry the Word in the way.
And then there is always .....
Supernatural blessing comes about only in genuine revival.
How can you see the results?
A.
PEOPLE ARE SAVED (2.41)
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the
church that day—about 3,000 in all.
You
notice first that none of those brought into the church that day came by transfer
of church letter. These folks got
saved! I won't say we shouldn't receive
people by letter. In fact, if you have
been inactive as a Christian, been disobedient as a Christian, and need to get
active - move your letter here today!
B.
GOD-PRIORITY (2.42)
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching,
and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and
to prayer.
When Bible study, fellowship with believers, and
prayer become important, enough so that we have problems with building
programs, instead of time to fight with each other, it is a supernatural
blessing!
The church of my youth had revival in 1870. The minute’s record, "...the annual report: Members 42, Average weekly attendance – 75,
Sunday School – 60." If
those numbers were translated to our church's current statistics, we'd have 535
in worship this morning, having followed a Sunday School with 428 present!
C. REVERENCE (2.43)
A deep sense of awe came
over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
Somehow the fear of a holy and righteous God has been
lost in the land today. Correspondingly,
we see less and less of miracles. The
result of revival is a blessing of the miraculous power of God, daily evident
in healing, and abundance.
D.
SHARING (2.44,45)
And all the believers met
together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with
those in need.
Oh my! (Oh
me!) Imagine that…sharing what we have
in a day when it is common to put self-first.
That first century group threw caution to the wind and began putting
their resources to work meeting needs.
When a church feeds the hungry, clothes the poor and
ministers to the forgotten ones, it is in the position to be taken seriously
when it says “God loves you”. If we
don’t do that we are as empty-sounding as an echo in the Grand Canyon.
E. UNITY (2.46)
They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for
the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity
"Great joy and generosity" - How warm and
inviting are those words. Are you
glad? Are you willing to believe in the
sincerity of other church members?
Anyone who has ever looked into the wide-eyed innocence of a toddler
knows what the church at Pentecost experienced.
They believed in each other. They
breathed the same breath.
F. SOUL-WINNING (2.47)
—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the
people. And each day the Lord added to
their fellowship those who were being saved.
The church of the living God is a living thing. And like all living organisms, it is either
growing or dying.
·
Plants are
constantly being renewed.
·
People must have
nourishment, replace dead cells.
·
Everything alive
grows, or it must die.
Evangelism is our replenishment. To remain alive, it is not enough to educate,
fellowship, and worship - important as those things are to vital spiritual
life. If we will not reproduce, or even
try to do so, we become like cut-flowers in a bridal bouquet. For a while we will look great, but, soon
pressed beneath the vinyl pages of a scrapbook:
·
there is no
fragrance,
·
no soft petals
for the honeybee to land on,
·
no life - no
possibilities - no purpose!
In a church without evangelism, the word for that is ICHABOD, (the Spirit of the Lord has
departed)!
Brothers, what shall we do?
On the day the church was born, Peter preached,
telling the people they had messed up bad!
Now, that describes every human being since the Garden of Eden. It includes us.
The people Peter spoke to knew it – just like we know
it!
The people in Peter’s crowd asked, “What can we
do?” We do well to ask the same thing.
If you have asked that question, or one similar – a
question about “getting right with God”, you can settle that question this
morning.
Here’s how: In
a simple prayer; in your own words, simply confess your sins to God.
If you’ve never been saved, never been
eternally-forgiven for your sins, confess to God that you can’t save yourself;
place your faith in Jesus, and what He did for you on the cross, dying for you
– that your sins might be forgiven. Make
the best decision of your life.
If you are already a Christian, but desire to serve
your Master more fully, decide now that you will be part of the group that gets
your heart absolutely right and devoted to God.
A man once asked Gypsy Smith, a famous evangelist, how
to have a revival.
Smith asked him, "Do you have a place to pray?" The man answered that he did.
"Tell you what you do," said Smith. "You
go to that place, and take a piece of chalk along. Kneel down there, and with the chalk, draw a
complete circle all around you. Then
pray for God to send a revival to everything inside of the circle. Stay there
until He answers... and you will have revival."
Not a bad idea!
In
the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen!
