Which again points forward to the last days inaugurated at Pentecost. And every breath you take ought to be a prayer of thanks that you live and move and have your being in the Spirit of God. It only takes a minute to sign up. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. The Jewish authoritiesthe Sanhedrin, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadduceesthat authority was intact in Jerusalem, running the temple, running the religious side of the culture and the social life of Judea under the Roman cap, and it too was a very, very powerful force you didn't run up against. This then begins to be the anchor and the soil into which they can anchor a life of faith that they were to have and to develop. When you read what Peter said about these prophecies from Joel and the Psalmstrust me, folks, Peter's sermon would not have passed doctrinal review by the Jewish doctrinal committee of that day. We give ourselves to that devotion, to that devoted study and the process of taking on the nature of God. It was their life. Read the Bible, discover plans, and seek God every day. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. Put your hand into my side. We're no different than them. At the end of John, you remember, John says, there were so many other things that He did in his life and no doubt probably part of that 40-day period that it would take volumes to teach it, and to record it during this period. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. Again, the answer is yes. The church today is so sleepy that some of us have even fallen behind the Old Testament saints in our appropriation of what the Spirit has to give. After Pentecost, they were different people. Has 90% of ice around Antarctica disappeared in less than a decade? These accounts of like what we have read in the gospels and others for a 40-day period. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43years. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. And then this dramatic miracle takes place, festive occasion. And I sat, and I sat, and I thought somebody will come along and tell me what to do. In verse 38, after everyone has calmed down, they realize theyve been involved and they were responsible for the death of Jesus. And we can have the power to believe that, and to grow together and develop together as a bride of Christ, and accomplish His work and His purpose and His will. There are no more decisive turning points in redemptive history that must happen before Jesus returns to establish his kingdom. But that was a life lesson that I had to learn. They were looking for power from on high. It goes on, "Jesus came and He spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Synopsis: When Jesus walked on the water to join the disciples in their boat, the Gospel mentioned that they were afraid - twice. The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. But on the morning that those disciples were gathered there, before it happened, you have to imagine that they had no idea that, that would be what would take place. Somebody will tap me on the shoulder and tell me what to do next, but you know what? It seemed to point to something more that might come in the future. Reading the Holy Scripture. Yes, Peter did preach under the anointing, but the empowerment of the Spirit also brought a unity and a focus of purpose they had not known before. People should see that in us. Question 8. And so it was very key that His final ascension would be from this mountain. This was a healthy fear of respect and awe and wonder at now what had happened. And yet some doubted. These were not terrified, doubtful people. Did they experience fear, doubt, and disbelief as we sometimes do? The OT believers were saved the same way we are: they were born of the Spirit, they trusted in God's promises, and they followed his commandments in the obedience of faith. But the text says that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with his Spirit. It doesn't lie within man's own power to risk his life and stand up for the truth of God and denounce sin. We can take on that nature and we can live. We live in the days that Isaiah (44:3) and Ezekiel (11:19; 36:26f. Maybe they had their hands in their pockets kind of like this, thinking, "Wow, that was neat. Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. We can internalize that and think that through. The same Jesus who's been taken up will come in a like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." But how could the various prophecies found in Ezekiel, Joel and Zechariah be fulfilled if this were true? But on that 50th day, from the morning after Christ's resurrection, a lot had happened. Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Psalm 139:710 says, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Surely for a Christian the only reason to study or be artistic is for God's sake. Chapter 4 takes as its starting point the gift of speaking in tongues from the narrative of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13. . In the New Testament, Elisabeth, John the Forerunner's mother, was filled with Spirit as she saw the pregnant Virgin, and she prophesied immediately (Luke 1:39-41) and so did the old widow-prophetess Anna at vision of Jesus taken to the temple (Luke 2:36-38); John the Forerunner himself was filled with Holy Spirit from his childhood (Luke 1:15), and of course the apostles, even before the Pentecost, had a degree of presence of Spirit in them (at least no less than John the Forerunner), through which presence they could act miracles; they got even to a greater degree of intensity the gift of the Spirit, when Jesus - before the Pentecost - blew in them the Spirit and added to them (through this new dimension of the presence of Spirit) an ability to forgive sins (John 20:22). And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. But let's go back, let's look at a few of these scriptures in a little bit more detail and see exactly what had been taking place among the disciples during this period of time, that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles, though often zealous and willing to make sacrifices to follow Jesus, were also slow to understand and often confused. Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. There was doubt. This means that all the saints of the OT who trusted God and followed his ways in the obedience of faith were born again by the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Hagiographical sources also portray saints as those able to withstand the fear or deceit brought . For example, when Moses gathered with the seventy elders of Israel at the tabernacle, it says in Numbers 11:25, "The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the Spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. What we read about back in Matthew 28:19 Matthew 28:19Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:American King James Versionof the gospel being taken to the world. These are the days of Pentecost, the days of the fullness of the Spirit, the days of worldwide mission. I wonder if more people came to Jerusalem for Pentecost in that year because of what had happened 50 days earlier, plus three, and they had heard about that. It wasn't there and so a lot had happened in that 50-day period that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. Yet until the spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the disciples were a homogenous bunch. It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. In other words, Peter says, we have entered the last days: the Messiah has come, he has accomplished redemption on the cross, he has risen and ascended to the right hand of God, and the interval before he returns in glory will be marked by an incomparable outpouring of the Holy Spirit on men and women, old and young, slave and free, near and far. And not for the reality that the 1st century world would have known and experienced, that other dimension. As we have received the gift of God's Spirit, as those on that first day of Pentecost received the gift of the Holy Spirit were brought into the Church, they became, and so are we, partakers of the divine nature. All the gods of doubtand I say gods with a little g, because doubt, and guilt, and fear can really separate us from Godthe gods of doubt, and fear, and unbelief have all been shredded by Jesus Christ. 2. As Jesus' disciples they may be afraid of someone that would deliver them to soldiers to punish them for taking part in 'rebellion' (as occupants may see it). Every now and then in extraordinary circumstances of need the Spirit enables ordinary Christians to perform amazing feats of rescue far beyond their ordinary capacitylike lifting a car off of a pinned husband or escaping from a raging rapist. The NIV adds the word "disciples," saying, "The disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid." But the word "disciples" is not in the Textus Receptus Greek text. Why were Jesus' disciples so disheartened and fearful after His death? So here's my answer to why the experience of the Old Testament saints is valuable for us today. Two things we can summarize to show what was the key to bring about this scene that we see here at the end of chapter 2 in Acts. And it is also the mission of the Church, we see right here, it has begun. How could the person in Luke 9:49 cast out demons without Jesus' mandate? Not completely unraveled, but the doubt and the disbelief has an impact. What was possibly on the disciples' mind the morning of Pentecost? Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. And they're seeing that, and it's the final time. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. Second, the OT believers experienced the new birth and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This event is very significant because the Bible says when we are born again, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit; in other words, the Holy Spirit comes to live on the inside of us (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me. Then he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Rename .gz files according to names in separate txt-file. The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. Jesus said, Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? But the Christian ought to see the creative, imaginative work of God's Spirit. . They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. It wasn't a common manifestation of the Spirit, but it was real then and it is today. The Roman Empire was not anything to fool around with. This time, Thomas was with them. Colossians 2:15 Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.American King James Version, tells us that He disarmed the powers with His death. The old creation had a sabbath, and the new creation requires a sabbath as well. And this small group of people who had signed on to what they thought was a remarkable, gifted rabbi, and followed Him around and soon learned that they had fallen into something quite different than anything they could have ever imagined, as they witnessed miracles of loaves and fishes, and people being brought back to life, and dramatic healings. 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what were the disciples afraid of before pentecost