Then follows a marvelous after photo, which displays a beautiful person, so different from the before photo. In the Great Commission of Matthew 28, Jesus claimed all authority, and He based His command to proclaim the gospel to all nations on this authority: 18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Acts 1 is the before section of this great book. But that was a life lesson that I had to learn. And yet some doubted. John has another set of accounts, and then he kind of ends and he leaves it wide open. As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. And more specifically for this group that they would be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth being fulfilled. What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? And I was going to go out to California, my first trip to California, visit my brother for about three weeks. Church services on this day are marked by red robes and banners signifying the fiery winds of the Holy Spirit. 24 Then they prayed, Lord, you know the hearts of all. Not many days, we would look at it roughly 10 days from that 40-day period. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. The bonds of trust among the disciples were beginning to be frayed. They saw it in different ways and understood it completely different from anything from our frame of reference and they were ascribing, would have been ascribing then even to Jesus something that was not of God, which in itself can be a problem. So the Word of God is what Jesus took and explained, it is what the Church went to, to explain what was happening, and then, it is the Spirit of God. About 10 days earlier, Christ had finally ascended for the final time and they were left alone. The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that is the way Christians understand God. Then I finally figured out, "Oh, I got to do this myself. This was something that was spiritual in nature, that bound them together and they prayed, they studied the Scripture, and they praised God, it says, and because of that, their example caused them to have favor with people and others were drawn to their example at that time. We give ourselves to that devotion, to that devoted study and the process of taking on the nature of God. 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. Sunday Before Pentecost. Again, nothing like this had been a part of their frame of reference before. 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. And then going on here, in verse 44, "He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me.' And He leaves them on the Mount of Olives, which is a very, very significant geographic feature there on the east of Jerusalem across from the city, and through the Kidron Valley and up on this Mount called Olives. Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Christian church. And so Christ gives them teaching and He gives them understanding. People should see that in us. Why did the apostles speak of the coming of the kingdom of God as its being restored? But the Holy Spirit enabled Paul to see what this false prophet was doing and prompted him to pronounce a curse on Bar-Jesus. Everybody who gets up and gives a sermon in a congregation, that sermon before it's ever posted on a website, has been reviewed or at least approved by individuals within the congregation. 13 When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. This is the dimension that was given on Pentecost, and what this day is all about for those of us who are the firstfruits. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. It comes from the ancient Christian expression pentekoste hemera, which means . I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. That is what caused them to banish their fear, trouble, doubt, and unbelief: Christ in them through the Holy Spirit. If you go back to Matthew chapter 28, chapter 28 and verse 16, let's just read a few of the accounts of that period following the resurrection, that the Gospel accounts tell us and there's more there. Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James were there. Pentecost will instead be fulfilled at the Rapture of the Body of Christ The Mystery Age - One New Man, the Church, the Bride of Christ During the period until Israel does accept Jesus as Messiah to bring about His return, the time of preparation of a bride for Christ has been extended and the mission to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues. Luke begins by informing his readers that the Book of Acts is the second volume of his account of the life and ministry of Jesus. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. The mystery of this paragraph is to explain why Luke went to so much effort (and space) to describe an event which appears to have little impact on the events that follow Pentecost. These events happened in the book of Acts within the Bible and proved a major turning point in the New Testament. In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. Let us give thought to the way Luke prepares us for what is yet to come. They thought that the body had been ferretted away by the disciples, someone had stolen it. A period of unity, one accord, fellowship, love for one another, treating people as equals, not in a completely socialistic manner that we understand from our modern context of socialism, or the welfare type of society. The Day of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter in Western branches of Christianity. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. All of these qualities are to the divine nature, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. Articles that are published in our magazine or scripting for our television programs goes through a very, very thorough review process. And when those come in, how do we process them? Like others, I have called attention to the fact that after this account, the name of Matthias is never found again in the New Testament.8I also called attention to the fact that Jesus told His apostles to wait until the coming of the Spirit.9. "And all who believed were together and they had all things in common. They also point out that Lukes account depicts this selection in a favorable light, and that nothing negative is said about the action taken here. Then what looks like tongues of fire rests on the followers of Jesus, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Ministers in church often wear robes with red in the design as a symbol of the flames in which the Holy Spirit came to earth. . The church acknowledged the leading of the Spirit and laid their hands on these men, and then sent them off. Unmistakable. 5 Now this secret was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:4-6, emphasis mine). We sometimes just kind of tail off when we get to the end of one of the Gospels and we know the events, Christ was crucified, Christ was risen, and we don't look at some of the details there. With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later! And so they didn't really think about that, and yet all of a sudden it came upon them. They didn't know. That's what He did. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.". "And He said to them, 'Thus it is written, thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and the remissions of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things. We know that unified prayer preceded this process (1:14); indeed prayer was a part of the process (see 1:24-25). The apostles then found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit. What is of particular interest is that this revelation came about through the Spirit.. I think there are two things that are clear, and that should dominate our thinking. Pentecost comes from a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot. Acts 2. We just get a few snippets from the gospel accounts, at least, of this 40-day period. It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. Maybe they had their hands in their pockets kind of like this, thinking, "Wow, that was neat. In verse 38, after everyone has calmed down, they realize theyve been involved and they were responsible for the death of Jesus. They had been told to be there, to wait in Jerusalem until that day. It's an informed sermon. The Feast of the Ascension ranks with Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost in the universality of its observance among Christians. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. 9 After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. He made it clear that the Holy Spirit played a key role in their appointment. They will receive power through the Holy Spirit to be witnesses. The Word of God. Related Topics: Bibliology (The Written Word), Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. When you look and you understand what was taking place, here are people who've been terrified, they had been doubtful, unbelieving to one degree or the other during this previous 50-day period. What were they standing there for, looking into the sky? And I didn't know how to make a connection. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. They were looking for power from on high. A fellowship, a community, prayer, sharing food together, much like we do today. I don't think it was an intergalactic tour that He was on to get to the third heaven. It is the Spirit of God working through weak and even foolish (in the eyes of the world) men that reveals the power of God, and brings glory to Him, not us: 26 Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. in 1971. It is. So that when they came to that morning of Pentecost and this mighty event takes place, they were ready then to move into the experience provided, and that extra dimension of power that the Spirit of God would give them and did give to them, and Peter takes the lead to give the sermon of his life. During those 40 days, He provided them with many convincing proofs that He had indeed risen from the dead. Every generation of God's people have done that. The second power that they'd run up against was that of the Jewish authorities. Well, that's a sign that I should go here, take this job, do this or do that. But miracles, well, that just takes a little bit more work, but they were here in the midst of a very large miracle. What Happened at Pentecost? What do we do now? The apostles stayed in Jerusalem, as instructed, and they devoted themselves to prayer, along with those who were closely associated with Jesus in His earthly ministry. "Behold, He said, My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. We learn that it was Peter who provided the leadership (1:15). A further matter of interest is that during this 40-day period, our Lord spoke with the apostles concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (1:3). BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The apostles sought greater knowledge. Let's go into Luke's account. . 9. We can deal with them. Others have sought to justify this action on the part of the apostles. It is available on the Internet at:www.netbible.org. From this, we can infer that Jesus unbelieving brothers (John 7:5) had come to believe in Jesus, no doubt largely due to His resurrection. Now it has become popular to carry this theme over to homes, where pitiful or plain houses are transformed into palatial homes. From Psalm 69, they recognized that Judas betrayal was part of the divine plan. 3You will note that I do not use the termdisciplesto refer to the eleven here, or the twelve elsewhere in Acts. Read more. 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. In Eastern branches of Christianity, the Day of Pentecost is one of the Great Feasts. Our Lords last words sum up the focus of the first 11 verses of Acts: They are to be His witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem and ending in the remotest part(s) of the earth. They'd likely not seen it. A violent wind sounds. You ever been in that type of situation where you don't know what to do next? Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." So it was a bodily appearance that He made completely to them, and He showed them His hands and His feet. Furthermore, He no longer comes and goes but rather remains permanently. We see this confirmed in Acts 5: And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him (Acts 5:32). Pentecost starts in a locked room with believers waiting. It seems to me that these loyal followers of Jesus are at their finest in verses 12-14. Pentecost, also called Whitsunday, (Pentecost from Greek pentecost, "50th day"), major festival in the Christian church, celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day of Easter. Hymns sung at Pentecost take the Holy Spirit as their theme, and include: The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include flames, wind, the breath of God and a dove. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do. I believe that among the many things we see in these early verses, we find that the Holy Spirits ministry in Acts a dominant theme in this book is linked to His ministry through the person of our Lord. Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. '", And so Luke's account gives us a very specific instruction, how He told them, You wait in Jerusalem and then you will receive the power from on high. And that is what they were doing as they waited for that period of time to come about. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. They understood their problem, in verse 38, "He said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?'" United Church of Godis a501(c)3organization. They had a very life is now, living in the present mindset that this was all going to happen in their lifetime, which is something that pertains to every group of people from that time forward, that looking for the appearance of the Kingdom, the return of Christ. A sermon for Pentecost - Durham Cathedral. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
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