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The Coming Of The Spirit
On Shavuot Accompanied By The Sound Of A Violent
Wind, Flames Of Fire And The Ability To Speak
In Unlearned Languages; The Reactions Of Those
In Jerusalem; Peter’s Explanation And His First
Great Sermon
Something
is very seriously wrong with humanity. The evidence
is overwhelming and is in us and is all around
us. Because of our rebellion against God, and
our trespasses and sins, we are far from God and
life and blessing and hope. We are not just a
little sick, but we are spiritually dead! And,
we are too sinful, too weak, too dead to overcome
the very real and utterly ruinous forces of Satan,
sin and death on our own. We have the greatest
need for a great God-sent Savior! In his first
book, Luke taught us that that great Savior has
come!
Luke continues
this greatest story of redemption with his second
book, the book of Acts. For 40 days after He rose
from the dead, the Resurrected One was still on
Earth with His disciples. Presenting many proofs,
He totally convinced them that He had overcome
death, and had a new and eternal body, and if
they remained faithful to Him, they too would
overcome death and receive a body that will live
forever! During that period between Passover and
Shavuot, the Risen Rabbi taught them many things
about the Kingdom of God - how God rules over
the universe and over the world and over Israel
and over Messiah’s chosen ones.
Messiah
knew that He would leave them very soon, and they
would carry on His great mission. Yeshua Himself
would no longer be physically present on Earth,
but they would. They were His body! They were
His mouth! They had seen His miracles. They knew
His teachings. They saw Him die, and then they
saw Him do what no other human being had ever
done - rise from the dead! They were His witnesses!
They were His representatives and emissaries.
They had the only true and saving message that
could rescue mankind from our terrible condition.
For this
great supernatural task, they would need great
supernatural help - the Holy Spirit, which they
were about to receive in a new and greater way!
Finally,
the Son of God’s ministry to His specially chosen
emissaries was accomplished! It was time for Him
to leave them and return to Heaven, to the right
hand of God, where He would continue watching
over them and protecting them and helping them
and directing them and empowering them - and many
others who would experience salvation because
of their witness.
From the
Mount of Olives, He was lifted up while they were
looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their
sight. Two messengers from Heaven appeared and
let them know that when the time is right, the
Very Same Person will return to that very same
spot in the very same way!
They returned
to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, where the
11 representatives, and other significant people
joined them, and all of them were united and were
praying continually.
It was
good that there were 11 great Messianic Jewish
Emissaries, but just as there were 12 tribes that
made up the fullness of the nation of Israel,
there needed to be 12 apostles to lead the Israel
of God, and they prayed, and cast lots, and Matthias
was added to the eleven apostles to replace the
traitor, Judas. Now the foundational leaders of
Messiah’s Holy Community were at their proper
number. They were in Jerusalem as they had been
instructed. Everything was ready for the next
major outworking of the saving plans of God, which
was connected to the next Jewish holiday - Shavuot
- the holiday of the seven weeks.
Just as
the other Spring holidays had to be fulfilled
on their day, so did the holiday of Weeks. The
harvest of the chosen ones of humanity into the
Kingdom of God had to be extended to others -
to the special Messianic Jewish firstfruits -
the very first of the harvest of humanity; the
first human beings to be gathered into the Kingdom
of God! To these Jews the Holy Spirit came first!
The precious
Spirit of God, who is so close to us, and does
so much for us - connecting us to the Father
and to the Son and to one another forever and
ever; transforming us and empowering us and enlightening
us and teaching us and guiding us; the Spirit,
who will be with us forever, needed to come to
us in a new and greater way.
When
the day of Shavuot had come, they were all together
in one place. And suddenly there came from Heaven
a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting. Think
of the winds and the sounds generated by a powerful
Midwestern windstorm. Think of the sound and the
fury made by the winds of an F4 or F5 tornado
- which are the most powerful kinds of tornados.
Think of noise made by the winds of a powerful
Category 5 hurricane.
The Holy
Spirit is everywhere. He is not material. He is
not physical. Why then was the coming of the Spirit
accompanied by a noise from Heaven like a violent,
rushing wind? Earlier in Israel’s history, the
coming of God had been accompanied with storms
and powerful winds (see Job 40, Ezekiel 1, Psalm
18, Zechariah 9). The coming of the Spirit accompanied
by a noise from Heaven like a violent, rushing
wind revealed to those who were there, and to
us, that this Spirit is from Heaven, from God,
from the Father and from the Son. This Spirit
has a heavenly origin. And, if we are ever to
be properly connected to Heaven, and be welcome
in Heaven, and have a heavenly future, we need
to receive this Heavenly Spirit.
And, His
coming was loud, like the sound made by a very
strong wind, showing the Spirit’s great power.
Just as a very strong wind can powerfully impact
plants and animals and the things that human beings
build, so the Holy Spirit can powerfully impact
us. Just as a tree that bends before a mighty
wind survives, but a tree that proudly refuses
to bow may be broken, so we must humbly yield
to this powerful Spirit. The coming of this Spirit
with a noise like a violent rushing wind teaches
us that He intends to influence us and move us
in the direction He wants to carry us, and break
those who resist Him. Have you yielded to this
Spirit, and are being carried by Him in a good
direction, or are you stubbornly resisting Him?
Not only
was the coming of the Holy Spirit from Heaven
accompanied by the sound of a violent rushing
wind, His appearing was also accompanied by another
unusual phenomenon. And there appeared to them
tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and
they rested on each one of them. Why fire?
The coming and presence of the Infinitely Holy
and Almighty God was often associated with fire,
like the burning bush and the fire on Mount Sinai.
Fire is a symbol for holiness.
This Heavenly
Spirit is holy - absolutely free from anything
impure or wrong in the slightest degree. He is
pure, righteous, and good. His purpose is to come
into us and purify us, and remove all the moral
filth, all the impurities in our minds and hearts
that oppose God, and transform us into the image
of the Holy God, and the Righteous Messiah.
Under
the right conditions, a fire can quickly spread
and affect a huge area. This Spirit that came
and rested on them would be given to many others.
Starting from this small group, this Fiery Holy
Spirit would spread His influence and His presence
like a wind-blown fire among dry wood! These men
were the beginning of a heavenly movement that
would radiate the fire of God, the light and warmth
of Heaven, truth and victory and salvation and
purity to a dark and cold and impure world.
When the
Holy Spirit came, the first thing He did was supernaturally
empower them to communicate. He enabled these
men to speak in languages that they had never
learned. And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages,
as the Spirit enabled them. Why did this Heavenly,
Powerful and Holy Spirit enable them to do this?
While a sudden multiplicity of languages might
seem like another Babel, this is actually the
beginning of the reversal of the curse of Babal,
when united humanity which spoke one language
and was working against God was given many languages,
and lost the ability to understand each other
and was divided.
This is
the beginning of the restoration of fractured
humanity. This is the beginning of the one new
man, a new and united humanity made from many
nations, coming together and being able to understand
one another and work with God - not against God.
You want peace among humanity, and the peoples
of the world to unite? This is the way!
Something
very special was going on. Something radically
new had happened to Rabbi Yeshua’s followers.
This was another powerful evidence that Yeshua
was indeed the Messiah! He wasn’t dead! He was
alive and the Savior! He had poured out His Spirit
from Heaven on His disciples! Fantastic! Praise
the Lord!
Even though
He was the Father’s great Servant, the majority
did not esteem Yeshua. We despised and rejected
Him. Along with His resurrection, this was another
powerful evidence that God had vindicated Yeshua.
The rest of Israel needed to know this! This had
to be made known to everyone! And, the Spirit
moved these men in just that direction!
Now
there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men
from every nation under Heaven. And when this
sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were
bewildered because each one of them was hearing
them speak in his own language. The nation
of Israel, which the Lord of the world strategically
placed in the very center of the nations of the
world, had been dispersed throughout the world.
When the Lord told us He would scatter His people,
He told the truth! We were thoroughly scattered
around the Mediterranean and beyond, from the
East to the West. There were Jewish communities
in Europe and Africa and Asia. We were in the
previous world empires and the current larger
one, Rome. We were almost everywhere - except
perhaps the farthest eastern regions like India
and China.
We might
have been scattered among the nations, but some
had returned home from their exile to live in
our capitol - Jerusalem. Men who were serious
about God and their Faith and the Scriptures were
in Jerusalem during this holiday. These devout
and religious men suddenly heard a group of mostly
Galilean men speaking their native languages.
Luke tells us their reaction. They were amazed
and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all
these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it
that we each hear them in our own language to
which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites,
and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt
and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes
(Gentile converts), Cretans and Arabs - we
hear them in our own languages speaking of the
mighty deeds of God".
Not only
did the Spirit of the Father and of the Son enable
these Hebrew or Aramaic speaking Jews to speak
languages that they had never learned, but He
also directed them what to say. They were speaking
about the great things that God had done - perhaps
His great works of creation, and the great things
He had done in Israel’s past to save us, and perhaps
the new and mighty things that God had just done
through the Savior - Yeshua, raising His Son from
the dead, and bringing Him back to Heaven, where
Messiah poured out the Spirit on His followers.
These
first Messianic Jews were speaking about the mighty
things that God had done, and that needs to be
the focus of our conversation too. We need to
concentrate on having conversations about God
Himself, and His reality, and our alienation from
Him, and the powerful things He has done through
creation and through redemption - first creating
us, and them making salvation possible, especially
through the coming of the Messiah.
They got
a mixed response - as will we. And they all
continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying
to one another, "What does this mean?"
The first and better group were those who
were curious and wanted to know more. Then there
was a second group who were not interested in
knowing more and rejected the truth and made fun
of Messiah’s followers. But others were mocking
and saying, "They are full of sweet wine".
This second group decided that this unusual phenomenon
of Galileans speaking in many languages could
best be explained by the over-consumption of alcohol.
How sad
that one of the most significant events in history
was taking place, and they were to too far from
God, too insensitive to spiritual things to investigate
something so significant. And sadly, so much of
humanity is in this second category. But, there
are some in the first category, who will be curious,
and listen and learn, and come to saving faith!
We must endure the mocking of the second group
to reach the first.
And Simon
Peter was ready and equipped to do just that.
The one who only a short time earlier had denied
the Messiah three times, was now a different man.
He knew that Yeshua was the Victorious Lord and
Risen Savior. Peter had been taught by Rabbi Yeshua,
before he died and especially during the 40 days
after Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection.
Simon Peter now knew the Scriptures. Now he really
understood how they pointed to the Messiah, to
His First Coming to suffer and die and rise, and
then to His Second Coming with great power and
honor. Peter was now well schooled in the Scriptures,
and he was empowered and filled and directed by
the Holy Spirit. He was now bold, courageous,
fearless. Peter became the spokesman for the Israel
of God and gave a great message about the coming
of the Messiah, and His rejection, and His vindication,
and the giving of His Spirit, and how that is
what true Judaism is all about. From Peter’s first
great sermon on this special Shavuot, we can learn
how to speak to those Jewish people who are knowledgeable
about the Scriptures.
But
Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised
his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea
and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be
known to you and give heed to my words. For these
men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only
the third hour of the day. The objection that
they were drunk didn’t make sense. It was nine
in the morning - too early to be drunk. Most serious
drinking takes place in the evening and night
- not in the morning.
Peter
now gave the real reason why the men of Jerusalem
had been hearing Galileans speaking in many languages
about God. What was happening was something so
momentous that God had revealed to our prophets
that this would happen. But this is what was
spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'And
it shall be in the last days', God says, 'that
I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams; even on My servants,
both men and women, I will in those days pour
forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy. And
I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs
on the Earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor
of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood, before the great and
glorious day of the Lord shall come.
The Lord
had told the prophet Joel that humanity would
enter into a new period of salvation history that
would be characterized by the pouring out of the
Spirit of God upon many. A new age had begun!
They were now in the Ah-cha-reet Ha-Ya-meem -
the Last Days! Maybe not the last part of the
Last days, but the beginning of the Last Days.
Messiah
had come! Immanuel had been among them! Yeshua
had made salvation possible, overcoming our greatest
and deadliest enemies that have destroyed us,
enemies that we could not overcome on our own!
Yeshua, the Risen Messiah and God the Father had
begun pouring out from Heaven the Holy Spirit
on receptive human beings. That is the reason
why these Galileans were speaking in languages
they never learned. They were full of the Spirit
of God, who had just been poured out on them -
followers of the Risen Messiah!
And, the
people of Jerusalem needed understand these realities
and believe. Also quoting from the prophet Joel,
Peter challenged them to respond in the right
way to these powerful new realities that God had
brought about: And it shall be that everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'.
They needed to know that Yeshua is Adonai - the
eternal Lord. They needed to believe in Him, and
call out to Him with apologies and with welcome
and acceptance if they wanted to be saved - saved
with a salvation that the blood of bulls and goats
and lambs and rams and pigeons couldn’t provide;
saved with the great and only salvation that God
had planned from the beginning of the world.
We won’t
be able to cover the rest of Peter’s first great
evangelistic sermon, which took place on Shavuot.
I encourage you to come back in two weeks, which
is right around Shavuot, when, Lord willing, we
will cover the rest of it - and more!
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