 Acts chapter 2, verses 1-4, what we're looking at is Pentecost. Pentecost has arrived, beginning at verse 1. Now, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, let me give to you a review, but as we do so, I'll begin by saying this. My pastor Chuck Smith was my pastor for many years, and was a tremendous influence in my personal life, and in his heart and his love for God's Word and all became a real encouragement to me as a young man, as a young pastor, and has remained with me through the entire course of my ministry life. There were two things that pastor Chuck tried to pour into us as pastors. When he would speak at pastor's conferences and all, he would share these things, and in the last several years of his life I was on a council, one of the council members of those who planned out the international Calvary Chapel pastors conferences, and all, and I had opportunity to be with him for, we'd be together for three days, and he would pour into various pastors from around the nation and would share with us things concerning his heart and what he desired to see happen at the upcoming pastor's conferences that we would be planning in, and he always started out this way, and I've shared this with you more than once, but my mind goes to it when I think of this subject. We would be in a room, and there'd be about 20 to 30 pastors from the East Coast to the West Coast and everything in between, and each one of these men would represent a region, represent an area of ministry, and each one had seasoned ministry and all, and we would gather together, and as we would, we'd be speaking amongst ourselves because some of the guys have known each other over 40 years, and I've known many of the men on that council for 30-some years, and so we've known each other for a long time and a long time of ministry together, and so the guys would be talking amongst ourselves, and Chuck would walk in the room, and he'd always go to the same place, and he'd be seated, and all the guys, and it didn't matter if we were 50 or 60 years old. We all did the same thing. We all got quiet the minute he walked in the room, and he would go and he'd sit down, and this is the question that was asked every time. Somebody would say, Pastor Chuck, what is on your heart? And Chuck would look at us, and then they'd say, what is it you're concerned about? Because we wanted to know. He always said the same thing. As long as I can remember, he would say, have we begun in the Spirit, and are we going to be made perfect by the flesh? He always went to the same thing. Having begun in the Spirit, we need to continue walking in the Spirit. There were two things that Chuck taught us that I think are so biblical that it's part of who I am. He taught us a love for the Word of God, and he taught us to walk in the power of the Spirit. And today in the church, I believe there's an absence of both. There's an absence of a love for God's Word. What do I mean by that? I mean that if it contradicts the way we already think, we reject it. We just reject it. We just say, no, that can't be so. I don't agree with that. There is a flippant attitude towards God's Word today. You know, the Bible says in the last days, people will heap unto themselves teachers who will tell them what they're itching to hear. And we're living in those days right now. And so there's an absence for a real respect and reverence for the Word of God and a willingness to obey. And there's a quenching of the Holy Spirit because there are so many man-made techniques trying to get people to come into the church that they're failing to realize that what you really need is a solid study of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit because that's what we all need on a daily basis if we're going to make it. If we're going to make it not just as Christians, of course as Christians, but if we're just going to make it. We need the power of the Spirit and we need a love for God's Word. Why? Because God's Word is what transforms us in order that we're not conformed to the world and it transforms us and conforms us into the image of Jesus Christ. You see it's the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And so the Lord Jesus Christ made a promise he had said that this was to take place. And remember even in chapter 1 verse 4 he had commanded his disciples to do something. He said you need to wait for the promise of the Father. So all the way back in chapter 1 verse 4 of the book of Acts he had said wait for the promise of the Father. Now when he said wait, wait for the promise, that word wait is an interesting Greek word. It means to await an event literally which in this case was the waiting for the Holy Spirit to be given. When he says you're going to be waiting you're also to wait for a promise. The word promise means an announcement of divine assurance for good. And I was looking this up in one of my Greek helps and it's called Vine's Dictionary of the Greek and Vine's Defined it in this way. This word is used only of the promises of God. It often speaks for the thing promised and thus signifies a gift graciously given and not something that was secured by negotiation. Jesus said wait for the promise. You're not going to secure this by any negotiation. You're not going to bargain for this. What you're to do is you're supposed to await the promise that God gave to you, the promise of the Holy Spirit. So God sending of the Holy Spirit to the church was his assurance for good for those whom he loves. This particular promise that God gives to us is one that is actually repeated in the Old Testament various times. I don't want to give you all of the instances where you'll see this promise but you'll see that as far back as 735 years before Christ in the book of Isaiah in chapter 44 verse 3 God made a promise. He said, I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, floods upon the dry ground, I will pour my spirit upon your seed, my blessing upon your offspring, I will pour my spirit. In 586 in the book of Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 27 586 BC he said I will put my spirit within you, cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my judgments and do them. He said I'm going to give you a new heart, a heart of flesh and I'll pour my spirit into you. You know I don't know about you but the will to do good is with me the ability to perform that which I desire is not. So what am I going to have to help me to do that which I desire but I'm really unable to do. What is it that is going to help me to do that? God said I'll pour my spirit on you. I'm going to write my word on the tablets of your heart so that the things that you do are going to be done from the inside. It's not that you're going to simply have commands on the outside like the 10 commandments that were written on stone. I'm going to take my commandments. I'm going to write them on your heart and so from the inside you'll perform those things that you greatly desire but don't have the power to do. So I'll give you my commandments but I'll also supply you with the power so that you're able to obey. So all the way back in the Old Testament God had promised to pour water upon the one who's thirsty to pour his spirit within people. 487 BC Zechariah said it like this in chapter 12 verse 10, I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. These are all references to his promise of the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus repeated these promises in his ministry. He said in John 15 verse 26, when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father he will testify of me. I will send this spirit and he will testify. The spirit he will testify. In Luke 24.49 he said I send the promise of my Father upon you tarry in the city of Jerusalem till you're endued with power from on high. You see he said I will send my spirit and he'll remain with you. He'll be with you and he'll be in you. In the Old Testament you can see this various times that the Holy Spirit would descend but the Holy Spirit performed his work and then he would depart. When you read first Samuel chapter 16 verse 14 it very simply says the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. When you read Judges chapter 16 verse 20 this woman by the name of Delilah. Are there any Delilahs in here? No. Delilah. I've met a few Jezebel's but I don't think I've ever met a Delilah. But Delilah called unto Samson you remember Samson in Delilah. Delilah called Samson the Philistines are upon you. He awoke from his sleep and thought I'll go out as before and shake myself free but he did not know the Lord had left him. And so you see that the spirit departed from Saul the Lord left Samson and so that gives us insight into Psalm 51 verse 11 where David said do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. So in the Old Testament you would see the spirit would descend perform his work but would also leave. Jesus's promises that the spirit would be sent to remain and would be in them. In John 14 verse 16 he said I will pray the Father. He will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. So the Holy Spirit in the New Testament sense is to be upon us to abide with us and be in us. And so that is going to be through our lifetime. He's not going to be removed from us. And so Jesus had been speaking concerning this remember in chapter one and in verses seven and eight he had said you're going to be my witnesses but to succeed will require the power of the spirit. And you're going to be witnesses of various things. You'll be a witness of my resurrection. You will be a witness that I am the Savior and you're going to be a witness of the mission that I have sent you on. There are various ways that you're going to be a witness but God desires to communicate to man and he intends us to be that witness and he's going to use us to do that. So being his witness requires power and our lives need to evidence his presence and for that he sends his spirit. Empowered by him we have the ability to endure hardship, to rejoice in the face of suffering, resist living for the gratification of our flesh. And for us this Holy Spirit is not just a concept and the Holy Spirit is not simply some source of power or power itself. For us we know the Spirit is to be a person. He's a person of the Spirit and we have a relationship with him. Now this promise of the giving of the Spirit is recorded here in Acts chapter two. It was fulfilled at Pentecost. In verse one it says, when the day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place. And I'm going to lay a foundation for us because I hope to bring it to application as we conclude tonight's study. But let me lay a foundation by giving you some details that will help you to understand what is taking place. First in verse one it says, the day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost is one of the three great Jewish feasts along with tabernacles and Passover. The day of Pentecost is also called the Feast of First Roots. And it took place 10 days after Jesus' ascension, 50 days after his resurrection. The Feast was established primarily to commemorate two things. One it commemorates God's deliverance of the nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage. And two it reminds the people of his faithful provision for their every need. This Feast is a joyful celebration because people remembered God's goodness toward them. And so during this time Jerusalem would be filled with pilgrims and it's been estimated that there would be about three million people who are there in Jerusalem. So when it had fully arrived the day of Pentecost there was a great amount of people there and they're all celebrating but it's the day that the church is actually officially birthed. Now we're going to notice some things here and I want to show you these things as we look at the passage. One I want you to note with me the attitude of the 120, the 120 who are there awaiting this promise to take place. It says to us that they were there in unity. It says in verse 1 they were all with one accord in one place. So what we have here is we have an attitude of unity. They are united together anticipating the reception of the promise of the Father. And as you see this you're going to see what takes place because we're going to be seeing the giving of the Holy Spirit which fulfills the Father's promise and then we're going to see the effect on the lives of the believers as well as what it does to or how it affects the non-believers. And so there they are. They're together. We see the unity of believers and we also see an expectation. See here's something for you and it's so basic but I feel necessary to say it. You're not going to receive if you're not waiting and trusting to receive something. It just doesn't happen. There's people who like to pray and say oh yes Lord if it be your will but in reality they're not expecting anything to happen. They're just praying that way because they've been taught to pray like that. I remember a pastor who had was pastor in a church in a very dry area and there was a drought and the drought was severe. And so the pastor had gotten up before the congregation and said to the congregation you know only God can provide water. We need God to provide water. Will you join me in prayer and will you pray with me along with me that God will bring rain? And so the church prayed there was a time of prayer and people were crying out to God and he said oh Lord would you please bring rain by next Sunday. And so they got together the following Sunday it hadn't rained and the pastor looks at the congregation and says well we prayed last week for rain and it didn't rain did it and they shook their head no. He said but we really didn't expect it did we. They looked at him puzzled how would you know we didn't expect it. None of you brought your umbrellas. You know sometimes we sometimes we pray just because we should right. We pray because that's what Christians do right. That these people this hundred and twenty who were there in an upper room were waiting for a promise and they knew that their God would supply that promise they knew it. They knew you know one of the things that I'll be honest with you in my spiritual life the Lord has been reminding me for the last two weeks this has been the thing that is freshest on my heart and it's just a very basic thing and I'll just say it this way and it's for me it's personal for you whatever it may be that the Lord is teaching you this is what he's reminding me of right now this is what he's been telling me almost every day one way or another and it's just this I answer prayer I answer prayer don't rely on yourself rely on me don't rely on yourself rely on me he's been reminding me of how faithful he is and has been and he's been convicting me because I find myself so very often trying to do spiritual things without spiritual power wanting to live spiritual without the word guiding me without the power of the spirit strengthening me and he's been reminding me of this he's been reminding me daily I supply your need I'm with you I will never leave you I will never forsake you and I need to remember those things after all these years you you would think well gosh you've been walking with the Lord for a while haven't you learned that yet you learn it in layers you learn spiritual lessons gradually and when you think you finally got it he shows you something deeper and that's how it works and so right now he's teaching me some new things and and so as I read this passage it's a simple thing we all see it they were all with one accord in one place but there was an attitude of expectation the church was united expecting God to move and God is going to fulfill this promise because our God does that so they were waiting to receive the promise there's this unified spirit there's anticipation they're waiting on the Lord they put aside their self-seeking they're waiting for God to to keep his promise now this is a great thing because when you look at the history especially of the twelve apostles you know that there are many times in there in their ministry school with Jesus that they would argue amongst themselves as to who is the most important who is the greatest in all and there wasn't a spirit of unity so very often but that is not true anymore they're together now they're united together and God has taken the many and he's now making them one and he's intending to do something amongst them again Jesus had commanded them to to tarry in Jerusalem till you receive power they're praying and they're waiting and they have an expectation they're going to receive that promise and so they have an attitude that is demonstrated and and a heart that anticipates what God is going to do and and there are three things that contribute to the receiving that promise and we see one is their obedience as mentioned a moment ago he had said do not depart from Jerusalem and in obedience they remained we see a second thing in that unity they're no longer selfishly seeking personal benefit and then thirdly we see their expectation their hungering and their thirsting for the Lord and as this is taking place verse 2 says and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind filled the whole house where they were they were sitting then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat upon each of them they were all filled with the holy spirit began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance the promise is fulfilled the sound of a rushing mighty wind was heard and it filled the house what was this when it says they heard this by the way it's interesting how this is phrased it says there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house what filled the whole house the sound or the mighty wind the answer is i don't know we do know this that wind in scripture is often used as a symbol of the spirit and jesus spoke about that when he was having that famous conversation with nicodemus when he was speaking to nicodemus as recorded in john chapter 3 verses 5 through 8 jesus said i i tell you the truth no one can enter the kingdom of god unless he's born of water and the spirit flesh gives birth to flesh but the spirit gives birth to spirit you should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again and then he said this the wind blows wherever it pleases you hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going so it is with everyone born of the spirit so wind was used as a symbol of the spirit interestingly enough wind is also used as a symbol of life in genesis chapter 2 in verse 7 it says the lord god formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life man became a living being the word breathed into him he breathed into him and all it gives us the idea of of of wind or the breath of god and and so in the bible wind can be a picture of life a picture of the spirit combined it's the life-giving spirit and so what you have here is you have them in anticipation awaiting the promise of the father so that he might enter into them through the power of the holy spirit now as they're there and this is taking place and you can imagine what that would have been like up there in that room there appears to them according to verse 3 divided tongues as a fire and one sat on each of them tongues of fire this was a visible phenomenon illustrating what was occurring fire in this passage represents the lord's presence in exodus chapter 3 verse 2 it says there the angel of the lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush mosa saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up it demonstrates the lord's presence but it also speaks of purification remember isiah chapter 6 verses 6 and 7 where it says one of the serfs flew to me with a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from the altar with it he touched my mouth and said see this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away your sin atoned for the working of the holy spirit is a purifying work and it and it as you're purified the lord's presence is better experienced and so what you have here is you have the holy spirit coming upon obedient selfless expectant individuals who are being purged and what that produces is a holy disciple oh my sometimes i get away from my notes i'm going to do that for a moment and so you say please do okay i will the holy spirit and the holy bible will always produce when believed a holy life just keep that in mind the holy spirit and the holy bible when received by faith enacted upon produces a holy person holiness is spoke it speaks of being separated to the lord it isn't something that you become because you try so hard it isn't become because you you can clasp your hands in front of you and bow your head with a very fake humble look and speak softly to people i used to think that's what it was and i used to win as a new christian i used to think that's what you're supposed to do kind of like walk around like like that you know real kind of and talk softly and all no that's more phariseic than anything because i was trying to appear something that i really wasn't but i discovered and i'm discovering that when the word of god is active in my in my life when i'm reading it and with the intent to obey it it awakens in me my inadequacy and inability it encourages me so often that sometimes it brings like a surgeon scalpel it brings an operation of my soul if you will to remove something that god is not pleased with and i realize that when i'm reading the bible that there are times when i see myself because it's a mirror and i see myself in it and i say lord that really isn't my life i really don't do that i don't know how to do that god help me and that's what he wants me to do you see when i said you the word of god when you read the bible it isn't intended just to bring like a huge condemnation it's supposed to be an encouragement to you so that you can say lord oh miserable person that i am who's going to save me from this body of death and then you say you know what there's there for now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus you don't walk after the flesh but after the spirit lord with you i can do all things and i want to live for you lord i want to please you and so what we need is we need to understand when the holy spirit comes into our life he begins to purge us and the holy spirit comes into our life he also gives us his presence and when the holy spirit is working in our life he gives to us his power and and what we do is we yield to him and we obey him voluntarily and he produces in us a holiness you see again in verse 3 the scripture says one sat upon each of them so god wanted to bless every one of these who are there awaiting him he wanted to bless them equally here's something to always remember there there there was in this room here there was no single superstar there was no very special disciple they all are being blessed by god one of the things that maybe will help all of us as believers today is if you take this attitude and here's the attitude that i've had for a long time and god is trying to refresh me in it because i have to remind myself of things he's taught me in the past but once again the question i used to ask was why not me and i don't mean it like oh you're doing that with them why not me and not you know this whining kind of thing i wasn't whining i would just look and i'd say lord you're using people why not me well why can't i be used i want to be used you know the lord's eyes run to and throw throughout the whole earth to show him that so he can find a man to show himself strong on behalf of do you know that in this room right now that there are people that god wants to use you know this don't you god wants to use you mightily but we're just we're just not yielding to him we're saying no somebody else you know there's that phrase you know um when god is speaking to isa and and and he asks the question who go for us and and there are people who would say there he is lord send him but isa said here am i lord send me you know it's just a matter of you saying lord i love your word and i want the power of your spirit and i want to be purged of anything that would keep me from being used by you and i want to be i'm making myself available and a lot of people won't because they're afraid they're afraid that he may have them do something they don't want to do give something up they don't want to give up you know what there's nothing that he ever has you do that isn't so pleasing that you'll ask yourself once you're doing it why did i wait so long for this why did i wait so long and there's nothing so hard that you will ask you to do that he doesn't supply the power for you to do it it's all about him and a willing heart and what i am asking lord for is to purge me to work in me i pray that and then this is sincere i'm not trying to pretend in front of you anything it's just i do this every day and i do it often every day god forgive me god work in me god use me because lord in these last days without you this world is hopeless without you jesus this world is going to hell in a handbasket lord there is a battle going on right now as god obviously knows and it isn't it isn't political at all it's spiritual there's a battle going on that is so spiritual right now truth against error light against darkness and we're seeing it in the newspaper as it's being fought daily i think it's sad and i'm not condemning anyone it can sound that way it saddens my heart it truly does that i had i was uh i was up in san lisa bispo last last week you know somebody's got to go and uh i took a few days uh with my wife to to try and relax i i met with a friend of mine because when i go on vacations i usually minister that's what i do and while i was there i was doing that and it's a pleasure to do that forgive me if it sounds like anything other than it's a pleasure to do that but as i was speaking to my my friend a pastor friend of mine he was saying you know the churches in his town on christmas day are closing down on christmas day churches are closing down that's happening in our little city here in chino christmas day churches are closing down and and i think how how sad is that how sad is that because you know radical islam doesn't take days off they're going to learn and they go to learn to hate every day and christians now it's more important for me to do something i want to do with my family my friends or whatever than it is for me to say i was glad when they said let us go into the house of the lord listen part of the reason why the united states is in such bad condition is because the church is in such bad condition because the church isn't walking in the power of the holy spirit because we're more caught up with pleas in ourselves and we don't believe in eternity very much anymore many don't even believe that there is such a thing as a hell so why even be concerned about it and if mom wants to go there it's up to her we don't have a concept of a holy god and a holy life the early church no jesus said you tarry in jerusalem until you're endued with power from on high in and in obedience and in anticipation 120 in an upper room we're waiting for that promise to be fulfilled the day of pentecost fully arrives there's a sound of a mighty rushing wind it fills the house tongues of fire begin to rest on each one and god births the church it comes into existence notice how it says in verse four they were filled with the holy spirit the word filled means to be abundantly supplied it speaks really of the overflowing presence of god there's a theologian by the name of gordon fee and he said the living god is a god of power and by the spirit the power of the living god is present with us and for us and what god is doing is he's birthing the church into existence and he's giving to the people what they so desperately want and so desperately need the holy spirit is the one who gives us peace and the holy spirit is the one who gives us joy it's a holy spirit who gives us love and contentment it's a holy spirit who gives us power it's the spirit who makes us victorious it's the holy spirit who makes our life satisfying and that's what god wants to do he wants to give to us and jesus had said you need to drink up the spirit and when you do that god spirit will meet your deepest thirst and your deepest longing it's that's a fact that's a fact you know i i keep saying this because i get i get a certain sentimental gratefulness every christmas you know not just for christmas day of course i'm so thankful for the celebration of the birth of jesus but two days later i have an opportunity to celebrate the day that he came into my life and and i have to tell you every december right around this time i get a refresh and a renewed joy because i look at how faithful god has been in a one year five years 10 years 15 years 20 25 30 35 40 45 now 46 years my god is faithful and he has provided in every way shape and form and there are times when i will look at my my wife and i'll look at my kids i'll look at my grandkids i drive into this parking lot i speak to my staff and my heart wells up with joy with gratitude thankfulness because i know what i was and i know what i am i'm not what i used to be i'm not yet what i will be but i'm not going to be what i used to be ever again because what i'm now is being made into the image of christ and i get excited about that and i don't understand why people aren't i don't i don't i i you know i really i'm boy here we go i should see that's what i mean 13 verses who knows god is good no god is good god is good god is good he has been so good to me and to us to you too to you too i was thinking about that today i was thinking how sometimes people say well it's easy for you to say you're a pastor you're supposed to say that no i've learned i've learned how faithful he is i've learned that he never leaves you nor forsakes you i've learned that he supplies all your need according to his riches in christ jesus i've learned that he keeps your tears in a bottle he remembers it i've learned the goodness of the lord how god is faithful how god gives you hope how god gives you strength how you're never alone how he provides in every way shape and form in ways that are mysterious to you at that moment because you may not see clearly what he's doing but afterwards you do and you say so that's what you were doing i didn't realize it in the midst of the pain in the midst of the sorrow in the midst of suffering in the midst of all i was going through i didn't know you were refining me i didn't know that and here i am complaining lord when in fact you were answering my prayer because lord i had said make me like you and i forgot you were wounded and i said make me like you and i forgot you were lonely i said make me like you and i forgot you were forsaken i said make me like you and i forgot you suffered on a cross and if you went through things for me what makes me think i won't go through things for you and when you begin to realize that and no i'm not putting a high premium on suffering no i'm not saying let's go out break some glass and crawl on it with our bare knees no what i am saying is that the road to the cross is covered with thorns and there are times of pain that cause you to give up on everything except him and then you learned whole fast to him because his word is true and because his spirit empowers you and strengthens you and transforms you listen i've been asking the lord for a long time and i know many in this room have probably said the same thing lord deep in me and that's why i say to you if you want deep faith you go through deep things and that's when you learn that the lord sometimes whispers when the world screams and you have to learn to hear the whisper of the lord above the scream of the world and the world tries to distract you and it does but he is a still small voice and you quietly wait on him and he speaks to your heart through his word by his spirit through a friend who calls you up and says how you doing been thinking you've been praying for you i love you and you say you don't know how i needed to hear that just now the lord is good the lord is good see we're not into just christian philosophy of course christian philosophy does exist yes there are there are things that we believe and we hold as philosophic truths truths that are emblems of our intellectual beliefs there's no doubt about that but it's deeper than simply man's philosophy what it is it's god's revelation and god reveals himself to us and he does so by his word and he does so by his spirit and these people were waiting in obedience for the holy spirit to come fully upon them and it happens they were filled with the holy spirit notice what happens they began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance oh tongues what are tongues well tongues is a language it's a language that's unlearned it's a language of praise it's a language of worship jesus in in mark 16 verse 17 said concerning believers they shall speak with new tongues the english word tongues is the greek word glasa the word glasa speaks of a language and one greek expert said it's specifically a language that is unacquired so tongues when you see it here in verse four it says they began to speak with other tongues tongues is a spiritual gift from god that is supernaturally received it is an unlearned language the language may be of human origin we'll see that in just a moment it may even be referred to in scripture as a heavenly the tongue of angels a heavenly dialect the language is one of praise to god and is directed to god it is not something that you are speaking to men you can see that if you're interested by looking at first Corinthians chapters 12 and 14 you'll see something more specific i'm not going there today but that's what it speaks about and it speaks of them speaking in tongues notice again in verse four as the spirit gave utterance so the holy spirit didn't take over their vocal cords but he inspired their speech verse 11 gives us insight into what they were saying because it says we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of god and so that's what they were doing they were speaking concerning the wonderful works of god they were praising god and giving him glory so as this is taking place verse five we'll go to verse 13 i think i can do it now they were dwelling in jerusalem jews devout men from every nation under heaven and when this sound occurred the multitude came together they were confused because everyone heard them speaking in his own language then they were all amazed and marveled saying to one another look are not all these who speak gala lands how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born parthians and meads and elamites those dwelling in mesopotamia judia capitasia pontus and asia frigia frigia and pamphilia egypt parts of libya joining syrene visitors visitors from rome both jews and prosolites cretins arabes and people from montclair and chino we hear them we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of god they were amazed and perplexed saying to one another whatever could this mean others mocking said they're full of new wine they're drunk that's what they're saying they're drunk they're full of new wine now they apparently spill out of the upper room and they're magnifying god speaking in languages they haven't learned but praising god and they're all these nations there and they say we can hear what they're saying in our own language verses 12 and 13 say that we're amazed they were perplexed and they're saying what is this what does this mean those some were amazed perplexed notice others began to mock so instead of wasting time arguing with those who were mocking peter actually is going to speak to those who were inquisitive we're going to look at that next time we're together now obviously these disciples were under the spirit's influence and as they're out there speaking and as they're out there making known the wonderful works of god there is a response the people will respond normally in the same way even to this day when god is doing a work there'll be some who mock and there'll be others who listen i'm looking at the time because we're going to celebrate communion and i don't want to keep you too long on one thing because i really want us to celebrate communion together so i'll kind of prepare and i'm going to go further i mean that's the reason i wanted to go into acts because i wanted to share some things with you over time that really will make a difference in our life so i'll say it like this there are people today who are afraid of opening their hearts to the power of the holy spirit because they have seen some weird things done in the name of jesus perhaps they've turned on the television and seen some odd things taking place perhaps they they've gone to a church where weird things happened and scared them i as a new believer i i had an interesting experience i share this very often when i'm speaking on this subject but i understand how you could you could be confused when when people are claiming something as the spirit when in fact it's not and i was a new believer i was 20 years old and and we went to what was called a revival and i lived in norma we went to a small church in long beach and as we went into this very small church and i mean it's a small building the small church building it was an african-american church pentecostal church and they had invited an evangelist who was kind he looked like a football player he's real stocky i still remember real stocky he had blonde hair and he wore it in kind of like a swooping hairstyle like we used to call it a pompadour and uh yeah and he was he was shouting i'm a brand new christian i haven't been a christian more than two weeks brand new brand new and and there i am at a revival two three weeks and and this guy's got a drum set at the base of the platform and he would scream at us and after he screamed for a few minutes and i mean scream he was shouting and screaming and all of that and i'm just kind of like you know watching this uh he would step off the platform and he would get behind the drums and he'd start playing the drums i had never seen anything like that before he was pretty good i said can you play wipeout no as i was watching so it was entertaining more than anything i'm a brand new christian you know i haven't been high for two three weeks so this was very entertaining then he'd get back on the platform and scream then he began to tell us god wants to fill us with his spirit and if you want all that god has to offer you come up here so i'm a new believer and i'm saying i want everything god has for me so i go up to what they call the kneeling bench to tarry so there are several of us at this kneeling bench and he said you just cry out to god and and and beg him to fill you he's telling us to do things the bible doesn't say but there i am yelling god fill me god fill me and it's just really odd and we were kneeling for a good 30 40 minutes at least tearing and finally nothing happens and finally he says all right it's testimony time all of you who just were filled with the spirit come and tell everybody what god did and i'm thinking i can't do that he didn't do anything he didn't do anything and i can't lie i'm in church but he has me in line i still remember i'm awkwardly standing in line walking this way and i'm thinking oh and then people are coming oh heaven was opened up and angels and birds and you know and i'm just going i'm thinking i'm gonna just bum them all out because i still remember god what should i say what should i say i don't want to lie i don't want to lie so i got behind i still remember i still remember walking up and standing just like this the first time i ever was in public speaking behind a pulpit and i'm looking at this crowd of people and they're looking back at me and i said this i still remember what i said i said i really can't put into words what i just went through which is a hundred percent true but the funny thing about it is the people out there in the audience kind of nodded their head at me he's like yeah nothing happened to us either it was one of those moments you know god wants to pour his spirit on us he gives his holy spirit to those who obey him the bible tells us in acts 532 jesus said if you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father in heaven give the holy spirit to those who ask him it's not a matter of us begging god it's not a matter of us trying to make ourselves better it's a matter of us saying lord i want to obey you i need your help will you fill me with your spirit and jesus said he will we need the power of the spirit of god today i grieve for this moment because we are as as a people in the united states and as churches in the united states by and large the ones that are getting much attention are the ones that are really grieving the spirit rather than walking in the spirit because what is happening is we are today instead of saying i want to be holy what we're saying is we pastors are saying i want to be popular instead of saying i want to be inspiring we're saying i want to be imitated and instead of saying i wanted all to be for jesus so that they may know his name so many are saying i want to be known by my name and what's happening is holiness is leaving our personal life and the flesh is replacing it when you have discussions with people when they're saying to you that they feel free to do whatever sinful thing they want to do because they're still going to heaven because of the grace of god that tells me they're not in the word of god because again the holy word and the holy spirit when received produced a holy life transformed life and no it isn't some put on life where you're walking around like oh i'm so holy it's that no god is just moving in you and then people begin to say what's going on in you what happened to you something's changed in you and you say you know to be honest with you it's all the lord he's just changed my life i just want to i just want to serve him i just want to follow him i just want to be like him and we need the power of the holy spirit so these hundred and twenty were commanded by jesus tarry into jerusalem tarry in jerusalem till you're endued power from on high in obedience and unity and a peripheral anticipation the day of pentecost fully arrived they were baptized in the spirit the church was birthed the first thing they do is pour out of that upper room they begin to magnify god unbelievers here they say these people don't know our language their unlearned languages but we can understand what's taking place they're magnifying god then others are saying oh they're just filled with new wine because their behavior is so different and so in the midst of all of this spiritual experience the apostle peter does what needs to be done he gives a scriptural explanation any spiritual experience needs a scriptural explanation we'll see that next time we get together