Participants: Pastor Stephen P. Bohr
Series Code: SOP
Program Code: SOP000007A
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00:13 Well hello, everybody, once again.
00:17 Time flies, doesn't it? 00:19 We are going to study topic number seven today 00:25 of ten that we are planning to present. 00:27 And the title of our study today is, 00:31 The Tongues of Pentecost. 00:33 And basically, we're going to take a look at Acts 2 00:38 where we find a description of the outpouring 00:41 of the Holy Spirit. 00:42 But before we do, what do we want to do? 00:46 We want to pray to ask for the Lord's wisdom. 00:49 And so please bow your heads with me as we pray. 00:52 Our Father and our God, once again we come before Your throne 00:57 with boldness, because we come in the name of Jesus. 01:00 We come to plead with You to send Your Holy Spirit 01:04 through the ministry of the angels to give us understanding. 01:08 Help us to understand, Lord, the true meaning 01:11 of what took place on the day of Pentecost. 01:14 We know that there are many delusions and deceptions 01:17 out there, even in the Christian world. 01:19 And we want to know what Your will is, 01:22 and what really happened on the day of Pentecost, 01:25 and for what purpose. 01:26 And so we ask for divine guidance. 01:29 And we know that You will answer, because we ask it 01:31 in the precious name of Jesus. 01:33 Amen. 01:37 Six months before Jesus began His ministry, 01:41 God called John the Baptist to preach in the wilderness 01:45 to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. 01:50 And the message that John preached is found in 01:54 several gospels, but I particularly want to read 01:58 the description of his message as it is given 02:01 in Matthew 3:11. 02:05 And there are other verses that present other aspects of his 02:08 message, but for our purposes we're going to read verse 11. 02:13 It says there, and John is speaking... 02:22 "...but He who is coming after me..." 02:25 That is Jesus the Messiah. 02:40 Now there are three items that I want us to remember 02:43 from this particular verse. 02:44 Because we're going to find these three concepts 02:48 in other verses as we study along. 02:51 First of all, I want us to remember the word, "baptize." 02:56 That word will recur again in connection with Pentecost. 03:00 I want us to remember the expression 03:04 or the name, "Holy Spirit." 03:06 And I want us to remember also, "fire." 03:11 Because I want you to see that what John the Baptist 03:15 was predicting was not only the coming of the Messiah, 03:19 but He was predicting what was going to take place 03:22 on the day of Pentecost. 03:24 These three concepts that we find in this verse 03:28 have to do with something that happened 03:31 on the day of Pentecost. 03:33 Baptize, Holy Spirit, and fire; don't forget those words. 03:40 Now I want us to go to Luke 24:44-49. 03:46 Luke 24, and let's actually start reading at verse 46. 03:53 Luke 24:46 03:57 Here, we find Jesus in the upper room 04:01 the day of the resurrection, or the evening of the resurrection 04:04 more specifically. 04:05 And there are several concepts that I want us to notice here. 04:08 This is taking place forty days before the ascension of Christ. 04:13 That's an important detail. 04:15 And it's happening about fifty days before 04:18 the day of Pentecost. 04:20 And I want you to notice the elements that we find here 04:23 in Luke 24 beginning with verse 46. 04:26 "Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written, 04:31 and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer 04:34 and to rise from the dead on the third day...'" 04:36 So you notice, it speaks about the suffering of Jesus 04:39 and rising the third day. 04:42 And notice this, "...and that repentance 04:46 and remission of sins..." 04:48 Remember those two concepts. 04:50 "...that repentance and remission of sins 04:53 should be..." What? 04:54 "...should be preached..." 04:56 So the central message of this passage 04:59 is the preaching of a message. 05:03 And so it says, "...and that repentance and remission of sins 05:07 should be preached in His name..." Where? 05:10 "...to all nations, beginning..." Where? 05:15 "...beginning at Jerusalem. 05:17 And you are witnesses of these things." 05:19 In other words, "You're suppose to go out and proclaim this. 05:23 Proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins. 05:25 You're the ones who have been chosen to preach this." 05:28 And then notice verse 49. 05:30 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you." 05:35 This is going to take place fifty days after this appearance 05:39 of Jesus to His disciples. 05:41 So it says, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; 05:44 but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are 05:50 endued with power from on high." 05:54 Now let's summarize the key points that we find 05:57 in this passage which we need to understand 05:59 in order to comprehend what will happen on the day of Pentecost. 06:03 First of all, there's preaching, repentance, 06:07 and remission of sins. 06:08 We're going to find that on the day of Pentecost once again. 06:11 We find that the preaching will begin where? 06:15 It will begin at Jerusalem. That's right. 06:18 And the message then is to go where? 06:21 To all the nations. 06:23 And who were to be the witnesses that would preach the message? 06:27 The apostles, right? 06:28 Those to whom Jesus is speaking. 06:30 But before they go out to preach in Jerusalem 06:33 and take the message to the whole world, 06:36 they are to wait in Jerusalem to receive what? 06:40 To receive the power. 06:42 Are the elements clear? 06:43 It's very important that we have these points clear, 06:45 because we're going to face them again 06:48 when we get to the day of Pentecost. 06:50 Now let's move forward a little bit to what occurred 06:53 forty days later. 06:55 This is happening right before the ascension of Christ, 06:59 forty days after the passage that we just read. 07:02 Now I want you to notice that John the Baptist 07:05 is mentioned here in this passage by Jesus. 07:10 This is very, very important. 07:12 Because I want you to see that the gift that was given 07:15 on the day of Pentecost was the same gift that 07:17 John the Baptist spoke about. 07:19 So there's a link between John the Baptist 07:22 speaking about baptism, and speaking about Holy Spirit, 07:24 and speaking about fire, and what Jesus said 07:27 right before His ascension. 07:29 Now notice what we find in Acts 1:4-5. 07:33 "And being assembled together with them, 07:36 He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem..." 07:39 Did we already read that in Luke 24? 07:42 The same thing, right? 07:44 "...but to wait for the Promise of the Father..." 07:47 Is that the same thing He had said in the upper room? 07:49 Absolutely. 07:51 "'...which', He said, 'you have heard from Me.'" 07:54 Now notice that He's going to refer to John the Baptist. 07:57 This is the same gift that John the Baptist spoke about. 08:00 This is a very important detail. 08:01 So verse 5 says, "For John truly baptized with water, 08:07 but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit 08:12 not many days from now." 08:15 Let me ask you, did John the Baptist talk about 08:17 being baptized with the Holy Spirit 08:19 in the message that we found in Matthew 3:11? 08:23 Absolutely. We find two of the elements here. 08:25 And on the day of Pentecost, 08:27 we're going to find tongues of fire. 08:28 So we're going to find all three elements that John the Baptist 08:31 announced we find taking place on the day of Pentecost. 08:34 So my question is, was John speaking about the outpouring 08:38 of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost 08:39 when he preached in the wilderness? 08:41 Absolutely. 08:42 Now let's summarize what we find in Acts 1:4-5. 08:46 First of all, Jesus says, "Don't depart from Jerusalem." 08:50 Secondly, He says, "Wait for the promise of the Father." 08:54 Which is the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 08:58 Jesus makes a specific reference to whom? 09:00 To John the Baptist. 09:02 This is the same gift that John the Baptist spoke about. 09:05 And there are two key words that John used which Jesus uses. 09:09 And those key words are, baptism and Holy Spirit. 09:13 And we know that on the day of Pentecost, 09:15 there were tongues of fire. 09:16 So you have the three elements of Matthew 3:11 in Acts 1. 09:22 Now let's ask the question, what was the purpose 09:26 of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 09:28 on the day of Pentecost? 09:30 Was it to give the apostles a spiritual high? 09:34 Did it have the purpose of showing that they were saved? 09:40 Was it a sign that, you know, now they were saved 09:43 because they had the Holy Spirit and they spoke in tongues? 09:46 Absolutely not. 09:48 The purpose of this gift was to have power 09:52 to proclaim the message. 09:54 Beginning in Jerusalem, and going to the nations. 09:57 In other words, the task is evangelism. 10:00 And the Holy Spirit is the power to fulfill 10:04 the evangelistic task. 10:06 I want you to notice this very clearly in Acts 1:8. 10:11 Remember that this is the same context of verses 4 and 5 10:14 that we just read. 10:15 Jesus is about to ascend. 10:16 In fact, in verse 9, the very next verse, 10:19 Jesus ascends to heaven. 10:21 Now notice what it says in Acts 1:8. 10:24 "But you shall receive power... 10:30 ... when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." 10:33 So notice, "You shall receive..." 10:35 So the first thing we have is that they're going to receive. 10:38 "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 10:41 has come upon you." 10:42 And what is the purpose of the power? 10:44 Notice the verse says, "You shall be..." What? 10:48 Had Jesus said that in Luke 24? 10:51 Is that one of the elements, that, "you are My witnesses"? 10:53 Absolutely. 10:54 So it says, "You shall be My witnesses..." 10:57 And now notice the sequence. 10:59 "...in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria..." 11:03 And where? 11:05 "...and unto the end of the earth." 11:08 Now it's important for us to realize that before 11:12 the Holy Spirit could be poured out, 11:14 before the message could be preached, 11:17 Jesus had to perform certain works on earth 11:21 which needed to be proclaimed. 11:23 First of all, we've studied that Jesus needed 11:25 to live a perfect life. 11:27 Because no human being can offer the law perfection. 11:30 And the law requires perfection. 11:33 Secondly, Jesus had to die for the sins of the world. 11:38 Because if He didn't die, we would all have to die. 11:42 So in other words, Jesus had to live a perfect life 11:45 and He had to die for sin before the Holy Spirit 11:49 could be poured out in power for the disciples 11:52 to proclaim the message. 11:53 Because the purpose of the message was for the apostles 11:56 to say, and we're going to see this in a few moments, 11:59 "Listen, Jesus lived the perfect life that the 12:02 law requires from us. 12:04 And Jesus paid the debt for sin. 12:07 And if you repent and you receive Jesus as your Savior, 12:12 you confess your sins, then you will receive remission 12:16 or forgiveness of sins through His name." 12:19 In other words, they could not proclaim the message 12:22 with the power until Jesus had performed what the message is. 12:26 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 12:27 And so there could be no outpouring of the Holy Spirit 12:31 without Jesus living His perfect life and dying 12:34 for the sins of the world. 12:35 Because that was the content of the preaching of the apostles. 12:38 So to give the power without any content to the preaching 12:42 would be absolutely useless. 12:45 What I want you to notice here especially 12:47 is that the Holy Spirit was poured out for the purpose 12:53 of giving them power to witness. 12:56 In other words, it was not to give them a spiritual high. 13:00 It was not given to them for self-edification. 13:04 The purpose of the power was so that they would be enabled 13:08 to preach that Jesus had lived, Jesus had died, 13:12 and Jesus had ascended to heaven. 13:14 He was the Intercessor in heaven and you could come to Him 13:17 and claim what He did while He was on earth. 13:19 That was the purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit. 13:22 Witness. 13:24 By the way, Jesus had already announced this 13:27 before the day of Pentecost during His ministry. 13:30 I don't know if you remember, but a few lectures ago 13:33 we studied about John 7:37-39. 13:36 It's a very interesting passage. 13:39 You remember that we studied the rock episodes? 13:43 When the water came out of the rock? 13:44 The two rock episodes of the Old Testament. 13:47 Notice what we find in John 7:37-39. 13:51 This is at the Feast of Tabernacles, 13:53 the last day of the feast. 13:54 The eighth day. 13:56 "On the last day, that great day of the feast, 14:00 Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, 14:05 let him come to Me and drink." 14:08 And then He says this, "He who believes in Me..." 14:13 Do you need to repent and confess your sins 14:16 in order to believe in Jesus and receive Jesus as your Savior? 14:21 Of course you do. 14:22 So Jesus says, "He who believes in Me, 14:25 as the Scripture has said," now listen carefully, 14:28 "out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 14:34 So in other words, when you drink the water, 14:37 which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, 14:38 when you receive the Holy Spirit, you become a fountain 14:41 to give the blessing to other people. 14:44 And so what is the purpose of drinking the water 14:47 or receiving the power? 14:48 It's so that you can share the message that you have received. 14:53 The same thing we found in the case of the Samaritan woman. 14:56 Notice John 4:13-14. 15:00 John 4:13-14 15:02 "Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks 15:06 of this water,'" that is, from Jacob's well, 15:09 "will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water 15:13 that I shall give..." 15:16 Notice, future. 15:17 "...the water that I shall give will never thirst. 15:22 But the water that I shall give him..." 15:24 See, first of all, you drink. 15:25 "The water that I shall give him will become in him a..." What? 15:31 "...a fountain of water springing up 15:33 into everlasting life." 15:35 So once again, you drink the water, 15:38 you receive the power of the Spirit, 15:40 and then you become a witness. 15:42 You share the power. 15:44 You become a fountain of blessing to other people. 15:46 Are you following me or not? 15:48 So what is the purpose of the power that people receive 15:52 in the Holy Spirit? 15:54 The purpose is not self-edification. 15:56 The purpose is not to have a spiritual high. 15:58 The purpose is to empower you to what? 16:02 To witness. 16:04 And by the way, going back to John 7:37-39, 16:08 we know Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit. 16:10 That when you drink the Holy Spirit, 16:11 you become a fountain of blessing. 16:13 Because in verse 39, it says, "But this He spake 16:16 concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him 16:20 would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, 16:23 because Jesus was not yet glorified." 16:25 But then when Jesus was glorified, when He ascended 16:28 to the right hand of His Father, 16:30 then the Holy Spirit was poured out. 16:33 And the apostles received power so that they could 16:36 witness to other people. 16:38 Now let's take a look at the geographical extension 16:41 of the message. 16:43 Acts 1:8 gives us the sequence of the message, 16:47 how the message was going to proceed 16:50 as the apostles preached. 16:51 You remember Jesus said, "First of all, 16:53 you're going to stay..." Where? 16:55 "You're going to stay in Jerusalem for the power, 16:57 and then you're going to be witnesses 16:59 to Me beginning..." Where? 17:00 Beginning in Jerusalem. 17:02 Now let's read that verse once again and notice the places. 17:05 Ever growing concentric circles of where the message 17:08 was to be proclaimed. 17:10 It says in Acts 1:8... 17:32 Do you notice that it begins in Jerusalem; 17:34 you have a small circle. 17:35 Then it goes to Judea, which is a region. 17:38 And then it goes to Samaria that is beyond that. 17:42 And then it goes to the ends of the earth, 17:44 the largest concentric circle. 17:46 It goes to the whole world after that. 17:49 Now it's interesting to notice that the gift of tongues 17:52 was initially given to the apostles in the upper room. 17:56 But it's also interesting that the people who heard the message 18:01 of Peter, and we're going to study this, who heard the 18:03 message of Peter on the day of Pentecost 18:06 did not receive the gift of tongues. 18:08 Those who preached the message on the day of Pentecost 18:12 received the power of the Holy Spirit 18:14 and received the gift of tongues. 18:15 But those who accepted the message, there is no 18:19 record of them receiving the gift of tongues. 18:22 I want us to remember that, because there's a very special 18:24 reason why the apostles and those who were present 18:27 in the upper room received the power of the Holy Spirit 18:31 and the gift of tongues, but those who heard their message 18:34 and received the message, they received the Holy Spirit 18:36 when they were baptized, but they did not receive 18:38 the gift of tongues, for a very specific reason. 18:41 Now how many people were present in the upper room 18:44 on the day of Pentecost? 18:46 Acts 1:15 tells us how many were present. 18:50 There weren't only the twelve there. 18:52 There were many more than the twelve. 18:55 It says there in Acts 1:15... 19:08 So there weren't only twelve there. 19:10 There were many others who, on the day of Pentecost, 19:13 received the Holy Spirit, 19:14 and the gift of tongues specifically. 19:17 Now let's read Acts 2:1-4 which describes the outpouring 19:23 of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 19:25 It says in Acts 2:1, "When the day of Pentecost 19:30 had fully come..." 19:33 That means that Pentecost took place at the exact time 19:36 when the fifty days between the resurrection 19:39 and the day of Pentecost took place. 19:40 To the very hour, we're going to notice. 19:42 So it says... 20:02 Had John the Baptist predicted fire? 20:05 Yes he had. 20:13 "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." 20:16 Is that something that John the Baptist had preached? 20:18 Absolutely. 20:29 So who gave the gift of the Holy Spirit? 20:33 The Holy Spirit did. The gift of tongues. 20:35 And we noticed that the angels were involved, right? 20:38 It was really the Holy Spirit through the ministration 20:40 of the angels. 20:42 Now the question is, why did God impart the gift of tongues 20:46 when He gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles 20:48 and those who were gathered in the upper room? 20:50 Was it for them to have a spiritual high? 20:53 Or for them to self-edify their own spiritual experience? 20:58 Absolutely not. 20:59 There was a practical reason why on the day of Pentecost 21:02 God gave the gift of tongues. 21:04 Notice Acts 2:5-8. 21:07 We're going to work our way through this chapter. 21:08 We're going to study the whole chapter, 21:10 at least in broad strokes. 21:12 Acts 2:5-8 21:26 That is, the sound of the mighty rushing wind. 21:33 "...because everyone heard them..." 21:35 That is, those who were gathered, not only the twelve, 21:38 but those who were gathered in the upper room. 21:40 "...because everyone heard them..." 21:44 Doing what? 21:46 "...speak in his own language." 21:50 Now was this the gift of hearing tongues, 21:52 or was this the gift of speaking in tongues? 21:55 It was the gift of speaking in tongues. 21:58 It's not that the apostles were speaking their language 22:01 and the others were hearing in their language. No. 22:04 This was the gift of tongues spoken. 22:08 Not understanding tongues, but speaking in tongues. 22:11 And so it says in verse 6... 22:28 They probably spoke Aramaic. 22:30 So they're saying, "Aren't these individuals 22:32 persons who speak in Aramaic?" 22:48 Let me ask you, were those languages that were known 22:50 in different parts of the world? 22:52 Sure. 22:54 You certainly would not say that you're born with the 22:57 gift of speaking gibberish. 22:59 Right? 23:00 When they say they're "speaking in the languages 23:03 in which we were born," basically they're saying, 23:06 "the language of the nation that we are from." 23:08 Right? 23:09 Now, why would that happen? 23:11 Why would God give them the ability to speak 23:14 the languages of the nations in which people were born? 23:17 We need to read verses 9-11. There's the explanation. 23:20 It says that present there were what? 23:50 What did they speak? 23:52 "...the wonderful works of God." 23:56 Would they understand what the wonderful works of God were 23:59 if they were speaking gibberish that nobody understood? 24:02 Of course not. 24:03 They were speaking in languages that were known 24:06 in different parts of the world. 24:09 And the purpose of the gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost 24:12 was that there were many nations that had gathered there 24:15 because it was the feast of Pentecost. 24:17 And all men twelve years and older had to go 24:19 to the feast of Pentecost. 24:21 And so having all of the people from all of these nations, 24:25 it was necessary to share the good news about Jesus. 24:28 And therefore, God gave the apostles the capacity 24:31 to speak in the languages of these nations 24:34 so that they could share the good news about Jesus Christ. 24:38 Ellen White, in the book, Acts of the Apostles, page 39, 24:41 has this very interesting statement. 25:13 See, it was a symbol. 25:21 Do you remember Jeremiah said that he felt a fire in 25:23 his bones to share the message of God? 25:25 Well, the fire represents the zeal with which they presented 25:29 the message of Jesus Christ. 25:31 And so they were able to speak with fluency the languages 25:36 of the different nations that were represented there. 25:39 But now I want you to notice Acts 2:12-13. 25:43 Once again, we're told that those who were 25:46 present were bewildered. 25:47 And some of them started giving an explanation. 25:50 It says in Acts 2:12... 26:06 In other words, "They're drunk," is what they were saying. 26:09 Now the apostle Peter, when he heard these people say, 26:12 "Ah, they're dunk. They've drunk too much. 26:15 And therefore, they're just speaking gibberish," 26:17 the apostle Peter stood up and he says, 26:20 "I have to make an explanation here." 26:22 And you find it in verses 14 and 15. 26:45 Now question, what is the third hour of the day, 26:48 biblically speaking? 26:50 The third hour of the day is nine o'clock in the morning. 26:55 And what hour of the day was the Holy Spirit poured out? 26:59 At nine a.m. 27:01 And it took place exactly fifty days after Jesus 27:04 presented the first fruits. 27:05 Remember we studied the first fruits to the Father? 27:08 So at what time of the day did Jesus present the first fruits? 27:11 It was exactly fifty days earlier. 27:13 So it must have been at nine o'clock in the morning. 27:16 And right before nine o'clock in the morning 27:18 He met with Mary Magdalene and He said, "Don't latch onto Me, 27:22 because I have to ascend to My Father." 27:24 He had an appointment at nine o'clock in the morning 27:27 to meet with His Father in heaven 27:28 to make sure that His Father accepted His sacrifice. 27:31 And so now Peter has to explain what's happening. 27:34 And so we're not going to read the verses, but in Acts 2:16-21, 27:40 Peter quotes the prophecy from Joel 2:28-32. 27:44 He says, "This is exactly what the prophet Joel spoke about." 27:47 In other words, this is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. 27:50 And so he actually quotes this long passage from Joel 2 27:54 and he's explaining exactly what was happening 27:58 on earth at that time. 27:59 What was happening is that the prophecy of Joel 28:02 was being fulfilled before their very eyes. 28:05 And then Peter, after using the passage of Joel 28:08 to explain what was happening there on earth, 28:12 he began to tell the story of Jesus, the different stages 28:16 of the story of Jesus. 28:18 He mentioned the life of service that Jesus lived. 28:22 He mentioned the fact that Jesus died, or Jesus was killed. 28:26 And then he speaks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 28:29 So once again, it's His life, His death, and His resurrection. 28:33 Notice what he's preaching. 28:34 Could he preach that unless Jesus had 28:37 done those things first? 28:38 No. You see, Jesus lives His life, He dies, He resurrects, 28:42 and then He pours out the Holy Spirit. 28:45 And He says to the apostles, "You go preach what I did." 28:47 Now notice Acts 2:22-24 where Peter is talking about 28:52 the ministry of Jesus. 29:07 So he speaks about His life. 29:21 See, His life, His death. 29:24 And then, "...whom God..." What? 29:33 So he says, "Jesus lived a life of service, 29:36 Jesus died, and Jesus resurrected from the dead." 29:40 And then Peter says, "I've got to prove this from Scripture." 29:44 Notice he's used Joel 2. 29:46 Now he's going to use another passage to prove that 29:48 the Old Testament had already predicted that the Messiah 29:51 was going to live, He was going to die, 29:53 and He was going to resurrect. 29:54 And that passage is in Acts 2:25-28, 29:57 and it comes from Psalm 16:8-10. 30:01 It says there... 30:04 That is, concerning the Messiah. 30:22 This is Jesus speaking prophetically. 30:27 Or as the NIV says, "You will not leave me in the grave..." 30:41 So Peter is quoting Psalm 16 and he's saying, 30:44 "I have proof that the Messiah was going to live, 30:47 He was going to die, and He was going to resurrect. 30:49 It was predicted by David in Psalm 16." 30:52 So he's using Scripture as proof for what he's saying. 30:56 And then I want you to notice Acts 2:29-33. 31:00 He's spoken about the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, 31:04 the resurrection of Jesus. 31:05 Now he's going to say, "Oh, but there's something else 31:07 that happened after the resurrection." 31:09 Notice beginning with verse 29. 31:22 In other words, this psalm can't apply to David 31:24 because David didn't resurrect. 31:25 David is dead. 31:27 And then he continues saying... 31:43 Do you notice the next step? 31:45 Life, death, resurrection... 31:47 ...and ascension to the right hand of God 31:50 to sit on His throne. 31:51 Verse 31... 32:09 Now here comes a very important point. 32:26 So what was happening in the upper room was a signal 32:30 that Christ had what? 32:32 That Christ had ascended to heaven, 32:34 He had sat at the right hand of God, 32:36 and He had begun His ministry of intercession 32:40 or mediation in the heavenly Sanctuary. 32:43 And of course, Peter, he knows that people are going to say, 32:45 "Well, where do you get that from?" 32:47 And so Peter quotes two prophecies once again. 32:51 See, how did Peter know about these prophecies? 32:54 Do you remember that Jesus spent forty days on this earth, 32:57 we've studied this, speaking to the apostles about the things 33:00 pertaining to the kingdom of God? 33:02 I'm sure that Jesus explained all these prophecies 33:05 to the apostles and said, "Hey, Joel is going to be fulfilled, 33:09 Joel 2 is going to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. 33:11 Oh by the way, Peter, you need to use also Psalm 16, 33:14 because that's speaking about Me. 33:15 Oh, and you need to remember also the prophecy that we find 33:20 in Psalm 110:1; 'Sit at My right hand until I make 33:25 Your enemies Your footstool.' 33:27 And you need to remember also Psalm 132:11 where it says 33:31 that the Messiah would come from the loins of David." 33:34 And so Peter, on the day of Pentecost, is using 33:37 all of this Scripture from the Old Testament 33:38 to sustain his sermon. 33:41 In other words, it's a biblical sermon that he's preaching. 33:43 He's not entertaining the people. 33:45 He's presenting present truth about what Jesus is doing 33:48 at that particular time. 33:50 And so he quotes, in verses 34 and 35, 33:53 he quotes Psalm 132:11 and also Psalm 110:1. 33:59 And I want you to notice what it says in verses 34 and 35. 34:15 And he's quoting Psalm 110:1. 34:19 And then the apostle Peter 34:20 reaches the climax of his sermon. 34:23 And it's found in verse 36. 34:39 You say, "Wasn't Jesus Christ before that?" 34:41 Yeah, He was Christ before that. 34:43 But do you remember when we studied about 34:46 the election of the successor of Judas that Jesus, 34:50 as Aaron was, was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit 34:54 when he was clothed with the garments? 34:56 Remember, he was clothed with the high priestly garments? 34:58 And the Sanctuary was anointed with oil. 35:01 And then the oil was poured on the head of Aaron, 35:03 which represents that Jesus received the gift of the 35:06 Holy Spirit to pour out upon the apostles. 35:08 And so we find that when it says that the Lord has made Jesus 35:13 Lord and Christ, or anointed, it means that Jesus has been 35:17 anointed as the High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary. 35:21 Now when Peter finished his sermon, the question is, 35:24 what was the response of those who were present? 35:27 Apparently, Peter didn't even have to make a call. 35:30 Because we're told in verse 37, "Now when they heard this..." 35:34 That is, that Jesus had lived, He had died, He had resurrected, 35:38 He had ascended, and He was sitting at the right hand 35:40 of God, He was anointed to be the High Priest, 35:43 He was anointed to be the Advocate, or the Mediator, 35:46 or the Intercessor for those who come to Him repentant 35:50 and confessing their sins and trusting in Jesus. 35:53 Now when they hear that message, we find in verse 37... 36:01 Powerful message. 36:11 "In the light of your sermon, now that Jesus 36:13 is in the heavenly Sanctuary and He's the anointed One, 36:17 and He's poured out the Holy Spirit, 36:18 what do we need to do?" 36:21 And I want you to notice what Peter said. 36:24 It's found in verse 38. 36:32 Had Jesus already spoken those words in the upper room? 36:35 That that's what the message of the apostles needed to be? 36:39 Absolutely. 36:57 Were they going to receive the same gift of the Holy Spirit 36:59 that the apostles had received? 37:01 Yes they were. 37:03 Were they told that they should repent and be baptized? 37:06 Do you remember, that is what Jesus said in the upper room? 37:09 That they were going to be witnesses and they were 37:11 going to preach repentance and remission of sins? 37:15 So that's exactly what Peter is preaching 37:17 on the day of Pentecost. 37:18 And the people are listening, they're saying, "Oh, so Jesus 37:20 is in the heavenly Sanctuary. 37:22 He's lived His life, He's died for sin. 37:24 So what we need to do is that we need to repent, 37:27 we need to confess our sins, and we need to believe in Jesus 37:31 so that what Jesus did will be put to our account. 37:35 And so that we will be looked upon as if we had never sinned. 37:39 We need to adopt Him as our Intercessor." 37:41 And that they did. 37:43 And when they were baptized they received the Holy Spirit, 37:46 according to this. 37:47 Three thousand souls were baptized from that one sermon. 37:53 But you know what's interesting? 37:54 There is no evidence whatsoever that any of those 37:57 three thousand that were baptized and received 37:59 the Holy Spirit received the gift of tongues. 38:04 And you say, "Why not?" 38:07 For a very specific reason. 38:09 They were going to return to their nations. 38:14 And where they lived, they would not need the gift of tongues 38:17 because they could speak their native language. 38:21 It was only needed by the apostles to share the message 38:24 with them so that then they could go to the nations 38:26 and share it with the people in their nations. 38:29 And they did not need the gift of tongues to share it 38:31 with the people in their nations. 38:34 We find in Acts 2:41, and then we'll read verses 46 and 47, 38:39 the result of the sermon of Peter. 38:41 It says... 39:10 So the question is, when were these individuals saved? 39:12 Were they saved when Jesus died on the cross, 39:14 or were they saved when they accepted what 39:16 Jesus did on the cross? 39:18 When they accepted what Jesus did on the cross. 39:21 Then their sins were remitted or forgiven. 39:24 This is a very important point. 39:26 Now, why is the gift of tongues the only gift that is mentioned 39:31 in Acts 2? 39:32 You know, the Holy Spirit gives many gifts, doesn't He? 39:35 Why is the gift of tongues the only gift that is mentioned 39:38 in Acts 2? 39:40 Why didn't God give the gift of healing, 39:41 the gift of hospitality, and all of these things 39:44 to the apostles? 39:45 Listen, folks, it was because it was the gift that was 39:47 most urgently needed at that particular moment. 39:51 As it would later be needed in Caesarea, in Ephesus, 39:55 and in Corinth. 39:56 You see, on the day of Pentecost, that was 39:59 a Hebrew feast, as I mentioned before, where every man 40:03 twelve years and older had to come from any place 40:06 they lived in the world to Jerusalem to celebrate 40:09 the feast of Pentecost. 40:10 Which means that Jerusalem was bursting at the seams. 40:14 Josephus says that regularly you have over a million Jews 40:18 gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate 40:21 these harvest festivals. 40:23 Now when the Jews were dispersed among the nations, 40:28 they went to these nations, and in the course of time 40:31 they lost the ability to speak the Hebrew language. 40:35 You know, it's like second generation Hispanics 40:38 that come to the United States. 40:39 You know, we interviewed somebody for a job 40:41 here at Secrets Unsealed. 40:43 His name is Daniel Mesa. 40:44 And he can't even speak one word in Spanish. 40:47 It's because he's a second or third generation Hispanic 40:49 that has lost the ability to speak the language. 40:52 And so it was with those who were dispersed among the Jews. 40:56 They went to all of the nations, and in the course of time 40:59 they lost the knowledge of the language. 41:02 And so on the feast of Pentecost they come back to Jerusalem. 41:05 Peter and the others that are present there, they speak 41:08 the message of Jesus in the languages of these nations. 41:11 And then the idea was that they would go back to their nations 41:15 and share what they had heard. 41:18 I want to read this passage, 41:19 it's relatively long but it's really powerful, 41:22 from, Acts of the Apostles, pages 39 and 40. 41:26 Ellen White explains... 41:53 Where was the problem created? 41:56 At Babel. 41:57 God is going to say, "Now I'm going to solve 41:59 the Babel problem." 42:00 And so it says... 42:50 Folks, the gift of tongues is not a learned phenomenon. 42:55 People say, "Oh, you speak Spanish." 42:57 Because I speak Spanish fluently without an accent. 43:00 So they say, "You have the gift of tongues." 43:02 No, I don't have the gift of tongues. 43:04 Because I learned Spanish when I was a kid. 43:07 The gift of tongues is a miraculous instantaneous 43:12 gift that God gives to a person. 43:13 It's like the angels take a Rosetta Stone 43:16 and put it in the brain 43:18 so that you can speak the language accurately. 43:20 Even with the idioms, perfectly. 43:23 It's amazing. 43:25 Now let's talk about the gift that was given in Jerusalem 43:28 just a little while later. 43:30 I want you to notice some very interesting things here. 43:33 In Acts 4:31, the Holy Spirit is poured out several days later 43:39 upon a group in Jerusalem. 43:41 And I want you to notice Acts 4:31. 43:59 Is there any reference to those who were present 44:01 receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues? 44:05 No. 44:07 You say, "Why not?" 44:08 Because the feast of Pentecost had already passed. 44:11 All of the people had gone to their nations. 44:14 This was a group in the city of Jerusalem. 44:17 They did not need to speak tongues 44:19 because they lived in Jerusalem. 44:21 And so they received the power of the Holy Spirit, 44:24 but there's no record of them receiving the gift of tongues. 44:27 Now I want you to notice how the gift was poured out in Samaria. 44:31 Incidentally, was a language spoken in Samaria 44:36 which the Jews could speak? 44:38 Of course. 44:40 Do you remember when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman? 44:42 Could the Samaritan woman understand Jesus? 44:44 Of course. 44:46 The Samaritans understood the language. 44:47 They understood Aramaic. 44:49 So would you expect the gift of tongues to be poured out 44:52 in Samaria? 44:54 Absolutely not. 44:55 Notice Acts 8:14-17. 45:24 Any record of them receiving the gift of tongues 45:26 when they received the Holy Spirit? 45:28 It wasn't necessary, folks. 45:30 They were Samaritans. 45:31 They could speak in the language that people could understand. 45:36 And so it was not necessary to impart to them 45:39 the gift of tongues. 45:41 But then we go to Caesarea. 45:43 Do you remember the progression? 45:45 First Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, 45:50 and then to the ends of the earth. 45:52 Now notice that the gift was also poured out in Caesarea. 45:55 That's where the apostles met Cornelius. 45:57 You remember the Cornelius experience? 45:59 Now I'm not going to go through all of the story. 46:03 You know, Peter had this dream or this vision three times 46:07 of the sheet coming down with the unclean animals. 46:09 And God said, "What I have called clean, 46:11 don't you call unclean." 46:12 Of course, that sheet of unclean animals 46:15 represented the Gentiles. 46:16 A little while later, three Gentiles come to his doorstep, 46:20 whom he considered to be unclean. 46:23 And so you have three times he receives the vision. 46:26 And then he has three unclean Gentiles at his doorstep. 46:29 Unclean in his mind, anyway. 46:31 And so I want you to notice what happens, 46:34 according to Acts 10:44-47. 46:48 This is in Caesarea. 47:03 Was this the same gift of the day of Pentecost? 47:06 Was it the same gift that God imparted 47:07 on the day of Pentecost? 47:09 The word, "also," indicates yes. 47:12 It's been poured out upon the Gentiles also. 47:17 Now notice what it continues saying in verse 46. 47:36 Was it the same gift that was imparted 47:38 on the day of Pentecost? 47:40 Absolutely. 47:41 So was the gift of tongues the same gift that was imparted 47:44 on the day of Pentecost? 47:45 Absolutely. 47:47 Now, I want you to notice verses 44... 47:51 Actually, we already read 44-47. 47:54 Let's read Acts 11:15-16. 47:57 Acts 11:15-16 47:59 Here, we're going to show that this was the same gift 48:03 that John the Baptist spoke about. 48:05 It says in Acts 11:15-16... 48:11 This is Peter. 48:13 He's explaining to the brethren in Jerusalem what had happened. 48:22 Is this the same gift as on the day of Pentecost? 48:25 It most certainly is. 48:37 Is it the same gift that John the Baptist spoke of? 48:39 Absolutely. 48:41 So are we dealing with a gift of tongues that is gibberish? 48:45 It's not gibberish at Caesarea. 48:48 It's not gibberish in Jerusalem. 48:50 John the Baptist was not speaking about gibberish. 48:54 They were speaking about languages that were previously 48:58 unknown to the preachers which God gave them the miraculous 49:02 and supernatural ability to speak. 49:06 Now Ellen White says in, Acts of the Apostles, page 139, 49:09 why the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues 49:12 was given at Caesarea. 49:13 She says this... 49:42 Let me tell you a few things about Caesarea. 49:44 Caesarea was the most important port between Egypt and Tyre. 49:51 Egypt in the south and Tyre in the north. 49:53 People from all nations and languages and cultures 49:56 came through that port, Caesarea. 50:00 And God gave Cornelius and his family the ability 50:05 to speak in tongues so that they could share the gospel 50:09 with all of those language groups that came through the 50:12 port of Caesarea. 50:13 Are you with me or not? 50:15 Now, let's notice the gift that was imparted at Ephesus. 50:20 Acts 19:1-6 50:45 Now notice once again the reference to John the Baptist. 51:06 So is this the same gift that they're going to receive 51:10 that John the Baptist spoke about? 51:11 Absolutely. 51:13 Notice verse 5. 51:29 Why would the gift of tongues be given in the city of Ephesus? 51:33 Well, folks, Ephesus was one of the most important 51:36 trade centers on the continent of Asia. 51:40 Once again, people from every nation, kindred, tongue, 51:43 and people came through that most important trade center. 51:48 And it was necessary for these converts to proclaim the message 51:54 in the languages of the people that came through 51:57 that important city. 52:00 Ellen White explains in, Acts of the Apostles, page 283, 52:04 about this experience. 52:18 See, they're now accepting Christ as their Savior. 52:38 Now what's the purpose? 52:51 Would they need to know many languages in order 52:53 to reach out to those distances? 52:55 Absolutely. 52:57 So God says, "I'm going to give them the gift of tongues." 53:01 Now, there's one other place where we find in the book 53:04 of Acts where the gift of the Holy Spirit was given out. 53:08 And it's mentioned also in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, 53:11 This will be our next study. 53:13 The gift of tongues was also poured out in Corinth. 53:18 Why in Corinth? 53:20 Well, Corinth was one of the busiest seaports in Europe. 53:25 Once again, people from every language group went through 53:30 this port in Corinth, in Europe. 53:33 It was a metropolis. 53:36 It was a cosmopolitan city where people from 53:40 every nation went through. 53:41 And so God saw that it was necessary to impart to the 53:46 church of Corinth the gift of the Holy Spirit 53:49 so that they could share the message with all of the 53:52 language groups that came through the city of Corinth. 53:57 Now I'd like to read you a very interesting statement 54:01 as we close about the latter rain. 54:05 You know, what's going to happen in the end time? 54:07 Do you think God is going to awaken once again 54:09 the gift of tongues at the end of time? 54:15 Do you think it's going to be as prevalent as existed 54:18 in the days of the apostles? 54:20 We have no way of knowing specifically. 54:23 However, it's possible. 54:26 You say, "Why don't you think it's going to be as prevalent?" 54:29 Well, because the Seventh-day Adventist Church 54:32 has people who speak the languages of the nations 54:34 almost in every single nation on the planet. 54:37 You see, in Jerusalem and in Ephesus and in Corinth, 54:42 the work was just getting started. 54:45 But today, the message has gone worldwide. 54:48 And there are many local people who already speak the language 54:52 of the nations. 54:53 And so it's not as necessary as it was at the very beginning 54:56 of the preaching of the gospel. 54:58 But let me read you this closing statement. 55:11 Are you looking forward to that day? 55:44 Now I believe God will awaken the gift of tongues 55:46 if it is necessary. 55:49 Now what is the condition for receiving this gift? 55:52 I'd like to end this statement which we find in, 55:54 Review and Herald, July 20, 1886, 55:57 where Ellen White gives us the condition 56:00 that we need to meet in order to receive this gift 56:04 of speaking the Word of God with power. 56:06 She says, "May the Lord help His people to cleanse 56:11 the soul temple from every defilement, and to maintain 56:15 such a close connection with Him that they may be partakers 56:20 of the latter rain when it shall be poured out." 56:25 So there is a condition for receiving latter rain power 56:29 to preach the gospel as the apostles did 56:31 when the work started. 56:33 The purpose of the latter rain is to finish the work. 56:36 The purpose of the early rain and the gift of tongues 56:39 was to get the work started. 56:41 And so God, if necessary, will awaken once again 56:45 the gift of tongues. 56:47 But if not, He will have people in every nation 56:50 who will proclaim the wonderful news about Jesus 56:53 and His salvation. 56:56 Now you're saying, "What about Corinth? 56:58 What about the tongues in Corinth?" 57:00 That's a question people always have. 57:02 Was it gibberish or was it known languages? 57:06 Don't miss the next exciting episode where we will study 57:09 1 Corinthians 14. |
Revised 2016-08-18