Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180028A
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00:30 Welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:32 I'm Shelly Quinn and let me introduce the rest of the panel: 00:35 We have Pastor CA Murray with us, Mollie Steenson, 00:39 Jill Morikone and Pastor John Dinzey. 00:42 I'm so glad to have each of you here today and we are so glad 00:47 that YOU are joining us! 00:48 We want to encourage you to get your Bible and a pad, a pen, 00:53 and if you would like to follow along with these lessons, 00:56 they can be downloaded from: ABSG.Adventist.org 01:03 or go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 01:06 they'll be happy to give you a hard copy of the booklet. 01:10 We are in a wonderful study! 01:13 This is going to be such an exciting quarter. 01:15 We are studying the Book of Acts, and in particular, 01:20 I just wanted to mention that Acts is a history of the 01:25 first 30 years - it's the birth of the church 01:28 right after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 01:30 It takes us up to the end of Paul's first imprisonment. 01:35 Pastor Johnny, would you like to have our opening prayer? 01:38 Sure, let's go to the Lord in prayer... 01:40 Our Loving Heavenly Father, We want to thank You 01:43 for this opportunity to come before Your throne of grace, 01:47 and we ask You, Father, to bless us during this study, 01:51 that You will bless us with the Holy Spirit 01:53 that we may speak the words that need to be heard 01:55 by Your children. 01:57 We pray for Your blessing upon everyone that is joining us 02:00 all over the world. 02:01 May Your Holy Spirit also guide them into all truth 02:05 as well, and we thank You for this opportunity 02:08 to come before Your throne of grace. 02:10 In Jesus name...Amen 02:12 Amen and Amen! 02:13 Okay, let's read our memory text and it is actually 02:17 coming from the New Revised Standard Version... 02:19 This is Acts 2:32-33: "This Jesus God raised up, 02:26 and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore 02:31 exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from 02:35 the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out 02:40 this that you both see and hear." 02:44 There were three main festivals that the Jews celebrated 02:49 that were associated with different harvests. 02:54 On the first day after Passover, they would wave 02:56 the barley sheaf because the barley came ripe first, 03:00 and then on the fiftieth day from waving the barley sheaf, 03:03 the Jewish community celebrated the Feast of Weeks 03:08 which was also known as the Feast of the Firstfruits. 03:12 In the Greek, the word "Pentecost" means "fiftieth." 03:16 It's the Greek name of the Jewish Feast of Weeks. 03:20 This was a day of joy and thanksgiving and it was 03:24 when Israel brought the firstfruits of the 03:27 wheat harvest before the Lord. 03:31 When Jesus was resurrected, He spent 40 days 03:35 with His apostles and His disciples and then He 03:38 ascended 40 days after His resurrection... 03:42 according to Acts 1:3, but 10 days after His ascension, 03:49 and His exaltation in heaven, the outpouring of the 03:53 Holy Spirit totally changed the disciples' life. 03:57 It turned men that were fearful and prideful into men of courage 04:03 of great conviction and they would change the world. 04:09 Pentecost was a sudden and very supernatural event, 04:15 and this Feast of the Firstfruits became fitting 04:22 for the spiritual harvest of the Christian Church. 04:25 Three thousand people were baptized in a single day, 04:29 and I think Mollie is going to cover that for us. 04:31 But many people think that Pentecost 04:33 as the birthday of the church. 04:36 So I have Sunday's, "The Coming of the Spirit" 04:41 In Acts 1:4-5, the coming of the Spirit is described 04:45 as the promise of the Father... 04:50 they had heard from Jesus and that which John the Baptist 04:53 had foretold. 04:55 But all the disciples were waiting in the upper room, 04:58 120 of them, in obedience to Christ's command to 05:02 WAIT until the power was poured out from on high. 05:06 And they were assembled together in fervent prayer, 05:10 10 days of fervent prayer and sincere repentance and praise. 05:15 So let's look at Acts 2 and were going to read verses 1-3: 05:21 "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, 05:24 they were all with one accord, in one place and suddenly 05:29 there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, 05:35 and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 05:38 Then there appeared to them, it looked like to them, 05:41 divided tongues as on fire, and one sat on each of them." 05:49 So the coming of the Holy Spirit is a unique... this day of 05:54 Pentecost is a unique moment in time, moment in the history 05:59 of the church and the phenomena of the wind and fire 06:03 were signs of God's presence. 06:06 You know, in Scripture often what is called a theophany, 06:12 is a manifestation of the Lord and wind and fire 06:16 were frequently associated with that, I think of Exodus 3:2, 06:21 where the angel of the Lord appeared in a bush. 06:25 It was as fire - the bush was burning with that fire, 06:29 but it didn't burn up. 06:30 I think of Exodus 19:18, when God was speaking 06:36 the Ten Commandments in Israel and He descended on the mountain 06:42 as fire, or Exodus 13:21, when God's presence was a 06:48 pillar of fire with them throughout the night. 06:51 There was a cloud by day and a fire through the night. 06:54 But, let's look at some symbols or the places in the Scripture 07:00 where wind and fire are used for the Holy Spirit. 07:02 CA, could you read for us John 3:8; 07:06 Mollie, will you take Matthew 3:11; 07:09 and Jill, Luke 3:16; and Johnny, Acts 1:8. 07:17 John 3:8, The Bible says, "The wind blows where it wishes, 07:21 I think the King James says "listed," 07:23 and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where 07:27 it comes from and where it goes. 07:30 So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 07:34 So here we see the Holy Spirit is associated with 07:36 wind as a symbol. 07:38 And Matthew 3:11, Okay... "I indeed baptize you with 07:43 water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me 07:46 is mightier than I whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. 07:51 He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." 07:56 The Holy Spirit and fire, so here we see fire used 08:00 as a symbol for the Holy Spirit, and you know, we know 08:04 that the Holy Spirit worked throughout the Old Testament 08:09 and even in the New. 08:10 His influence was felt upon people, but never 08:15 in His fullness did He come until Pentecost. 08:19 Luke 3:16, "John answered, saying to all, "I indeed 08:24 baptize you with water, but One mightier than I 08:27 is coming whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. 08:30 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." 08:33 So John the Baptist used that word "fire" 08:36 to talk about the Holy Spirit. 08:37 Acts 1:8... Acts 1:8, "But you shall 08:43 receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, 08:47 and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, 08:49 and in all Judea, and Samaria and to the end of the earth." 08:54 So here we see that the power of the Holy Spirit, 08:59 when He comes upon them, that they, at Pentecost, 09:03 the promise was fulfilled. 09:06 Jesus said, "Go, wait in Jerusalem until the promise 09:10 of the Father is poured out," and the baptism of the Spirit 09:15 at Pentecost... once again, we just want to say this, 09:20 this is a unique event that was associated with the resurrection 09:28 of Jesus Christ at His ascension into Heaven; 09:31 His victory on the cross and His exaltation in heaven. 09:37 So even though that is a unique event, we don't see the 09:41 Holy Spirit again being poured out with tongues of 09:44 fire and the mighty rushing wind, 09:47 as a believer, being filled with the Holy Spirit is 09:53 something that is continuous 09:56 in the believer's lives. 09:58 And I want to read to you, Acts 4:29-31, 10:03 The disciples have come together and they have been 10:10 threatened not to speak, with arrests going on, 10:14 and in verse 29 it says, they're praying... 10:18 "Now Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your 10:24 servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 10:29 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs 10:33 and wonders may be done through the name 10:36 of Your Holy Servant Jesus. 10:39 And when they had prayed, and this is the same group 10:43 of people who, in the upper room, when they had prayed, 10:48 the place where they were assembled together was shaken 10:52 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." 10:58 Now, this isn't a repetition of Pentecost, 11:01 but it is the continuation of receiving power from on High. 11:07 So he says, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit 11:11 and they spoke the word of God with boldness." 11:17 So they received a fresh filling. 11:21 You know, when Jesus said to us in Luke 11:9-13, 11:24 He said, "To ask, to seek, to knock... 11:30 These are linear verbs and it was a continual progression; 11:35 we need to keep on asking, keep on seeking, 11:38 keep on knocking and He said, "How much more will 11:41 your Father give the Holy Spirit to those who 11:44 keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking." 11:48 And Ephesians 5:18, I want to read that to you from the 11:51 Amplified... Paul writes, "Do not get drunk with wine 11:57 for that is debauchery, but ever be filled 12:02 and stimulated with the Holy Spirit." 12:05 This is a continuous action. 12:07 So, how do you know when the Holy Spirit 12:11 is working in your life? 12:13 What evidence do you have? 12:14 I want to give you what I believe is the #1 thing... 12:19 In Romans 5:5, Paul writes that God pours His 12:27 love, the very essence of His being, this divine 12:31 self-sacrificing love, into our hearts 12:34 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 12:36 In 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, one of my favorite 12:41 Scriptures in the Bible shows us that as we grow in the 12:45 love of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, 12:48 we grow in holiness, we grow to be more like God. 12:52 It says this: "May the Lord make you increase and abound 12:55 in love to one another and to all... who's doing the action 12:59 here?... the Lord, just as we do to you, 13:03 so that, for the purpose of, He may establish your hearts 13:07 blameless in holiness before our God and Father 13:12 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints." 13:16 So I believe that when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit 13:21 it is you're being filled with the essence of God, 13:25 this self-sacrificing love and you'll see two things 13:30 that will result from that... 13:31 #1... When God's love is operating in your heart, 13:35 there is no selfishness in your life - that is the way 13:40 to overcome selfishness, is to let God pour His 13:44 love into you so that you can love Him with all of your 13:47 heart, soul, mind and strength and love others as yourself. 13:52 But the other thing is... Why did Jesus say He was giving 13:56 us the Holy Spirit? To give us power to witness. 13:59 And I believe when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, 14:03 you will speak boldly, you'll share your testimony 14:07 with others about how Jesus is working in your life... 14:12 You will be a witness for Him. 14:15 Amen. Well done and well said! 14:18 And I want to pick up something that you touched on 14:21 the idea that the Spirit is given for a purpose. Yes 14:25 It's mission-driven. 14:26 On Monday, we talked about the gift of tongues, 14:30 and I want to read a little something from the lesson, 14:34 and then use that as a launching pad for 14:36 one or two additional statements. 14:39 The lesson says, "The gift of tongues at Pentecost 14:42 did not occur because it is the typical or even the most 14:47 important evidence of endowment of the Spirit." 14:50 We'll get back to that... it was manifested in order 14:53 to launch the church's world mission. 14:56 That is, the calling given in Acts 1:8 required 15:01 the gift of tongues. 15:03 "If the apostles were to cross cultural barriers 15:06 and reach the ends of the earth with the gospel, 15:09 they would need to be able to speak in languages 15:14 of those who needed to hear what they had to say." 15:18 So the gift of tongues was a manifestation of the presence 15:25 of the Holy Spirit on that occasion. 15:27 This "inauguration," if I can use that term, 15:31 of the Christian era, is a one-of-a-kind 15:35 as you so well said, event, and so those things that 15:40 happened at Pentecost should not be taken as necessary 15:45 every time the church meets. Absolutely! 15:47 Because this is a special thing. 15:50 The Holy Spirit is mission-driven. 15:53 Christ said in John 16:13, It's not going to speak 15:56 on its own, He's not going to speak on His own. 15:58 He's going to speak about Me. 16:00 That was His mission. Christ said, "If I don't 16:02 go, it's not going to come, and when He comes, 16:04 He's not going to flag Himself, He's going to talk about Me. 16:09 So there has been a parsing... you notice sometimes we get 16:15 off on things - was the miracle speaking in tongues 16:19 or hearing the tongues, and I've heard that 16:21 discussion over and over again. 16:22 Where was the miracle? 16:23 I think it is best always to stay with the word of God 16:28 and take it as it is presented before you. 16:31 In Acts 2:4, the Bible says this: "And they were all 16:36 filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak 16:41 in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." 16:45 So I'm coming down on the side that the miracle 16:48 was they spoke in other tongues. 16:51 For what purpose? 16:53 The purpose was so that the gospel could be promulgated. Yes 16:57 That's the purpose of the Spirit, not to say, 17:00 "Well, I got the Spirit" or you know, that kind of thing. 17:03 The Spirit had a mission. 17:05 The mission was to get the word out about Jesus. 17:08 Further evidence is the fact that there were those who 17:13 understood that the people who were speaking 17:17 were Galileans. 17:18 Now evidently, there was something about the Galilean 17:23 speech pattern because when Peter was speaking in the 17:30 courtyard of the high priest, the maiden said, "Your speech 17:35 betrays you." There's something about 17:38 your speech pattern... Now Galilee was up north 17:40 and Jerusalem down south. 17:41 I remember the first time we met 17:43 Mollie Steenson, you may not remember. 17:44 You came to New York to talk to all the pastors, 17:48 and when you opened your mouth, about two words in, 17:51 we said, "Oh, she's not from here." Laughter... 17:54 Now I wonder why? Laughter... 17:56 Now having gone to school in Alabama, 17:58 I recognized that it was an Alabama accent, 18:02 but we had French pastors, and Spanish pastors who were 18:05 kind of struggling because they weren't really used to 18:07 the New York accent, let alone the Alabama accent. 18:11 But there was something about the speech... so there were 18:13 those who understood that these speakers were 18:16 Galilean and yet we hear in our own language 18:21 the wonderful words of God. 18:23 Now there are some themes that I want to go through 18:25 very quickly - that I think should not be missed. 18:30 #1.. This Book of Acts is Luke talking about 18:40 the Acts of the New Testament. 18:42 Later on, Paul discusses the theology when he goes to 18:46 Corinth and we get a better breakdown of what he's 18:49 doing and what he's saying here, but there are some 18:51 things that I should not be missed... 18:54 #1... The gift of tongues was for the purpose of the 18:58 promulgation of the gospel, and when we think about 19:01 about the gift of tongues and how tongues is used, 19:04 it must be understood that the Holy Spirit 19:07 didn't come just to la, la, la, la, la, la. 19:11 The Holy Spirit has a mindset and it's 19:15 being used to lift up Christ. 19:17 And at this point, what they were trying to do 19:20 is to move that audience from their Jewish thinking 19:24 to a Christ-centered thinking and the purpose of the Spirit 19:29 on that occasion was to lift up and magnify Jesus. 19:33 #2... There is no evidence in this narrative that would make 19:37 this a test of presence of the power of the gospel 19:41 So what I'm saying here is that the Bible is not saying 19:45 that unless you speak in tongues at any given occasion 19:48 you are devoid of the Holy Spirit - you can't get that 19:52 from this text; nor can you get that from Paul's 19:56 message to the Corinthians. 19:59 So it's not a test - this is as you well said, Shelley, 20:02 the inauguration of a brand new event - God is doing 20:05 something special because of this inauguration. 20:08 #3... Tongues were known languages - how do we know? 20:13 We go back to Acts 2. 20:17 Go into Acts 2, I want to start at verse 6, 20:22 and then we can move on. 20:24 "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together 20:27 and were confused because everyone heard them speak 20:30 in his own language." 20:33 So we're talking about intelligible languages. 20:36 And, of course, there were Jews that were part of the diaspora 20:39 who had come together for this particular time. 20:42 I should have read verse 5 with that because it says, 20:44 "Devout men from every nation." Yes, from every nation 20:47 under heaven." 20:50 So we know that people are coming together, 20:53 and it's shown a little bit later. 20:57 "And how is it that we hear each of our own language 21:00 in which we were born? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, 21:04 those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 21:07 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene." 21:12 So this is a wide dispersion, visitors from Rome, 21:16 both Jews and proselytes, those who had joined themselves, 21:20 Cretans, Arabs - we hear them speaking in our own tongues 21:24 the wonderful works of God. 21:26 So again, the reason that this is happening is so that 21:29 they can understand and hear of the wonderful works of God. 21:34 So, there are Jews living outside of Palestine, 21:37 and the focus was the wonderful works of God. 21:41 And really, whenever we come together, 21:43 the focus is the wonderful works of God. Amen! 21:46 And what the Holy Spirit is impressing upon us 21:48 IS how wonderful God is to us, His children. 21:52 The notion of an unknown tongue or an unintelligible 21:57 heavenly tongue cannot be sustained 22:00 from this particular passage. 22:01 You can't use this passage to prove that or even to 22:05 assert that because it simply is not there. 22:07 And #6... What happens at the inauguration 22:10 of an event is not usually normative for its operation. 22:15 When the president is elected, there is an inauguration... 22:19 That's a one-time thing, it doesn't happen every day, 22:22 it's just to kickoff the presidency, 22:24 so a year later, you don't re-inaugurate, 22:26 that's a one-time thing. 22:28 As such, the events of Acts 2, the Pentecost experience 22:33 were a singular one of a kind event. 22:37 It was a singular experience. 22:39 So to come to church and routinely expect 22:44 everyone to have this experience to manufacture 22:48 this experience, is not biblical. 22:51 It is not something that is supported by 22:54 this particular text. 22:58 And so that's the experience here... again, Paul 23:02 spends a lot more time walking us through this 23:05 later on in Corinthians, but in Luke 23:07 in looking at this day and trying to diagnose 23:11 what he saw and what was going on, realized 23:14 that this was a powerful, powerful, powerful experience 23:19 preparatory to Peter's great sermon which I know 23:23 is coming up and we can move to that now. 23:26 Well and the response to these different tongues... 23:30 some people, it says in verse 12 "and they were amazed," 23:33 but what did it say in verse 13? 23:35 Others mocking said, "These men are full of new wine." 23:39 Now that's the King James version. 23:41 What were they saying, Jill, about what was the 23:45 indication of that? 23:46 They were drunk, they were drunk! 23:48 Okay, now Peter is not gonna just to set on that. 23:51 Look at verse 14... "But Peter standing up 23:54 with the eleven lifted up his voice," and this is what I 23:57 get to talk to you about, Peter's sermon. 23:59 You know this is Peter's first evangelistic crusade... 24:03 right here in the Book of Acts and he has just come down 24:07 from the upper room and he is full of what? 24:10 Filled with the Holy Spirit and power. 24:12 Now can you imagine, before Peter went up into 24:15 the upper room saying, "Hey Pete, what are you all 24:17 gonna do up there? He didn't have a clue. 24:20 And he sure didn't know what was going to happen 24:22 when he came down... he was just submitted 24:25 and committed to God and ready 24:27 to do whatever the Lord would show him. 24:29 So, the first thing Peter does when he raised up his voice 24:37 when he was countering this that they were drunk... 24:41 He laid a scriptural foundation from the old testament. 24:44 Actually, it was from - I think it's the Book of Joel. 24:49 Joel's prophecy, but now remember the people 24:54 that are there, what was the population of Jerusalem? 24:57 I think it was between like 30 and 40,000. Um hm 25:00 It is estimated the number of people that is here in Jerusalem 25:04 at this time... see they are there for 25:06 the Feast of Pentecost and there could be over 25:09 80,000 people there and they're coming to celebrate 25:15 the Feast of Pentecost, so what would that tell you 25:17 about them? They're Jews! 25:20 They are Jewish believers, but they weren't all 25:23 from this area... we've already seen in the 25:24 Scriptures where they were from all over the world. 25:30 And they didn't all understand Arabic which is 25:34 probably what they, you know, were speaking was Arabic. 25:38 "Therefore, the need for the gift of tongues." 25:42 So when Peter quoted from the Old Testament Book of Joel, 25:47 these people that were there as celebrating 25:51 the Feast of Pentecost, they were very familiar 25:55 with the Book of Joel. 25:56 So they were familiar with the Scriptures. 25:59 So now, I have this opportunity and I just thought of 26:02 what is the best way to present this and I decided 26:05 just "let me read this to you." 26:08 This is the sermon and we're gonna see at the end, 26:11 it was a mighty powerful sermon. 26:13 Okay, Acts 2, I'm going to start with verse 16-21. 26:17 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 26:20 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, 26:23 that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; 26:27 Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 26:29 Your young men shall see visions, 26:31 Your old men shall dream dreams... 26:33 CA, I know you're dreaming dreams. 26:35 And on My menservants and on My maidservants 26:38 I will pour out My Spirit in those days; 26:41 And they shall prophesy. 26:43 I will show wonders in heaven above 26:47 And signs in the earth beneath; 26:49 Blood and fire and vapor of smoke... again there's 26:53 those things that are indicative of the Spirit of God 26:56 of God moving powerfully. 26:58 Verse 20: The sun shall be be turned into darkness. 27:01 And the moon into blood, 27:02 Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 27:06 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on 27:09 the name of the Lord Shall be saved." Amen! 27:12 So first Peter lays the Scriptural foundation, 27:16 but now this is his first evangelistic crusade; 27:19 he's just explaining to them this is what's going on. 27:23 You know he's going to have to bring in the Lord Jesus Christ. 27:26 Okay, Joel's prophecy was about the future age of salvation 27:32 which was characterized by several signs as a result of the 27:35 outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 27:38 Peter stresses the historical relevance of what they were 27:43 witnessing firsthand. 27:45 Verse 17 is a quote from Joel 2:28, 27:48 but there is one difference and I think this is worth 27:52 noting... instead of Joel's introductory afterwards 27:56 "And it shall come to pass afterward, Peter said, 28:00 "And it shall come to pass in the last days." 28:03 And what he is doing is making the point that the final 28:08 act of this great drama of salvation has just begun. 28:14 And they didn't know when the end would come, 28:16 but were convinced it wouldn't be... and aren't we convinced 28:19 of that... it's not gonna be long - the Lord is returning 28:22 He's returning for everyone who is committed 28:26 and submitted their life to Him. 28:27 So that was Peter's plea. 28:32 After highlighting the prophetic significance of Pentecost, 28:36 Peter turned to the recent events of Jesus' life, 28:40 death and resurrection. 28:42 This is the crux - it is the resurrection; however, 28:47 that received the greatest emphasis - what would that be? 28:50 Without the resurrection, there is no gospel message. 28:56 For Peter, the resurrection was the ultimate vindication 29:00 of Jesus because Jesus was the Messiah; 29:03 He could not be detained by death. 29:06 So for Peter and for all the writers of the New Testament, 29:10 the resurrection of Jesus had become the most powerful 29:15 evidence, not only of Jesus as the Messiah, 29:19 but for the whole Christian message of salvation. 29:22 Now, let's pick up again on this wonderful powerful 29:26 message of Peter - we will look in 29:28 Acts 2- again we're going to start with 29:31 verse 22 and go through verse 33... 29:34 "Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, 29:38 a Man attested by God to you by miracles... 29:42 Now who is he talking to? Men of Israel! 29:45 Attested by God to you by miracles, by wonders 29:50 and signs which God did through Him in your midst, 29:53 as you yourselves already know... 29:56 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and 30:00 foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, 30:04 have crucified and put to death... see Peter didn't 30:07 mince words, did he? He just spoke it like it was. 30:11 ... whom God raised up... and God did what? 30:13 Praise God! Raised up. 30:15 Having loosed the pangs of death because it was 30:19 not possible that He should be helped by it." 30:22 "For David says concerning Him... 30:24 ... Now we're going back to Psalms quoting from the 30:26 Old Testament, Psalm 16:8. 30:29 David said, "I foresaw the Lord always before my 30:34 face for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. 30:38 Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; 30:42 moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. 30:45 For You will not leave my soul in Hades. 30:48 Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 30:52 You have made known to me the ways of life. 30:55 You will make me full of joy in Your presence." 31:00 Then Peter goes on and says, "Men and brethren, 31:02 let me speak freely... which he is doing... 31:05 to you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and 31:10 buried and his tomb is with us to this day. 31:13 Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn 31:17 with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, 31:20 according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ 31:24 to sit on his throne. 31:26 He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection 31:29 of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, 31:34 nor did His flesh see corruption. 31:36 This Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses." 31:42 There's that word again, "witnesses." 31:45 You can argue with anything, anybody's doctrine - something 31:49 they say, "Oh I've taught" or something you get secondhand, 31:52 but these had seen and they had heard with their own 31:56 eyes and their own ears. 31:58 It's so vitally important that we have a personal 32:02 relationship, a personal experience with the 32:06 Lord Jesus Christ. 32:07 Let's finish this up with verse 33. 32:10 "Therefore, being by the right hand of God, 32:14 ... talking of Jesus... exalted and having received 32:18 of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, 32:20 He has shed forth this... He has shed forth this, 32:24 which you now see and hear." 32:28 Now, we know that Peter... again this is his first sermon 32:34 after he comes out of the upper room FULL of the 32:38 Holy Spirit, full of boldness and we know that this 32:41 was a powerfully impacting and successful evangelistic crusade 32:47 because the Scripture goes on to say that over 32:50 3,000 were added to the church that day. 32:54 So Peter's sermon, powerful, full of God's word, 32:59 and anointed of the Holy Spirit and that same 33:03 anointing will rest on every one of us as we 33:07 ... just ask God, "Oh Father, fill us with 33:10 Your Holy Spirit, Father we want this power 33:14 to be witnesses to the whole world." 33:18 AMEN, thank you so much Mollie! 33:20 Wouldn't you have loved to be there? Yes! 33:22 Being there in Jerusalem and to sit under Peter 33:25 and just to hear the anointing of the Holy Spirit 33:28 and want what he had to share. 33:30 I mean, we can read that and you did a wonderful job of 33:33 portraying some of that power and energy that was 33:36 in the text, but just to sit there and to hear that 33:39 it's amazing, but the beautiful thing to me is that 33:42 here at the end of time, the Holy Spirit I believe will 33:45 be poured out in great measure again. Amen! 33:48 We have seen the Holy Spirit at work in the church 33:51 all the way through the ages since that time, 33:53 but I think in the great measure we're going to see 33:56 the latter rain fall again and I'm just excited... 33:58 Lord Jesus, I want to be part of that. 34:01 I want to experience that and to see that and know that. 34:05 Well I have Wednesday... you just got me all excited Mollie. 34:08 Alright! I have Wednesday which is on 34:10 "The Exaltation of Jesus." 34:15 What was the condition for the coming of the Spirit? 34:18 Shelley talked about that... being in one accord, 34:20 in one place - that prayer, that upper room 34:24 experience, that unity. 34:26 In addition, there's another condition for receiving, 34:29 the coming of the Holy Spirit and that is the 34:31 exaltation of Jesus. 34:33 My portion of Scripture here is Acts 2:33-36, 34:38 but before we go there, I want to take a step back... 34:41 When we talk about the exaltation of Jesus... 34:43 you might be saying - I have no idea what that means, 34:46 and after Jesus was crucified, He rested in the tomb 34:49 over Sabbath, he was resurrected on Sunday, 34:53 and we know that He spent the 40 days with the disciples, 34:59 not every day all day, but He was seen of them 35:02 several times during that time. 35:04 But the exaltation of Jesus refers to when He ascended up. 35:08 Acts 1:9-11 talks about the clouds receiving Him 35:11 from the disciples' sight. 35:13 "And when He went up, Him being, as it were, 35:17 reinstated at the right hand of the Father 35:20 that hand of power signifying God's approval 35:24 of what had taken place... 35:26 Jesus' accomplishment, you can say, His death on the cross, 35:30 and the vindication of the character of God. 35:34 So I want to look, just a moment at the Great Controversy. 35:38 We see the Great Controversy began in heaven really. 35:42 Satan and how sin originated to me is just a mystery... 35:47 A perfect created being we know and in Ezekiel 28, 35:51 it talks about Lucifer being created, it talks about 35:55 him being the covering cherub and all of that, 35:58 and then it say that he was perfect in the day 36:01 that he was created and then Ezekiel 28:16 says that... 36:05 "By the abundance of your trading you became 36:09 filled with violence within." 36:11 The word for trading is "slander or literally 36:14 to go about from one to another trading either goods or words. 36:19 And so in the very beginning Satan began to cast doubt 36:23 as it were, Mollie, on the character of God, 36:26 on God's righteous law and began to cast that doubt. 36:30 ... God really isn't loving, God's law really isn't 36:34 such and such and he began to cast that doubt... 36:36 And that was spread to this earth and for 4,000 years 36:40 until the coming of Jesus, there was still some doubt 36:45 as to the character of God and so Jesus came... 36:48 When He came and lived a perfect life proved that the law 36:54 of God is holy, just and good and He died, 36:57 of course we know He died to redeem sinful humanity... 37:00 Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fallen short 37:04 of the glory of God." 37:06 And we know that we're all under, as it were, 37:08 the curse of the law because we all have sinned. 37:11 And the wages of sin... if we're a sinner, 37:13 the wages of sin, Romans 6:23, is death. 37:17 1 Peter 1:18-19: One of my favorite Scriptures... 37:21 "Knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible 37:24 things like silver or gold, but with the precious 37:28 blood of Christ, as of a lamb 37:31 without blemish and without spot." 37:32 So Jesus' death on the cross, it redeemed sinful humanity. 37:36 We were given the choice to accept the blood of Jesus. 37:40 Applied to, as it were, the door post and the lintel of our heart 37:44 to be cleansed and to have that hope of eternal life. 37:48 But not only that, at the cross, the character of God 37:53 in a special way was vindicated and Satan was exposed as a 37:56 fraud and was fully defeated. Praise God! 37:59 He was cast down! Praise the Lord! 38:01 Let's look at John 12 and then we'll get to 38:06 our passage in Acts - we are going there. 38:14 John 12:31-32: Jesus said, "Now this is the judgment 38:23 of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 38:28 He's referring to Satan and the judgment 38:31 that's going to take place upon Satan. 38:33 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw 38:36 all men, all people to Myself." 38:39 So at the cross, in a special way, the character of Satan 38:44 versus the character of God was clearly revealed 38:47 and shown and Satan was cast out. 38:51 Now we have Jesus' exaltation in heaven when He ascended... 38:55 We know that He had exalted status before 38:58 He came to this earth. 38:59 John 1:1- what does it say? "In the beginning was the word, 39:02 and the word was with God and the word was God. 39:06 And then John 1:14 says: "The word was 39:09 made flesh and dwelt among us." 39:11 We know that word is the Lord Jesus Christ, so in the 39:14 beginning He was with God and He was God. 39:18 So in the beginning, from all eternity, 39:20 Jesus had the same exalted position. 39:22 He IS God, He WAS God. 39:25 But then Philippians 2 talks about Him humbling 39:28 Himself as a man and to the death of the cross. 39:32 After the cross and after He brought back into 39:37 heaven, the Holy Spirit would not have been given if Jesus 39:42 was not exalted and Jesus would not have been 39:45 exalted if He had not triumphed on the cross. 39:50 John 17:4-5: "Jesus says, I have glorified You on the 39:54 earth. I have finished the work You have given Me to do. 39:57 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself 40:00 with the glory I had with You before the world was." 40:03 Now let's read our passage in Acts... 40:05 Acts 2, I'm going to pick up with a couple of the 40:08 verses Mollie finished with. 40:09 Acts 2:32: "This Jesus God has raised up of which 40:15 we are all witnesses... he is talking about the 40:17 resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ... 40:20 Then verse 33..."Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God 40:25 and having received from the Father the promise of the 40:29 Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now 40:32 see and hear." To pour out means to pour out, 40:35 to shed liberally... He poured out the gift 40:38 of the Holy Spirit. Then he goes on... 40:40 For David did not ascend into the heavens," but he says 40:44 and then Peter quotes from Psalm 110:1: "The Lord 40:49 meaning God the Father said to my Lord, David's writing 40:54 meaning "My Lord the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ," 40:58 Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 41:05 The right hand of the Father is that position of authority, 41:10 position of power. 41:13 The Holy Spirit could not fully come if Jesus were not 41:17 exalted... Remember, Jesus told His disciples, in John 7:39, 41:22 "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, who knows 41:25 believing in Him would receive for the Holy Spirit 41:28 was not yet given." 41:29 Meaning in this great measure, as it was at the inauguration 41:32 of the church there at Pentecost because Jesus 41:35 was not yet glorified. 41:37 He was not yet ascended to His Father and reinstated 41:41 as it were, installed at the right hand of the Father. 41:47 I want to look at one more verse, jump over 2 chapters. 41:52 Acts 5:32-33, No, I'm sorry, 31 and 32... 41:59 "Him, God has exalted to His right hand - meaning Jesus 42:07 is exalted to the right hand of God the Father, 42:09 to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance 42:12 to Israel and forgiveness of sins and we are His 42:16 witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit 42:19 whom God has given to those who obey Him." 42:22 Talking the same thing... after the cross, 42:25 Jesus on the tree, resurrected and reinstated, exalted 42:30 to the position at the right hand of the Father 42:33 to give repentance to Israel, forgiveness of sins 42:35 and to give the church in power the Holy Spirit. 42:40 Amen! Amen! Well praise the Lord, 42:42 that just brings us to the last part of the lesson, 42:46 and you built a good foundation, praise the Lord. 42:50 This is a marvelous work that God does. 42:54 Now notice that the Scripture she read says that the fact 42:59 that Jesus Christ was exalted to be a Prince and a Savior 43:04 to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 43:09 So this is the basis and here is Peter preaching 43:12 about that very thing. 43:14 And so God is doing a work like that today, 43:20 and we're going to talk about that in a little while, 43:22 but let's go... again Peter is talking and I want to 43:26 highlight something that was going on because 43:29 before Peter started to preach, the other disciples, 43:35 the people that had received, the others that had received 43:37 the blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 43:40 they were speaking as it says in Acts 2:11... 43:46 We do hear them speak in our tongues 43:49 the wonderful works of God. 43:52 So their hearts were being prepared for what Peter 43:55 was about to do, but here comes the devil 43:57 trying to throw in one of those stones... 44:00 Oh these guys are just full of new wine... 44:02 In other words, "Don't listen to these people, 44:03 they are just babbling, but they had heard the 44:07 wonderful works of God and their attention was peaked. 44:10 And Peter starts to talk with the 44:13 inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that's 44:16 what we have to understand. 44:17 You know, anyone that gets up in front of people 44:20 to speak the word of God, needs to do what they did. 44:23 What did they do? They humbled themselves 44:25 before the Lord asking for the Lord to forgive them, 44:28 asking for the Holy Spirit to be poured out, 44:31 the promised blessing. 44:33 This is what we do here, we come to the Lord, 44:36 ask the Lord to bless us with the Holy Spirit that we may 44:38 speak the wonderful works of God. 44:41 So these people were hearing 44:43 the wonderful works of God and as they heard 44:46 oh, it's a marvelous Scripture - let's go there 44:49 to Acts 2 and you read already verse 36. 44:55 Let's read that verse 36 again. 44:57 Acts 2:36: And this is the Scripture... 45:02 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly 45:05 that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, 45:09 both Lord and Christ. Amen! 45:13 So now they are understanding you have crucified the Messiah! 45:18 And as they heard this... notice verse 37, 45:21 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart 45:25 and said to Peter and the rest of the people... 45:28 Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 45:33 So it's interesting that it says, "What shall we do?" 45:35 It wasn't just one individual, it was a lot of people, 45:39 and I imagine that some with just tears in their eyes, 45:42 they realized that they were guilty of killing the Messiah. 45:48 And when they were cut to the heart, they were asking 45:50 "Now what do we do?" 45:52 They had no idea what they had to do, so Peter answered... 45:56 Under the power of the Holy Spirit, he says: 46:01 Verse 38, "Then Peter said to them, "Repent and let 46:05 every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ 46:09 for the remission of sins and you shall receive 46:13 the gift of the Holy Spirit. 46:15 For the promise is to you and to your children, 46:19 and to all who are afar off and as many as the Lord 46:22 our God will call." 46:24 And so the lesson, as we look at the lesson, it brings us into 46:28 some questions about what is this... repentance. 46:32 He asked them to REPENT, they apparently understood 46:35 what the message was and only when you understand 46:39 a message, can you really repent? 46:40 Only when you understand that you have committed 46:42 some sin - can you really repent of the sin. 46:46 You know I'm saying this to you because 46:48 recently I received a little video... 46:51 I don't know how my name gets into some of these things. 46:54 I received a video and they are showing this person 46:57 that supposed to be some kind of priest baptizing 47:00 a baby and the little baby has no idea what's going on, 47:05 and he turned the baby upside-down, dunked his 47:09 head in the water and then dunked his feet in the water 47:12 and dunked his head in the water again 47:13 while he was saying some things, 47:15 but the baby could not repent because the baby had no 47:19 idea what sin is. 47:20 So what is repentance? 47:23 Repentance has already been mentioned by Sister Shelley, 47:25 it includes sorrow for sin, a desire for cleansing, 47:30 but you want to be cleansed and turn away from the evil 47:35 that brought you to that condition. 47:37 You don't want to be doing those things anymore. 47:39 You want the Lord to give you the power to be victorious. 47:45 You want to be renewed and David said, 47:48 "Take not Your Holy Spirit from me" in Psalm 51. 47:52 So repentance is not just sorrow for sin, 47:56 it's a desire to turn away, and I say this... 47:58 I better look at the time because I'm getting excited 48:01 forgetting about the time... 48:02 And Judas - you look at Judas and it seemed like he had 48:07 some kind of sorrow for sin. 48:10 You know, as we look at Judas, he didn't really expect 48:14 Jesus to allow Himself to be taken captive, 48:17 to allow Himself to be beaten... 48:19 He thought Jesus was going to escape. 48:21 He thought...I'm gonna make some money out of this 48:23 and go my way... 48:25 And I imagine that Judas was waiting for the moment, 48:28 kept following to see where are they taking Him? 48:30 When is He going to get away? 48:32 But Jesus would not, He stayed there, 48:36 He was suffering every insult; the spitting; 48:39 the slapping; and every insult. 48:43 And, of course, he comes... he says, "I have sinned 48:46 in that I have betrayed innocent blood." 48:49 So we see Judas coming to this condition, but he didn't go 48:56 all the way - he had sorrow for the results 48:59 of the sin, but not a desire to turn away from it... 49:04 And that's what makes the difference between these people 49:07 listening there because they're asking men and women, 49:09 "What shall we do?" Repent and Peter follows by 49:12 saying, "And be baptized every one of you 49:16 in the name of Jesus Christ." 49:17 So repentance and baptism come together, 49:21 and that's what the disciples were teaching - repentance 49:24 and baptism. 49:26 And baptism is, as we understand it, and illustrated in 49:32 Romans 6, is that you are fully submerged in water... 49:37 that's what the word "baptism" means, "baptiso" 49:41 submersed in water fully covered and then when 49:44 you're brought back up out of the water, 49:46 it symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 49:49 and you, when you're under the water, it's a death 49:52 to your old way of life. Amen! 49:54 And coming out of the water, it's a resurrection- born again. 49:59 Jesus said, "You must be born of water and the Spirit." 50:02 Now here it is connected to John 3- Jesus said, "You must 50:06 be born of water and the Spirit"... the Holy Spirit. 50:10 Now, the person understands and begins 50:13 a new walk with the Lord. 50:14 Now, as has been said, the Holy Spirit was always 50:17 working in the person's life, trying to lead them 50:20 close to the Lord, but when the person is baptized, 50:24 just as we saw when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit 50:28 comes upon the person in a new way... in a sense 50:33 that now the person allows the Holy Spirit to lead 50:36 and guide his or her life and that person now becomes 50:41 "a new creature," as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17... 50:45 How does it go? "Old things are passed away 50:50 and all things have become new." 50:52 You become a new creation, it says. 50:54 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, 50:56 old things have passed away, 50:58 all things have become new." 50:59 And you then become an ambassador for Christ 51:02 with the power of the Holy Spirit - to be able to 51:06 witness unto others of the great things 51:08 that God has done for you. 51:10 And I want to again highlight before we close 51:13 that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost 51:17 and the promise of the latter rain - the outpouring of the 51:21 Holy Spirit is coming soon to God's Children. Amen! 51:25 We should be preparing for the outpouring of 51:28 the Holy Spirit... how did they prepare? 51:30 We need to study, Acts 2, what were the disciples doing? 51:34 We need to be doing that, we need to empty ourselves 51:36 of sin - put away sin, come to the Lord 51:39 and say, "Lord, here I am, bless us with the Holy Spirit." 51:42 We need to ask for the blessing of the Holy Spirit 51:46 in the fullness of the measure that God wants to do 51:49 because the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were baptized. 51:53 We expect to see GREAT miracles take place 51:57 under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit - the latter rain 52:01 that is needed today to finish the work. 52:04 The work needs to be finished. 52:05 Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be 52:09 preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations 52:12 and then the end shall come." 52:14 Let us ask for this blessing, we need the blessing 52:17 of the Holy Spirit in the fullness of the power 52:19 because the time has come for God's people to be used 52:22 by the Lord in such a mighty way that they will 52:24 once again - the crowd, the multitudes will ask, 52:28 "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 52:32 AMEN! Amen! Praise the Lord! Thank you! 52:35 You know, I'm sitting here thinking - "Praise God for 52:38 the Pentecost," praise God for the "resurrection, 52:41 the exultation of Jesus Christ," 52:43 but aren't we glad that Jesus promised to send another 52:49 just like Him Holy, I think of John 14:15 when Jesus 52:54 said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments," and it goes on 52:59 in the next verse, verse 16... 53:01 He said, "And... this is kind of a conditional thing... 53:04 if you're keeping My commandments, 53:06 I will pray the Father and He will send another Helper." 53:12 In the Greek that's "allos Parakletos" - one who is 53:16 exactly like Me is what that means. 53:19 He says, "He's going to send you one who's exactly like Me, 53:23 and He will abide with you forever." 53:26 He will live in you, He is the One... 53:29 The Holy Spirit is actually the One who is working in us 53:32 to will and to do His good pleasure, 53:34 that Holy Spirit power. 53:36 CA, your day was on tongues and I was thinking 53:39 as you were talking, you know, the Bible says the Holy Spirit 53:44 distributes the gifts of the Spirit as He wills. 53:48 So it can't be that everyone is going to do that. 53:52 Give us a quick summation. 53:55 The Lord promised us dunamis power. 53:58 That power came down with the great authority at the 54:02 Day of Pentecost and now we have the power to do what 54:07 Christ has called us to do, even unto the end of the world. 54:10 Christ will be with us through the power of 54:13 His Holy Spirit. Amen! 54:14 And Mollie, you did such a wonderful job on Peter's sermon. 54:18 Well I want to read something from 54:20 Sister White, if that's okay with you. Sure! 54:22 "The Pentecostal outpouring was heaven's communication 54:25 that the redeemer's inauguration was accomplished. 54:29 According to His promise, He had sent the Holy Spirit 54:32 from heaven to His followers as the token that He had 54:36 as Priest and King received all authority in heaven 54:39 and on earth and was under the anointing 54:42 word over His people." 54:43 So who has all power and all authority? 54:45 What does Jesus say? 54:46 "All power and all authority has been given unto Me 54:49 then He turns to Jill Morikone and He says, "Jill, go ye 54:53 therefore," and He distributes that power and authority 54:57 to us to take and be like Peter and teach a mighty sermon. 55:02 Praise God and I know, Jill, you did a wonderful job also 55:06 on the exaltation of Jesus. Give us a little synopsis. 55:10 If I can say just one thing on what Mollie said... 55:13 You said, "All authority, all power has been given Me 55:15 in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore, 55:17 the great commission, what you talked about Mollie, 55:19 it says "all authority." That word is "exousia" meaning 55:23 "all authority is given," so God gives us that authority. 55:27 That's just tremendous! 55:29 The Scripture I want to read is John 16:7: "Nevertheless, 55:31 I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, 55:35 for if I do not go away, the Helper (Parakletos), 55:38 the Holy Spirit will not come to you, 55:40 but if I depart, I will send Him to you." 55:42 So praise the Lord that He wants to give 55:45 us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 55:46 Amen and Johnny, would you like to give us a little... 55:49 what's your take away from the firstfruits. 55:52 Well the blessing is that God wants to give us repentance. 55:56 This is a gift of God. Amen! 55:59 But the person has to respond and I would say to you that 56:02 God is calling upon people to repent and give their hearts 56:05 to the Lord and be baptized and get ready 56:08 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in full measure. Amen! 56:12 And I just want to remind each of you that this is not 56:16 ... even though Pentecost was unique, it is NOT something 56:20 that just happened once. 56:21 These disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit repeatedly, 56:25 and we need to do what Jesus said. 56:27 We need to, every day before you even go out the door, 56:32 be praying to God... ASK, seek, knock, pray that God 56:37 will fill you with His Holy Spirit and then there are 56:40 three R's... in the school of Christ the 3 R's are: 56:44 Receive - receive the Holy Spirit. 56:47 Recognize - That He abides with you forever, that He never 56:53 leaves you or forsakes you, so recognize His presence 56:58 all day long and then the third is to... 57:01 Rely on Him totally. That's what Pentecost is all about. 57:05 This is the answer, this is God's gospel and 57:09 salvation is this simple - that we depend TOTALLY 57:13 upon God, so we rely on His Holy Spirit. 57:17 Ha! Wonderful study! Thank you and we invite you 57:20 to join us next time for the "Teaching Life 57:24 in the Early Church." |
Revised 2024-07-22