This is the underlying message Jesus gave to his disciples in today's 2nd Sunday of Lent year A Gospel (Mt 7:1-11) which narrates the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, after having announced to them his Passion and Death on the cross. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. Was the power they received in Matthew 10 different from the one they received in Acts 2? Whoever believes in Jesus has everlasting life. Such notions have always struck me as profoundly atheistic. The bonds of trust among the disciples were beginning to be frayed. And yet some doubted. And God will expose sin, ours to ourselves, sometimes to others. I can't think about it more than five minutes without saying, "So what?" We take that for the story that it is, and the gift of tongues, and the speaking of tongues that the Scriptures talk about but we don't see that as what we need to be doing in practice or in faith, but it is a dramatic story. It goes on, "When He had spoken these things," in verse 9, "they watched and He was taken up in a cloud, received Him out of their sight. What was the doubt that was nagging away at them even as they saw Him, and even worshiped Him, knowing that they as they did know that He had died, and yet there was doubt? '", And so Luke's account gives us a very specific instruction, how He told them, You wait in Jerusalem and then you will receive the power from on high. And that is what they were doing as they waited for that period of time to come about. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. So there is going to be a gap. And you have to understand that and realize that, that's what they were doing during that period of time as well. Christ in you, the hope of glory. "Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Corinthians 16:13). Did they doubt what they were seeing? People should see that in us. The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). But as Christ begins to give them the teaching from the Scriptures, of how He had fulfilled literally, in every way, the scriptures about the Messiah. We, again, don't necessarily always pause and think about this, in these hours and days following Christ's resurrection. In 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter writes, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. etc.'. During the long period of construction the Nile River wasn't completely stopped. He greeted his disciples and said to Thomas, Put your finger here and look at my hands! So He begins to teach them from the Scriptures that they might understand, and that they might comprehend what He was and how He had fulfilled everything that they would have understood to one degree, and then even more they had begun to develop a fuller understanding of the prophecies of Isaiah, or Joel, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, the statements about the Messiah. Thus, the Pentecost is the culmination, the ultimate gift of Spirit, when the apostles get Him to such an extent and intensity that they can already be emboldened by Him to preach to all corners of the world, withstanding all calamities and opposing powers. So Jesus had to rebuke them. 7:50; 19:9). Centering layers in OpenLayers v4 after layer loading. Please take the Tour, see below, where you will find that in order to practice biblical hermeneutics we need a text upon which to practice the technique. . They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. Another reason, I suspect, is because they were overwhelmed with disappointment by Jesus' arrest. It wasn't there and so a lot had happened in that 50-day period that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. Hagiographical sources also portray saints as those able to withstand the fear or deceit brought . He went on to show that, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Well, the real answer is for you and I, the same things that are going through your mind right now, and my mind. They sold their possessions, they divided among them, they shared among those who had need. No longer did they flee like sheep without a shepherd. If we can borrow a phrase that we've used over the last two years, two phrases, they labored in the Word and they lived in the Word. And all the others came right in and were a part of it with him. What do we do now? Look at John 3:16. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Historically, Pentecost ( Shavout) is a Jewish feast celebrating the giving of the Torah and the summer wheat harvest. There are no more decisive turning points in redemptive history that must happen before Jesus returns to establish his kingdom. It is the Word of God and it is the Spirit of God that did it for them, and will do it for you and for I today as we live our lives, as we go about our lives. The Sadducees were more focused on the Five Books of Moses than the history and prophets. Not only apostles, but even the prophets of the Old Testament, who are lower than apostles, had a degree of presence of Spirit in themselves, through Whom they prophesied (needn't to give references, for they are so numerous!). Exodus 31:15 says, "The Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have called by name Bezalel . It's an informed sermon. They came together, in verse 1 of chapter 2, "On the day of Pentecost when it was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. Most people believe the disciples were assembled in the "upper room" when the holy spirit of YEHOVAH God descended upon them during that Pentecost of 31 A.D. Then Peter preached a sermon and said, "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams'" (Acts 2:1617). So when I pose myself a question like, "How did believers experience the Holy Spirit before Pentecost?" That's a little-understood part of what was taking place. If they got it at Pentecost, with what power then did the twelve these wonders if not with Holy Spirit? And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.". I have my own Star Trekkian-type of way to imagine how Jesus ascended. Verses 40 to 47 is a summary of one of the most remarkable periods of the church experience. And the people of God in this period are to be a people born of the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit to bear witness to "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. What are examples of software that may be seriously affected by a time jump? Behold I send the promise of My Father upon you, but tarryor waitin the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.". Psalm 139:710 says, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. The elixir, the antidote to our faith, to every one of our problems, if we could see a miracle; and we like signs, but miracles, well, they're a little harder to come up with. Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 14 shows that Christ will, on that day, set foot on the Mount of Olives. And it is in that, we reach the real nexus, the real critical point of our life before God, where we recognize that, with the Holy Spirit, we are taking on the very nature of God, the divine nature. And a voice from heaven like many waters, and the voice of thunder, and the sound of harpers playing their harps, they sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. And Peter thence begins to quote Scripture. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven. In verse 14, it says, "Then later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and He rebuked them, rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." Synopsis: When Jesus walked on the water to join the disciples in their boat, the Gospel mentioned that they were afraid - twice. Go, therefore, make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded, and lo, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age.'" 3. Would it make any difference for our lives today if we knew the answer? Sixth, OT believers experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit as a power to be bold in denouncing evil and declaring righteousness. Could very old employee stock options still be accessible and viable? 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues a as the Spirit enabled them. How was Simeon able to have the Holy Spirit upon him prior to Pentecost? Signs and wonders followed their ministration, and they were continually filled with [] Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. And every breath you take ought to be a prayer of thanks that you live and move and have your being in the Spirit of God. And so she was the first to see the empty tomb and have that appearance, and she goes and tells them. Tradition places the receiving of the Spirit on Pentecost in the upper room of Acts 1. Picture a huge dam for hydroelectric power under construction, like the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. Again, what they thought that they were becoming a part of was a movement that was noble, that was good, there had been many movements of other Messiah-type figures at this period of time in Judea. They saw it in different ways and understood it completely different from anything from our frame of reference and they were ascribing, would have been ascribing then even to Jesus something that was not of God, which in itself can be a problem. John 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. It is a remarkable period of church history, because right here we have a vision being fulfilled that Jesus Christ has for His Church. They were also filled with fear for their own future. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And I didn't know how to make a connection. Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. They didn't believe that He had risen, they didn't believe that they had been seen, that He had been seen, and therefore, then they would not believe these eyewitnesses. And they're seeing that, and it's the final time. [Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? The man with the epileptic son initially brought his son to the disciples to be cured. It is I. Don't be afraid.'" And in the book of Revelation, John reports an experience similar to Daniel's. Jesus continued: "Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. Which again points forward to the last days inaugurated at Pentecost. That is the vision that Jesus has for His Church as articulated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:16 Ephesians 4:16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love.American King James Version, and they had it at this moment. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. A: Yes, repeatedly Jesus assured them that although He would be put to death by His enemies, He would come back to life by the power of God. . The same things were going through their minds that go through our minds. Labor in the Word, meaning to read the Word, and to learn it, and to soak it in and drink it in; and to live the Word, this past year. Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration. With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later! When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy. So, as Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples to focus on the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God during the time between His resurrection and Pentecost, we can be focusing on that now too. Acts 2 That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." First few verses of Acts chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, Luke in his prologue to the account as he writes to this man named Theophilus, about all that had been done by Jesus until the day in which He was taken up through the Holy Spirit and had given commandments to the apostles, whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God., So Luke gives us an explicit reference point that this went on. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But they did so no more." and there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. If we can learn to take on the divine nature and drink that in, in our lives, then we can banish doubt, uncertainty, and fear, unbelief, that will creep in at various times as we go through our lives, and stages in the developments of life. ; 39:29) and Joel (2:28) prophesied and longed to see. Reading the Holy Scripture. These accounts of like what we have read in the gospels and others for a 40-day period. The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. From this point, they had only 10 days. Everybody who gets up and gives a sermon in a congregation, that sermon before it's ever posted on a website, has been reviewed or at least approved by individuals within the congregation. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. Maybe a few more decided to go to Jerusalem on Pentecost to see what was going on, and the town was bursting at the seams, and from all these nations that we're told about here and areas. He had a lot to come back, he was at the back of the pack. In Job 33:4 Elihu speaks for all faithful Jews when he says, "The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." He used Deborah and the tribe of Zebulun (the mountain may have been in their land) in the sermon. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. How was the Holy Spirit being seen (perceived) in Acts 8? They had a lot of fear. And then they had seen that He was resurrected. " They were able to do the things Jesus gave them authority to do and they found it amazing. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. If we begin to look at one another as less than trustworthy, then that has other consequences in relationships, and that's taking place among the disciples here at this moment. They had been told to be there, to wait in Jerusalem until that day. Though a miracle had taken place in front of them, that still wasn't enough to remove the doubt and fear. Back in Mark's account, chapter 16 of Mark, we see that the same thing lingered among the wide group of people there. Has 90% of ice around Antarctica disappeared in less than a decade? Jesus was enveloped within a pillar of fire, but was not harmed. So here are ten ways Old Testament believers experienced the Holy Spirit which in these "last days" of Pentecostal fulfillment ought to be enjoyed by the church. 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