Finally, the Holy Spirit gave some in the OT a gift of prophecy. And this dramatic miracle, but beyond that, 3,000 people being added to the Church, and then a community being developed. I remember taking my little bag and walking over and kind of looking around, and sitting down on a bench. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Again Jesus in John 15 talks about Spirit that he will send it, does this mean they yet had no Spirit upon them? The difference between a historian and a preacher is that the historian says, "Was it so?" 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. and the preacher says, "So what?" ; 39:29) and Joel (2:28) prophesied and longed to see. 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. YouVersion uses cookies to personalize your experience. Egypt's President Nasser announced the plan for construction in 1953. I hope you share this world view with the OT saints: namely, that your conception as a person in your mother's womb was a sovereign act of creation by God's Spirit and that every breath you take now and every chemical transaction in the cells of your body is sustained every moment by work of the Holy Spirit. 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. But then two angels appeared and they said to them, in verse 11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? It is I. Don't be afraid.'" And in the book of Revelation, John reports an experience similar to Daniel's. 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. 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. I wonder if more people came to Jerusalem for Pentecost in that year because of what had happened 50 days earlier, plus three, and they had heard about that. The Key to a Life Well Lived. But it was a very intense period of time of Jesus appearing to them both in Galilee and Jerusalem, teaching them from the Scriptures, appearing to them in larger groups, perhaps even, more smaller groups, and in some of the ways they're talking like He did to Peter, on the Sea of Galilee, having meals with them. The Disciples' Sprititual Strength. Jesus showed Himself for 40 days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3). How could the person in Luke 9:49 cast out demons without Jesus' mandate? He had a lot to come back, he was at the back of the pack. Luke 2:25-27. Luke 24:53 says that the disciples stayed continually at the Temple praising God. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He used Deborah and the tribe of Zebulun (the mountain may have been in their land) in the sermon. And in the room of the house where they were gathered, it obviously became a little bit too small for all that took place, because as these other people take note of it, you get the impression they moved out into a more public location in Jerusalem. Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." They were with Him and they asked Him in verse 6, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" Paul says in Romans 8:79, "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed, it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Which again points forward to the last days inaugurated at Pentecost. Ninth, the Spirit enabled some OT believers to interpret God's revelation in dreams. And this express bus took Route 66 out of St. Louis all the way to Los Angeles, my first time to get on that fabled highway, Route 66. But all of this in the midst of a troubled, terrified, frightened mindset that they were having to work through, during these days between the resurrection and Pentecost. The ministry has had those two themes for the past two conferences. We are no exception today, as we wait and look for the time when the Kingdom will be restored. Is the promise of "power" in Acts 1:8 only for the apostles or for Christians in all ages? Colossians 2:15 Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.American King James Version, tells us that He disarmed the powers with His death. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? And we can have the power to believe that, and to grow together and develop together as a bride of Christ, and accomplish His work and His purpose and His will. And I think there was and is today a special touch or filling of the Holy Spirit that elevates the work of an artist or a musician or a craftsman from mere technical skill to divinely empowered ministry that exalts God and builds faith. This is the threefold commission that is given to this group of disciples where they are to be witnesses of Him in the city of Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samariathe wider region of the country, look at it as kind of the wider counties of the country of Israel at the timeand then ultimately, to the end of the earth, to take the Gospel and to be a witness of God, to do this. Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.". If these saints experienced privileges and powers in the Holy Spirit before the dam was opened, how much more should we in these billion kilowatt days experience these things or more. Is there a way to only permit open-source mods for my video game to stop plagiarism or at least enforce proper attribution? They were alone. They thought that the body had been ferretted away by the disciples, someone had stolen it. Was the gift of the Holy Spirit promised only for the first-century Church, according to Acts 2:38-39? 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. So they told him, We have seen the Lord! After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream about the coming famine, Pharaoh says, "Can we find such a man as this in whom is the Spirit of God?" This means that all the saints of the OT who trusted God and followed his ways in the obedience of faith were born again by the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit. It goes on, verse 12, "After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country." From 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. What's the next step?" Christ in you, the hope of glory. He spent days and days, and weeks and weeks doing that, bringing new dimension of understanding to the Scriptures that they had never had. The church today is so sleepy that some of us have even fallen behind the Old Testament saints in our appropriation of what the Spirit has to give. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? Judges 5:14 talks about the tribe of Zebulun either being scribes or having a commander's staff. Because they were seeing Christ risen and they saw Him in a bodily form, but then they were attributing something different to that. [Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.". We, again, don't necessarily always pause and think about this, in these hours and days following Christ's resurrection. 1 Samuel 16:14 Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. The Spirit gives that courage. But on that morning as they gathered, made their preparations, put on their clothes, walked to the location where they all were gathered, and they were about 120 disciples as chapter 1 of Acts tells us, they no doubt had a lot on their mind. With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later! The indwelling Holy Spirit was only sent after Jesus' resurrection. We can internalize that and think that through. Surely for a Christian all study and all creative work must justify itself in terms of love. (1 Cor., 148 pp., XI, 8-22). Acts 1:8 is the vital point about Pentecost. 3. The world of the 1st century was very much tied into an awareness that there was a spirit world, and a lot different than even we today, we see a spirit world today in media and entertainment form. 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. How Believers Experienced the Spirit Before Pentecost, John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He was the one who was the leader of that doubt and fear and terrified approach, because he denied Christ three times, and he had to be pointedly taught by Jesus. So Jesus had to rebuke them. The second obvious change in the lives of the disciples was in their spiritual strength. This was just three and a half years, and in really a few weeks, seven weeks and a day of intense thought, emotion, that they had to grapple with and deal with as they came into the presence of one another on the morning of Pentecost. Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but . As I got up this morning, prepared to come over here, go through the day, same things that will be in my mind tomorrow, and next Thursday, and a month from today. But let's go back, let's look at a few of these scriptures in a little bit more detail and see exactly what had been taking place among the disciples during this period of time, that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. How can I recognize one? But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven. And this dramatic miracle took place, of wind, and fire, and language, and hearing, and people took notice. 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.'" And there wasn't a Jew in Jerusalem, not a rabbi, not a priest who'd ever understood Joel or the Psalms in that way, nor would they have ever dreamed of applying it to what had happened just weeks earlier, with the arrest, crucifixion, and death of this Man called Jesus of Nazareth. Again, nothing like this had been a part of their frame of reference before. People should see God in us. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. The disciples had to walk a week away to get to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). Surely we have need today of men and women filled by the Spirit to expose and denounce evils in our society that are hardly blinked at any more: the exploitation of women's bodies and debasement in advertising, the unconscionable destruction of human life through abortion on demand, the maneuvers of our own country to destabilize other governments, the gross waste and gluttony of American life, the cavalier attitude to divorce and remarriage which God hates, and the multi-million dollar promotion of alcohol and cigarettes as anything less than family-destroyers and body-killers. He greeted them Douay-Rheims Bible Old Testament believers enjoyed the presence of God's Spirit wherever they went. Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. But on that 50th day, from the morning after Christ's resurrection, a lot had happened. There was doubt. And over a three and a half year period they had had their lives transformed and then they'd watched Him die. A survey of Old Testament spiritual experience is needed to wake us up to our privileges in these last days that were inaugurated at Pentecost. But we do not debate and discuss biblical topics. "And fear came upon every soul," and this was a different type of fear. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died .John 4:11-14 Come on. The Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, was just starting in Jerusalem as the book of Acts begins. The disciples stood gazing, and they didn't know what to do. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:24). Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. As we have received the gift of God's Spirit, as those on that first day of Pentecost received the gift of the Holy Spirit were brought into the Church, they became, and so are we, partakers of the divine nature. So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! The religious leaders are "astonished" and marvel that such common and unlearned men can have such a sweeping command of their topic, and such serene courage. The Jewish authorities of their day had a very thorough doctrinal review process and Peter's would not have passed, which is why they ran smack in trouble with the Jewish leadership from this point forward because they were applying new meaning to old Scriptures that no Jew had ever heard before. Teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary Hebrew, what were the disciples afraid of before pentecost... Their spiritual strength disciples stood gazing, and language, and the preacher says, `` so what ''... 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what were the disciples afraid of before pentecost