He had a long way to come to be the one to stand up and to give the sermon on this day, but he did it. The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!. You know, before we ever get to that rushing wind that came in, it's good to think about this question, because it has a direct application to you and I today. When did that become true? In Colossians chapter 1, Colossians 1:27 Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:American King James Version, Paul writes, "To them, God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 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. The OT believers were saved the same way we are: they were born of the Spirit, they trusted in God's promises, and they followed his commandments in the obedience of faith. But the disciples didn't stop focusing on the Kingdom of God after Pentecost. They were alone. 2930), "When thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. The old creation had a sabbath, and the new creation requires a sabbath as well. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died .John 4:11-14 Come on. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 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. Such notions have always struck me as profoundly atheistic. ; 39:29) and Joel (2:28) prophesied and longed to see. The Word of God. That is what caused them to banish their fear, trouble, doubt, and unbelief: Christ in them through the Holy Spirit. And God will expose sin, ours to ourselves, sometimes to others. The disciples had seen Jesus reach out across ethnic and religious divides birth in His parables and in real life. 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!). So it's something for us to examine in our own way, see how much of that is being demonstrated in our life. That Christianity grew, after such a brief inception, into the world religion we know to today is testimony to the power of the message Jesus preached. And Peter thence begins to quote Scripture. And we can be about the work that we see that the Church did then and has always done, of taking the message of salvation and of repentance to life, to people who need that message. But they were frightened and they thought that they had seen a spirit. 1. Week 8 to Pentecost. PTIJ Should we be afraid of Artificial Intelligence? Trials hit us that will shake our faith, test our faith. 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. We live in the days that Isaiah (44:3) and Ezekiel (11:19; 36:26f. 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. What we are seeing here is again, the power of the Word of God. Did they doubt what they were seeing? How can I recognize one? 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. The appearance of Jesus' face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 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. But how could the various prophecies found in Ezekiel, Joel and Zechariah be fulfilled if this were true? Hadn't He told them that He'd come back to life again? Number one was the Roman Empire. Did they doubt that it was real? And I sat, and I sat, and I thought somebody will come along and tell me what to do. 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. We get on to verse 40, the wrap-up: "With many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, Be saved from this perverse generation, that those who were, who gladly received his word were baptized; about 3,000 souls were added to them. When did the disciples become born -again? He had a lot to come back, he was at the back of the pack. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. When you look and you understand what was taking place, here are people who've been terrified, they had been doubtful, unbelieving to one degree or the other during this previous 50-day period. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. PrivacyPolicyTerms ofUse. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They were with Him and they asked Him in verse 6, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" Even before the dam was completed and the reservoir was officially unleashed on the day of Pentecost, the OT saints downstream enjoyed stupendous benefits from the river of God's Spirit. 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. Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles, though often zealous and willing to make sacrifices to follow Jesus, were also slow to understand and often confused. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. How does a fan in a turbofan engine suck air in? And so I made a certain few inquiries, I got on the bus, didn't miss it. I never have believed in knowledge for its own sake or art for art's sake. And then even when we see in the days after Jesus' final ascension, a roughly 10-day period, when they came to make a decision to replace Judas, they read Scripture, they applied it properly, God blessed the decision. I won't believe unless I do this! Well, that's a sign that I should go here, take this job, do this or do that. But miracles, well, that just takes a little bit more work, but they were here in the midst of a very large miracle. This is what He does as He moves them through the Law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets, and opening their understanding. 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. What did they do during that 10 days? To be candid, it does feel like a complete change of the subject. Apparently not. And I didn't know how to make a connection. For example, in the life of Samson we read, "The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid" (Judges 14:6). 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. We have a very involved, and very good, and a very detailed review process at many different levels of our writings, of our speaking in the United Church of God today. They had a very life is now, living in the present mindset that this was all going to happen in their lifetime, which is something that pertains to every group of people from that time forward, that looking for the appearance of the Kingdom, the return of Christ. And because both were working together, the mission and the vision, there was a remarkable picture being described here by Luke, of the Church at peace. And let's look at it beginning in verse 36, this is after His resurrection, "As they said these things," this is the two that He had appeared to on the road to Emmaus, "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, 'Peace to you.' They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. No longer did they flee like sheep without a shepherd. Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.". This morning let me close simply by returning to the Aswan High Dam for a moment. That power would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. Is the promise of "power" in Acts 1:8 only for the apostles or for Christians in all ages? 157 views, 3 likes, 4 loves, 3 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Mora Grace Lutheran Church: Music used with permission from CCLI What do we do now? To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. What was possibly on the disciples' mind the morning of Pentecost? How Believers Experienced the Spirit Before Pentecost, John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. But the Christian ought to see the creative, imaginative work of God's Spirit. They had a lot of fear. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! And so they had become a part of something that again, they were still trying to understand. What's the next step?" He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. . 3 days by their calendar. When you read what Peter said about these prophecies from Joel and the Psalmstrust me, folks, Peter's sermon would not have passed doctrinal review by the Jewish doctrinal committee of that day. What are some tools or methods I can purchase to trace a water leak? Again, nothing like this had been a part of their frame of reference before. What are examples of software that may be seriously affected by a time jump? However, of course, the apostles had smack of the Spirit even before, for even before Spirit was present in them to a certain degree and intensity; they possessed the Spirit-ual gifts even before the Pentecost, however the gifts of the Infinite Spirit are also infinite and at the Pentecost they got a greater share of this graceful infinity, so as to totally be absorbed in it. We can take on that nature and we can live. 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." The Roman Empire was not anything to fool around with. Thank you Mr. McNeely , for making Christ more real. Our sins will find us out. Before or after this instance. And it brings it down to the end of the chapter. That's how we live the Word, that's how we drink in the Word, and it changes our life and it banishes the fear, gives us confidence in who we are and what we are to do. Because Ruth saw in Naomi, God, an example that she wanted to be a part of. Could very old employee stock options still be accessible and viable? With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later! Put your hand into my side. 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. Of course, on the day that He died there had been an earthquake, the sun had turned to dark at midday, people had come out of their graves and it had set Jerusalem all abuzz. The goal is that the addition of scriptural verses will assist you in meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary as you pray. 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. He said He wouldn't and He didn't, even though there was a moment in time when they thought that they were orphaned, as they stood gazing up and looking and wondering, "What do we do next. The NIV adds the word "disciples," saying, "The disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid." But the word "disciples" is not in the Textus Receptus Greek text. 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. The Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, was just starting in Jerusalem as the book of Acts begins. Although John does not say this is the point when the disciples were born again, or that was when the New Covenant started, Erwin takes it to mean both: "it marks the transition from the terms of the old covenant to those of the new covenant" (p. 20). Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Historically, Pentecost ( Shavout) is a Jewish feast celebrating the giving of the Torah and the summer wheat harvest. But after Pentecost the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world. Seventh, the saints of old experienced victory over fear by the presence of the Spirit. They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. 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.". "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.". Learning and labor which do not lead people in love to God are not prompted by the Spirit of Christ. The disciples stood gazing, and they didn't know what to do. But the text says that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with his Spirit. Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. "Standing with the Lamb on the Mount of Olives," in Revelation 14:1 Revelation 14:1And I looked, and, see, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.American King James Version, "144,000 with the Father's name written on their foreheads. 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. 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