Copy. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.". Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. More likely, the believers assembled in one . By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. From this point, they had only 10 days. 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. 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). What was on their mind? It was one of the three great pilgrim feasts that every Jewish male was required to attend (see Deuteronomy 16:16 ). Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.". 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 can accomplish the work of God, and we can then be the firstfruits who follow the Lamb and who know their God and do mighty deeds and mighty exploits. We give ourselves to that devotion, to that devoted study and the process of taking on the nature of God. Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. The Christian aeon is a renewed order, a new creation. But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! The second obvious change in the lives of the disciples was in their spiritual strength. Was the gift of the Holy Spirit promised only for the first-century Church, according to Acts 2:38-39? So when I pose myself a question like, "How did believers experience the Holy Spirit before Pentecost?" Answer: In Luke 10:17, when the seventy came back from visiting the towns in Israel, they said, " Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in the world through lust." For example, when Moses gathered with the seventy elders of Israel at the tabernacle, it says in Numbers 11:25, "The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the Spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. The disciples had seen what would happen because Christ was arrested and had come before the high priest. The Key to a Life Well Lived. 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. Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? Reading the Holy Scripture. All of these qualities are to the divine nature, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. 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. Every now and then in extraordinary circumstances of need the Spirit enables ordinary Christians to perform amazing feats of rescue far beyond their ordinary capacitylike lifting a car off of a pinned husband or escaping from a raging rapist. My Spirit abides among you. 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. How can I recognize one? It was true then. We live in the days that Isaiah (44:3) and Ezekiel (11:19; 36:26f. They turned the world upside down because they fully understood two simple . The Disciples' Sprititual Strength. They looked upon them then as liars, charlatans, or fools, maybe a bit delusional. It doesn't lie within man's own power to risk his life and stand up for the truth of God and denounce sin. Now, it was all beginning to come together. 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!). Two things we can summarize to show what was the key to bring about this scene that we see here at the end of chapter 2 in Acts. When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.". Jesus said, Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. John the Baptist had promised: The one who comes after me "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke 3:16). 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.". 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." Another reason, I suspect, is because they were overwhelmed with disappointment by Jesus' arrest. Old Testament believers enjoyed the presence of God's Spirit wherever they went. And that power would be what would begin to banish the fear, the troubling, doubt, that they had, coupled with the Word of God that they were to have. If you go back to Matthew chapter 28, chapter 28 and verse 16, let's just read a few of the accounts of that period following the resurrection, that the Gospel accounts tell us and there's more there. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Pentecost was a Jewish festival fifty days after the Passover. 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. Consider this question, with what we have just read: how could people filled with doubt, even a measure of unbelief, fear, general fear, intense fear, heightened fear, abject fearfear takes many different forms and guises; sometimes we can control our fear, sometimes it overcomes us and we're just shaking in our bootshow could a people dealing with all of these emotions during this 50-day period of time be expected to do what Jesus told them here in verse 8, they would do, when they have problems figuring it all out at that particular moment? I won't believe unless I do this! Prior to Pentecost, the Apostles, though often zealous and willing to make sacrifices to follow Jesus, were also slow to understand and often confused. But when was it first true? 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. When God wanted to encourage the people to rebuild the temple after the exile, he said, "Work, for I am with you . These accounts of like what we have read in the gospels and others for a 40-day period. The Essential 100 Bible Challenge14The Cross Of Christ. That is how the mission of the Church is done and that is how then that vision of a community, of a Church, of a people who are rooted in the Word of God, who actually do care for one another, is accomplished; by no other means, by no other means. 3. The country folk downstream depended on it. And you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." But the text says that God called Bezalel by name and filled him with his Spirit. Exodus 31:15 says, "The Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have called by name Bezalel . Christ in you, the hope of glory. I never have believed in knowledge for its own sake or art for art's sake. What do we do now? 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. What's the next step?" Yes, Peter did preach under the anointing, but the empowerment of the Spirit also brought a unity and a focus of purpose they had not known before. I was going to get on a Greyhound bus. When Nicodemus was bewildered about Jesus' demand for new birth by the Spirit, Jesus responded (John 3:10), "Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand this?" And of course, one of the most dramatic scenes in all the Bible occurred with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the gathered disciples, and the speaking in tongues, and a mighty rushing wind that we find it hard to imagine what it was like, because it's not part of our custom to try to pray that down today like some other denominations and religious forms do. All the gods of doubtand I say gods with a little g, because doubt, and guilt, and fear can really separate us from Godthe gods of doubt, and fear, and unbelief have all been shredded by Jesus Christ. He quotes Joel, he quotes Psalms and he gives interpretations upon those scriptures, here in chapter 1, no one had ever heard of before. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. People were forgiven, saved and received everlasting life before the cross and before Pentecost (Lk. This time, Thomas was with them. LISTEN NOW. We are no exception today, as we wait and look for the time when the Kingdom will be restored. 3 days by their calendar. Some say that they wound up in the temple precincts; could very well be. 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. Before Pentecost: What Were They Thinking? What happens?". 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