Living In Pentecost Everyday

This message was brought by Navaz DCruz on May 25th 2020 at Word of Grace. To listen to the audio please click here

LIVING IN PENTECOST EVERYDAY

“‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men, and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and the glorious day of the Lord.
²¹ And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’^[c]

 INTRODUCTION

We know that Jesus had instructed the disciples: Acts 1:4-5“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with^[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.”

So they knew something was about to happen. Something supernatural.  There were 120 gathered in this room. Scholars estimate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred 10 after Jesus’ accession. How do we know this? Jesus walked on the earth for 40 days after his resurrection. Pentecost, the Jewish festival is celebrated 50 days after Passover. Jesus was crucified just before Passover.

PENTECOST

Jewish tradition also taught that Pentecost marked the day when the Law was given to Israel. The Jews sometimes called Pentecost shimchath torah, or “Joy of the Law.”

Interesting to note is on the Old Testament Day of Pentecost, Israel received the Law; on the New Testament day of Pentecost, the Church was birthed and received the Spirit of Grace.

The disciples were not complete strangers to the working of the Holy Spirit. Jesus breathed upon the Holy Spirit. They went out two by two in the power of the Holy Spirit and saw signs, wonders, and miracles take place.

I think we have to admire their patience. Ten whole days!!  One hundred and twenty in a room. Imagine that. It was a kind of locked-in situation. They knew not to disobey Jesus’ final instructions and they knew this must be worth waiting for. In addition, they knew without that power they would not be able to face the world.

How did they make sense of this? It was a supernatural act that everyone could hear. “The sound of a might wind” “Tongues of fire” They all saw it. They could have related it with John, the Baptists telling them “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with fire” (Mat 3:11)

JOELS PROPHECY

Peter after he was filled with the Holy Spirit,  is filled with supernatural boldness. Luke makes a point to mention it probably because Peter was visibly sacred before that.

Last Days – One has to look at this as the era post-resurrection. This time period i.e A.D is always referred to as the last days in the Bible.  A day is a 1000 years and vice versa for God. So we are still in the season of the Last Days.

Peter is quoting Joel 2:28- 32

The Jews who knew their scriptures were familiar with this text.  However, they needed to see that this is what was prophesied by one of their own prophets. They had to make the connection to see this as an act of God before they could then be open to hearing the gospel.

This was different in many ways to the Old Testament understanding of God’s Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the spirit came upon a particular person for an event. Usually a recognized prophet. What was happening now broke all Old Testament grids to understand this? What we see here is it was multi-generational, gender-neutral; it cut across social and economic classes.

Joel was prophesying into the New Testament. God was going to His Holy Spirit to all who call on Jesus' name and without measure. Joel was prophesying about One New Man in Christ.

Visions and Dreams – speak of heightened supernatural activity. Pouring speaks of abundance. The latter rain will be greater than the former rain.

The Holy Spirit was going to break every diving wall between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, and every ethnicity. We need to make sure that we are always inclusive.

What is our take away from this passage?

Joel is talking about the time you and I are living in. WE are in the last days. Expect God to speak to you in dreams and visions. It should be a Christian’s normal. Hunger for it. His spirit is there to guide and lead us into all truth. To give us wisdom and to warn us.

We need to keep walking in step with the Holy Spirit. Imagine this same Peter is stand up to explain Joel’s prophecy is the one who has problems with One New Man in Christ. So God speaks to him in a vision in Acts 10:9-16. He has a disagreement with Paul on this and they argue. What I learn from this is I need to keep my dependence on the Holy spirit fresh. I need to depend on him and listen to his voice or else I can fall into old ways of thinking.

What old ways can we fall into?

PRAY – for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray that we will see vision and dreams.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Jesus, The Center Of It All

This message was shared by Abhishek Bansode on 25th May 2020. To listen to the audio please click here

Jesus: Center of it All Acts 2: 14-41 Summary: Jesus is the grand conductor through whom God's plan for us- by His Spirit to be able to dream, prophesy, and to be saved and to see the “great and glorious” day- is fulfilled. - Acts 2: 14-41, Very Rich scripture - We will look at this scripture with the view of getting to know # Who is being addressed:   Groups of people # What is the discourse about:   God’s Conductor: Jesus # Why- the response Elicited. Godly Sorrow/Remorse Both in the historical context and in our context. Groups of People In the preceding verses Act2: 12 and 13 we see there were people who were amazed and perplexed (12) and others who were mocking (13), and then verse 14 says Peter along with 11 stood up, so these were the believers. There were 3 groups of people present there, lets look at each: Mockers: What does the Bible say about people who are mockers? - Fools!, Proverbs 1:22“How long, foolish ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge? Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.. Peter first addresses these people with simple logic: He in one sentence deals with their mockery-saying its only 9AM!! why would they be drunk at that hour? Bible usually deals with mocking and unbelief with logic, even in Romans it is mentioned that there are enough things in nature for humans to know there is an eternal power,(Rom 1-20) but some choose to ignore it. Psalms 19 says The heavens declare the glory of God and their expanse shows the works of his hand. Thiessen says in his “Introductory lectures in Systematic Theology”: God has endowed man with reason and the thing that is wrong is not the use of it, but the abuse of it” Ravi Zacharias: “ God put enough into the world to make faith in Him a reasonable thing. But He left enough out to make it impossible to live by reason alone.” And here is Peter dealing with them, later on, in his epistles, he again touches on this, which teaches us how we are to deal with mockers in the world today, as believers we are often subjects of mockery and “intellectual” questions, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15-16: To tell them the reason for your hope with Gentleness, Respect, clear conscience. And that is exactly how we should answer when faced with mockery, with gentleness, respect, and to use simple logic like the Bible does time and again. Wondering: The next group of people who are there and whom Peter is talking to are those who are wondering: “What is happening??” they are amazed and perplexed: Acts 2:12: They were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another “whatever could this mean?” They had a sense of awe, and you know what the Bible says in Proverbs 1: 7 - Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Fear mentioned here is not the fear which comes because of being scared, it is reverential fear, a sense of awe! And these people are the ones who I believe responded at the end by getting baptized, this was the beginning of wisdom for them. It is to them that Peter starts to explain first the scripture(Joel 2:28) which is being fulfilled and second why now. Verses 17 to 21 Peter is telling then whats happening, and then he gets into why now part, where he squarely puts the Focus on Jesus: we will get into it a little later. Acts 2: 43 Everyone was filled with awe_ and many signs and wonders were seen- When we are in awe of God, we are in a posture of worship, and that acts like a catalyst for us to see many signs and wonders. It is important for us to never lose the sense of wonder about God. Believers: and then there is the third group present there: Acts 2: 14 Peter standing up “WITH” the eleven. It is important for us to stand with Preachers and Teachers and Evangelist and all who are witnessing actively. Be of ONE accord. Paul repeatedly asked for the believers to whom he was writing to pray for him. Romans: "I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers for me." We also have to stand with all ministers and preachers and teachers who are working in the mission fields. Also as believers, just like the early believers who were waiting for the Promise of God, we must eagerly desire to be baptized in the Spirit, to be able to do all that's mentioned: Dream dreams, prophecy, see visions, to be bold witnesses. That is the will and plan of God, prophecied long ago but being fulfilled in our times! God's Conductor: Jesus Now we come to what is the crux of this passage, The centrality of Jesus Christ to everything that has just transpired. Acts 2: 22 onwards, Peter puts Jesus center-stage of his discourse. 22: Jesus was an outstanding Man while in their midst, attested to by God (indeed being God himself) by all that He did. 23: God's divine plan and wisdom: Even though the people crucified him, it was the DETERMINED PURPOSE (marked out) and FOREKNOWLEDGE of God. Isaiah 52:10 It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. so that you and I can be saved, His love for us is awe-inspiring. 24: Impossible for death to hold him- WOW! wow! Wow! If this does not fill us with awe nothing will- Imagine being a person over whom death has no power, just wow. Verses 25-35  Peter proves how the Jewish Messiah cannot be a “fleshly” David but rather Jesus. Its the resurrected Jesus exalted at the right hand of God who is the reason for the event they have just witnessed (Verse 33) Jesus- crushed and bruised for us, now is exalted by God the Father to be both LORD AND CHRIST!  (Verse 36) God's plan to save humanity and His Love for us needed a conductor in between for all His love to reach us. And that's why it pleased the Lord. Because with Jesus we could not be reconciled to God, and what Jesus did exalt Him to a position which NO one can ever occupy: Lord and Christ! Jesus' Resurrection and His exaltation have marked a change in times. Now everyone who calls on His name can be saved, salvation has come for people. His resurrection can give us a secure place to the see the “Great and Glorious” day. Jesus was central to God's plan from the very begining: 1 Pet 1:20-21 “ He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who THROUGH HIM believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” Anyone who Calls on HIS name shall be saved He is the focus and center of our Faith. Without Him we cant know the riches of the kindness of God and His Grace for our lives. Godly Sorrow/Remorse We now come to Why Peter was telling them all this, what was the response expected. Verse 37: They were cut to the heart. Its been 50-60 days since Peter himself denied the Lord, this shows what true conviction does.It liberates us from the past sins and gives us the boldness to be witnesses of the Love of God. 2 Cor 7 10 Godly produces repentance leading to salvation, worldly sorrow-death. Condemnation vs Conviction: one brings the guilt which crushes you and oppresses, the other is the work of The spirit which leads you to salvation, which is liberation. John 12:47 says Jesus did not come to condemn. Metanoia: to think differently, change your mind. The discourse started with Peter telling them “you crucified Him” and Jesus a mere man in their sights. He ends with Jesus is Lord and Christ! God's plan was always to prosper us and to reconcile us to him, and Jesus is central to that,  we must see His Love for us and His free gift of salvation in Jesus. Through Jesus, we receive the Promise of the Holy Spirit and through The Holy Spirit we receive the Power to be witnesses of Jesus. Are we seeing Jesus as the center of it all in our lives Do we need to change our minds about it Conclusion and Summary l  Jesus is at Center of God's will for Humanity, and it is through Him that we believe are saved and receive the promises of God. l  It is Jesus Christ, exalted to the right hand of God, who pours out the Holy Spirit, for us to be filled and to be able to have the power to be witnesses: to be able to dream dreams, see visions, to prophecy and to be bold. l  Jesus is the grand conductor through whom God's plan for us- by His Spirit to be able to dream, prophesy, and to be saved and to see the “great and glorious” day- is fulfilled. l  Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your plan for us, for you foreordained Jesus as the Lamb from before the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ we thank you for you chose to be the conductor-the go-between- for us to be able to receive the Love and Promises of God. We acknowledge your Lordship and Centrality in our lives. We thank you that through you and you alone we are saved, and thank you for the baptism of the Spirit, through whom we can be bold witnesses for you. We ask you, Lord Holy Spirit to use us as we submit ourselves to you. Amen Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.