ACTS 2:4-21 THE SPIRIT IS AT WORK TODAY2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 2:4-21 The Spirit Is At Work Today

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. We're continuing our study through the book of Acts, and we'll be looking at Acts chapter 2, verses 4 through 21 this evening. But we'll start out just reading verses 4 through 8 together. So...

Acts chapter 2, starting out in verse 4 through 8, here's what it says. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when the sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Verse 7.

Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Here as we look at Acts chapter 2, I want to encourage our hearts today that the Spirit is

is at work today as we look at what unfolded here in Acts chapter 2. Now we saw the first part of chapter 2 last week as we got to see the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church at Pentecost.

And so on that day, the disciples were gathered together, the Holy Spirit was poured out, and we saw the importance of receiving the work of the Holy Spirit and having our life surrendered to God and asking God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and then responding as He prompts us.

And as we continue to look at what happens as that event unfolded and as the Lord began the church there in Acts chapter 2, I think it's important for us to look at these things with the understanding that that was not just something that happened one time and that's all that it was.

Or it was, you know, for a long time ago, the Holy Spirit used to work that way. But as we look at these things, I want us to consider and to contemplate and to really cry out to the Lord in response to these things, recognizing this is the way the Holy Spirit continues to work today and desires to work today.

today even in our midst. Now maybe not with the same exact formula, maybe not with the tongues of fire, maybe not all those details specifically, but looking at the pattern and seeing how the Holy Spirit is at work can help us identify and look for the opportunities to be part of the work of the Holy Spirit as He is reaching out to the world around us. I've been sharing this quote for the past couple weeks from Pastor David Guzik,

We should perhaps ask, are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? Instead of asking, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? And that thought continues this evening. I would ask you to consider, are you baptized? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Right now, currently, at this moment, when you woke up today, did you ask God to fill you with His Spirit?

Were you filled with the Holy Spirit yesterday? Will you be filled with the Holy Spirit tomorrow? It's so important for us to keep a constant dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And we can look at that and we can make that statement very boldly and clearly for ourselves personally. I need a constant dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

But we also can look at that in the context of our church. Living water needs to have this constant dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Pastor David Rosales was sharing with some pastors yesterday.

And he was reminding us of something that Pastor Chuck would often share. Pastor David Rosales was saying every time that he was at a meeting with the other pastors who were with Pastor Chuck as he would plan the conferences and events and stuff for the pastors,

The other pastors would be gathered around, and Pastor Chuck would walk in and sit down at the table, and everybody would become quiet, and someone would ask Chuck, so what's on your heart for the pastors, Chuck? What is it that you want the Lord has put upon your heart to share, to minister, to really speak to the pastors this year? And Pastor Dave Rosales was sharing, he says, every meeting is

that I ever attended where that took place. Pastor Chuck would always share the same thing. His reply was that having begun in the spirit that we would not seek to be perfected in the flesh. It's a reference to Galatians chapter 3 verse 3 where Paul challenges the Galatians saying, are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

And he was challenging the Galatians with this because they had become believers in Jesus and received the grace of God and the forgiveness of God, but they were turning to legalism. And so they were trusting now in their works. They were trusting in their efforts and their keeping of the rules and regulations that they had established. And Paul says, you began in the spirit. You didn't get saved by doing a bunch of good works or filling up a list of things that you did.

You got saved, you began in the Spirit, but now you're trying to perfect yourself. You're trying to, you know, mature in the flesh, in your own efforts. Whether it's towards legalism or some other thing, it's very easy for us to slip into that same type of trap where we began with a work of the Holy Spirit, responding to the Holy Spirit in our lives, calling out to us and speaking to us, and then...

We kind of slowly begin to rely more and more upon ourselves. And we forget to be dependent upon the Holy Spirit. We forget to be desperate for the filling of the Holy Spirit. We forget to be relying upon the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Because, well, we've got our own ways. We've got it figured out how we make decisions. We've got it figured out how we do ministry. We've got it figured out how we parent. We've got it figured out how we drive. And so we've learned and we've matured, but many times what happens is we've kind of weaned ourself off of the Holy Spirit. And while there does need to be a maturity and growth in our lives...

We never grow beyond the point that we don't need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and desperate for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If I am not filled with the Spirit right now, I'm trying to do things in my own strength. And if you weren't filled with the Holy Spirit today, whatever you did today, you were trying to live today in your own strength, in your own efforts, and in your own wisdom. And in that, we are attempting to be made perfect by the flesh.

And it's something we have to watch out for. And the book of Acts is a great reminder for us of the working of the Holy Spirit. And you need to know that the Holy Spirit is at work today. And so we want to look at four things that the Holy Spirit is doing in the last days that we are living. The Holy Spirit is at work. He's moving. He is working. And our part is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and respond to the moving of the Spirit, to respond to the things that He is doing.

And so the first of four things that we'll see, the ways that the Holy Spirit is at work today, in verse 4, we'll start out with kind of a recap, and that is the Spirit empowers believers. As we talk about the Holy Spirit being at work today, you need to know that that includes the things we've been talking about with the empowering of the Spirit. Look again at verse 4.

It says,

The Holy Spirit was in them as Jesus breathed on them in John chapter 20 and said, receive the Holy Spirit. But this was something different, where now the Holy Spirit has filled them, and the Holy Spirit has been given to them without measure. And we've been referring to that as the empowering of the Spirit. This has been the thing that...

Luke has been focusing on here in the beginning of the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 1, we see that Jesus gives the promise they would be baptized with the Spirit. As he continued to give that promise in verse 8 of Acts chapter 1, he says, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And now when this event happens in Acts chapter 2 verse 4, it's described as them being filled with the Spirit. All three ways of referring to the same thing

So I kind of try to capsulize all three of those in the empowering of the Spirit. You and I are to be baptized with the Spirit. This is still a work that the Holy Spirit does today. He baptizes believers with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit upon you is still a work that the Holy Spirit is active in doing today. And you are encouraged, you are commanded by the Lord to have the Holy Spirit upon you.

To be baptized in the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to be empowered by the Spirit of God. And how do we receive that? Well, we looked at that last week. It starts with surrender to God. Being willing to be submitted, fully submitted to God and whatever He wants, whatever He desires. But it also takes place as we ask God to give His Holy Spirit.

And there needs to be that burden on our heart. There needs to be that urgency within us to ask God for his Holy Spirit. And that's why I've been using the word desperate a little bit this evening, that we need to have that desperateness, that we are desperate. We're lost. We're not able to live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit.

It's something that is essential for us. And we're never going to have the fullness of the Christian life without an absolute dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit. There's a difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is something that is given to all believers at conversion.

There's no believer who does not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. That's every believer. That's part of regeneration. That's part of being born again. It's a work of the Holy Spirit. But the empowering of the Holy Spirit is a little bit different. Sometimes that's received at conversion, but many times it's also received at other times. But it's not a one-time thing like the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is received automatically by

once, and it's permanent. You're a child of God. You're born again. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. That's permanent. That's a done deal. But the empowering of the Holy Spirit, we see throughout the scriptures, there's the constant work of asking for the Holy Spirit. There's the call out. There's the cry for God to give power by the Holy Spirit.

And so the Holy Spirit empowering is received by asking. And that's why it's a good question. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit today? Have you been asking God to fill you with His Spirit? Are you looking for God to empower you with the Holy Spirit? It's a repeated action. It's something that we are to do ongoing. In Ephesians chapter 5, He commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's a command that means to keep on being filled.

In Luke chapter 11, Jesus said, ask and you shall receive the Holy Spirit. But again, in the tense, it means to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. There's to be this constant perpetual request for us asking God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us. Now, one of the important aspects of this to consider is that the empowering of the Holy Spirit is primarily for reaching unbelievers, right?

And so as we talk about, you know, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, we talk about the power of the Spirit in our life, we can think about that in a lot of different aspects. We can think about, you know, a lot of different perspectives. I need the power of the Holy Spirit so I can be the husband or the wife that I'm called to be, or the mom or the dad, or be the worker, you know, manage the 91 freeway without killing anybody, you know. I might be, you know, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that I can handle this or that, but

But the primary function of the empowering of the Holy Spirit is for reaching unbelievers. That's what Jesus said in Acts 1, verse 8, right? You'll receive power to be witnesses to me when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And so we need to understand as we're desperate for the power of the Holy Spirit, there's going to be a work that God is doing in making an impact in the lives of unbelievers.

And so I've been asking the question, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Maybe another way for us to consider this is, what kind of impact am I having in the work of reaching the world with the gospel? What kind of part do you play? What kind of impact do you have? Now, let's not exaggerate, okay? This is not meant to be that we take this too far, because sometimes that can happen in our lives, right? It can happen in our minds.

Being empowered with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that you have daily conversions, that every Wednesday you come in and you can say, I led 15 people to the Lord this week. It was just amazing. Sometimes you're going to spend 10 years just working on one, and that's okay. It's whatever God's plan is and however God wants to use you in His plan for His kingdom, it's okay.

But at the same time, there should be this reality. There should be this reality and this consciousness in our lives that I'm making an impact for the kingdom of God. I'm being led by the Spirit. I'm empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of reaching other people, bringing the gospel to the world around us.

And so we shouldn't take it too far and say, well, hey, if you're not leading someone to Christ every day, you're not filled with the Spirit. That's not the reality. That's not what the Scriptures say. At the same time, we must not dismiss it altogether and just say, well...

you know, that's just not my thing. You know, I really focus on the church and I minister only to the church and, you know, other believers and that's about it. I don't really deal with the lost or those who are unbelievers. That's not what God's called me to. No, that's what God's called all of us to. And that's why he commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit because, well, it's a task that none of us measure up to. None of us can handle. And so we need the power of the Holy Spirit. What kind of impact are you having?

And this work that has been set before us of reaching the world with the gospel, it's something for us to consider, something for us to pray through, to evaluate. Am I really filled with the Spirit? Have I really been asking God? Have I really been desperate for the Lord to fill me, to empower me with His Holy Spirit? Because as He does, one of the primary effects in my life will be a witness to Jesus.

I used to say all the time, maybe I should bring it back. Christianity is an outreach. It's not a self-help program. And sometimes we get so twisted in our minds. We get that backwards and we think, my life is consumed with me trying to get better at, you know, make my life better, get better at certain things, overcome these things and have victory in this area and, you know, accomplish this and accomplish that. And, you know, trying to just like build my kingdom or build myself and

And there is work that God wants to do in building you up, but it's also an outreach. And so there needs to be this reaching out to those who are not believers. The Holy Spirit is at work today in the lives of unbelievers. And the Holy Spirit empowers believers in their efforts to reach, to minister, to share with the unbelievers around us. Now, we don't have to generate money

you know, the work. We don't have to figure out the plan. It's the Holy Spirit's plan. It's God's work in reaching the lost. Our part is to, number one, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then, number two, respond as the Holy Spirit moves in our heart. And we'll see that as we work our way through the text.

The disciples didn't have this day all orchestrated and figured out, all right, everybody gathered together at this time. Here's what time the Holy Spirit's going to come out. And by that time, we'll have everybody else gathered together. And we're going to be able to preach the gospel to thousands. And 3,000 people are going to be saved because we've got this all coordinated and figured out. No, all the disciples had to do was be filled with the Spirit and then respond as the Spirit moved in their hearts.

And that's all that we're responsible for as well. We're not responsible for people responding. We're not responsible for multitudes showing up. We're not responsible for anything else. We're only responsible for us being filled with the Holy Spirit. And that begins with the desire, with the asking God to fill us. And then as the Lord speaks to us, we're responsible for responding as he moves in our hearts. Let's not be so foolish as to try to live this life in our own power.

You began in the Spirit. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you began in the Spirit. And so let's live in a constant dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit is at work today, empowering believers to be witnesses to Jesus. Well, moving on into verses 5 through 11, here we have point number two for today, and that is that the Spirit captures the attention of unbelievers.

Again, this wasn't the disciples' plan. They didn't have all this figured out. How were they going to get the attention of several thousand people? They didn't know. But that was the Holy Spirit's job. That's what the Holy Spirit did. And how did he do that? Well, it begins to tell us in verse 5. It says, And so the way that God established this, the way that God accomplished this, was he coordinated it with the day of Pentecost. Right?

And the day of Pentecost, it was a feast that the Jews celebrated. It was 50 days after the Sabbath following Passover. So it was about 50 days after the Passover. They would gather together and they would bring the first fruits of their wheat harvest to God. And they would offer that in faith, trusting God, hey, we're going to go back and we're going to bring the rest of the harvest. And we want to dedicate this first part to you in gratitude for what you've done and what you've provided.

The Feast of Pentecost was one of the feasts that would be well attended. There would be a lot of people who would be participating in this, partly because it was one of the three required feasts. Remember, three times a year, the Jews were required to go to Jerusalem and participate in these feasts that God had established. Well, Pentecost was one of those three feasts.

And also, Pentecost fell usually around May, June time frame. And so it was good weather. It was a good time to come. Sometimes, you know, the other feasts could be a little bit more difficult in travel. But wherever you were, you could come to this feast because it was a good time to travel. And so Jews who lived all over the world at this time would travel to Jerusalem for this feast. Right?

And so as you think about that, you can see that God has orchestrated this beautifully. Because here, the disciples have been given the commission to reach the world with the gospel, right? But he says, don't go yet. Wait here in Jerusalem until you receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

And then now they're going to be empowered to go reach the world with the gospel. And so what the Lord does is he begins this whole mission of reaching the world by bringing people from all over the world to Jerusalem to hear the gospel. It's not just the apostles or those 120 that's going to bring the gospel to the rest of the world, but God's brought all these people to Jerusalem in preparation for what's about to take place.

He's orchestrated this beautifully. Check out verse 6. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. So you have people from all over the world. They're all at Jerusalem and now they hear this sound. There's some discussion that could be had. What sound did they hear?

In the first couple of verses of Acts chapter 2, we see there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind as the Holy Spirit came and filled the disciples. And so it might have been that mighty rushing wind that they heard, just a weird, you know, like a huge storm perhaps. And they were like, what is this? We've never heard a wind like this before.

Or it might have been the response as the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit in verse 4 of Acts 2. It tells us that they spoke forth in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance.

And so the people of Jerusalem might have been sitting there and they heard a mighty wind and they went outside to check out what's going on. Or they might have heard suddenly all these voices, this loud, you know, praising God, all of this, you know, noise going on from people speaking all at the same time in this praise to God. Whatever the case, if they heard the mighty wind or the voices praising God, they heard the sound and it was significant enough for them to go check it out.

And so it says that the multitude came together. Now, another possibility for us to consider is that this might have taken place at the temple. It might have taken place at a house nearby the temple, but it also could have taken place, the temple in those days, they had these rooms that the people could use for fellowship with God, fellowship with one another. They would have kind of like these feast rooms. And so it could be that, you know, they were at the temple and all of this is unfolding together.

Either way, you can imagine and understand this was a very public place. And immediately, there's going to be thousands of people around them as this event unfolds. But there's a miracle that takes place. As they gather together, it says that they're confused because they heard the people speak in their own language. Check out verse 7 and 8. It says...

Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? There's a miracle taking place here. God's doing something absolutely amazing. As the crowd gathers together, they're able to understand the words that are being spoken. Now there's two ways to understand what's happening here. Option one is,

is that as the disciples are speaking in tongues, they're speaking in languages that are unknown to them, but there is the possibility that the language that they're speaking is a known language. So, for example, they could have been speaking Spanish. It could have been a known language. They didn't know it. They hadn't learned it, but the Holy Spirit was giving them utterance, and by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, they were able to speak Spanish. And so someone from Spain is there, and they say, hey, that's Spanish. I understand what that person is saying. That's one possibility.

Another possibility to understand what's happening here is that the disciples were speaking in tongues, whether it be known languages or heavenly languages, but the miracle that took place was that God enabled the multitude to hear all the voices in their own language.

So let's say there's, you know, 50 different languages being spoken, but the onlooker is able to hear a bunch of different people speaking and they're able to hear all the different people in their own language. And so the miracle could have been...

that, you know, hey, the person next to you happened to speak the language that you were, you know, born with, the language of the area where you were born. Or it could be that the Lord enabled that person to hear no matter what language was being spoken by the disciples as they praise God. But whichever way, there's a significant miracle that's taking place. Check out all the regions that are

represented here at this time. In verse 9, 10, and 11, you have this. It says, And so there's all these different regions represented, and it says,

Now, this is pretty incredible because it represents the whole known world at that time. As you look at all these different places that are mentioned, you have Mesopotamia here. This is where Abraham was originally from. It's where Babylon and Persia were or are, and Elam and Parthia over farther. And then all of these in Asia Minor, Asia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, all of those are represented. All the way to Rome, all the way over here, Cyrene and Libya and Egypt, all these places

So all around the Mediterranean Sea, the whole known world at that time is represented and is in Jerusalem. And each of them have their own languages. The Egyptians had their own language. It was different than the Romans. It was different than the other people around them. They all had different dialects and different languages. But they were Jews who lived in all these places.

And so they were Hebrews. They probably spoke Greek. They had a common language. They possibly spoke Aramaic, possibly spoke Hebrew. But they also had the language where they grew up. I was born in Egypt. I grew up, all my friends spoke Egyptian. And so now as they're in Jerusalem, they hear the language of their region.

The people are proclaiming the works of God. It says this is consisting of Jews and proselytes. So it's Jewish people who live all over the world who've come back to Jerusalem. But it's also those from other nationalities who've converted to Judaism and become Jews, even though they're originally other nationalities. So they're all gathered together in Jerusalem for this feast. And they hear Jesus.

the praise the worship of god in their own language now for me personally i see this as a miracle of hearing that there is the work of the utterance of tongues they were speaking in tongues and perhaps there were known languages and perhaps they were heavenly languages you know that was taking place for sure absolutely at the same time in verse 8 it says how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born

In verse 11, it says, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. It repeats several times that concept of we're hearing the people in our own language. Imagine that scene for just a moment with me. So here you are, you've gathered together with a crowd because there's some kind of commotion, there's some kind of loud noise, you're coming to check it out.

And at first, you're just sitting there observing. And you see this group of people, and they're saying all kinds of things. They're being loud. They're being boisterous. They're exclaiming praises to God. And Elsa's sitting there watching this unfold, and she looks at Harvey and says, can you believe? It's really interesting. They're all speaking Spanish. They're Galileans, but they're speaking Spanish. And Harvey looks at her and says, what are you talking about? They're speaking Italian. I hear all the Italian going on. And Pastor Pule says, no, no, they're speaking Samoan.

Wait a minute. You hear Samoan? You hear Italian? You hear Spanish? Now they're beginning to realize, how do we hear them in our own language? Hey, I'm from Spain, or I'm from... I don't want to guess where else it's from. I'll get in trouble. I hear it in Spanish. How do I hear it in Spanish and you hear it in Samoan? That's not like Spanish and Italian. Okay, maybe you can a little bit. They're kind of similar. It's kind of same root. It comes from the Latin, but...

How could you hear that? And there's this perplexion. There's this confusion. They're figuring out. It's kind of through a process. It's not automatically they know everybody. It's like, well, you're hearing it in your language, and you're hearing it in your language, and we're having all these different regions represented. This is an absolute miracle.

I was praying for this miracle to happen again today as a woman stopped by asking for information about our services, but only spoke Spanish. And I was like, Lord, I'm just going to talk to her in English and just let her understand. But that didn't work. So didn't want to do it today. But it was an amazing miracle. And it's God who had worked all this out so that people from everywhere were gathered together to Jerusalem in that one place at this specific time when the Holy Spirit is poured out.

The sound is heard. The attention is captured. The people are captivated as they realize something amazing is happening here. These disciples are praising God, and I can understand it in my language, and they can understand it in their language, and they can understand it in their language. What in the world is going on? Now, again, they had a common language. They probably all spoke Greek, but

They might have even all spoke Aramaic. There might have been a couple languages that they would have had in common, but it's very clear they spoke or they heard the words in the language from which they were born. So again, it's the language of their homeland where they were born, the language that was spoken there. That's what they heard as the disciples were praising the Lord. Now the Holy Spirit orchestrated all of this.

To capture the attention of the people. And again, that's the point. The Spirit captures the attention of unbelievers. That is the work of the Spirit. How hard would it have been to coordinate all of this in man's strength? Even if you could work out the whole language things. Just to get someone represented from every part at this particular place at this particular time.

How could you coordinate all of that? How could you work all that together for them all to be able to hear the sound and to be able to come and to check out what's going on? It would have been impossible. Only God could do this kind of thing. But let's say you got everybody all together. How would you get their attention? How would you get the attention of a few thousand people? I'm sure you could try to come up with some ways. There's some things that we could think of.

But only God could do it this way and to actually capture the attention. These guys were hooked. I'm hearing them in my language and you're hearing them in your language. I mean, God had their full attention right now. Sometimes we try to do the work of the Holy Spirit, even with good intentions. You know, we see people that we love. We see people we want them to get right with the Lord. We want them to hear for the Lord. We want them to hear for the Lord.

And sometimes we try to do the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and it's frustrating, and it's ineffective, and it doesn't work, and that frustrates us more. But only the Holy Spirit can do this kind of work and capture someone's heart and capture their attention in such a way that God has their full attention. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. That's what He does. Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 16?

He told the disciples, first of all, it's to your advantage that I go away because then I can send the Holy Spirit to you. And in John chapter 16, verse 8, Jesus says, and when he has come, that's the Holy Spirit, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Here's the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. Here's how the Holy Spirit works in the life of an unbeliever. He brings conviction. That's another way to say he captures their attention.

And when an unbeliever experiences the conviction of the Holy Spirit, it's a conviction they can't shake. They try hard to shake it, but they can't shake it. And sometimes it's a conviction of sin. They're overwhelmed by their sin. They're overwhelmed by the wrong that they do, their inability to turn from that sin, to turn from that wrong. And the Holy Spirit can captivate someone's heart, can capture their attention. And their whole life, you know, their days are filled with

This recognition of the wrong that is there. The Holy Spirit can convict of righteousness. That is, sometimes people will be caught up and captivated by a thirst for the truth, a thirst for what is right. And the Holy Spirit can convict of sin in a way that we can't. We can nag people, but that's external. It's not internal. It doesn't capture them within. We can present truth to people, but that's external.

But when someone has this thirst within, when the Holy Spirit is doing this work and their attention is, it's grabbed, it's captured, and they need to find out the truth. They need to find out what's right. Or it could be a conviction of judgment. Sometimes people can be overcome by the realization that we will stand before God, that there is a real judgment. There is a heaven and a hell.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He captures the attention of unbelievers. Remember what the Lord said to Saul as he was converted on the road to Damascus? He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He says, who are you? I'm the one you're persecuting. I'm Jesus. It's hard for you to kick against the goads. You know what the Lord's telling Saul? Saul,

You've been experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and you've been fighting it, but it's hard for you to fight against the work of the Holy Spirit. You see, it's easy for people to throw off the conviction we try to put on them, but when the Holy Spirit is at work in someone's life and bringing conviction, they can't shake it. It's hard for them to kick against the goads. And it puts people in that position where they're ready to receive, they're ready to hear, they're ready...

to have the opportunity to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit. They may still reject it. They may still turn away, but it's bringing them to that point. Now, if the disciples had tried to coordinate this on their own, if they tried to use their own efforts, you know, well, let's put out some flyers and invite a bunch of people to Jerusalem at this time on this day and try to get a gathering here. We're going to make a loud sound. And it wouldn't have worked. They couldn't have recreated this. They couldn't have planned it.

But when it was the work of the Holy Spirit, all they had to do, here's the disciples' part in this. Number one, they had to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then number two, they had to respond as the Holy Spirit moved in their heart. That was verse four. That's what happened. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. That's all that they had to do.

And the Holy Spirit used that. He took care of the rest, and he arrested the attention of those unbelievers. They were hooked. They were caught up. They were ready to hear. This is the way that the Holy Spirit is at work today. He's at work in the lives of unbelievers around us. And everybody's at different spots. Everybody is, you know, at different places in their

in their life and in their rejection or acceptance of the things of God. But we need to recognize that when the Holy Spirit's at work, we don't have to generate it. We don't have to manufacture it. All we have to do is, number one, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and number two, respond as the Spirit moves in our heart. Sometimes the Spirit's going to prompt you to say something, and you're like, I don't even know why I'm saying this. But the Holy Spirit knows because He's working over here.

Maybe you're talking to someone and thinking it's for someone else, and he's got someone else in mind who's just overhearing what's going on. And it's part of what the Holy Spirit is doing to capture their attention, to get them to understand that God is reaching out to them and has an offer of life for them. Our job is not that complicated. Be filled with the Spirit and respond as the Holy Spirit moves you. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit today?

Are you experiencing this? Are you part of God's plan? Are you part of God's work? Because he's working in the unbelievers around you and you're involved, you're part of it simply by the fact that you're filled with the Holy Spirit and you're responding as he's putting things in your heart. The Holy Spirit is at work today capturing the attention of unbelievers.

Well, let's move on to point number three. Now we're looking at verses 12 through 16. And here we see that the Spirit operates in the boundaries of God's Word. As we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit, there has been, of course, much misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit throughout the history of the church. And we need to have a balance here. On the one hand, we need to have an openness to be submitted to whatever the Lord wants.

And the Holy Spirit will sometimes call you to do something very weird. Be filled with the Spirit and then respond as the Holy Spirit moves in your heart. And sometimes the things that the Holy Spirit prompts you to do is like, why would I do that? That's kind of weird. I'm not comfortable doing that. Sometimes the Holy Spirit's going to prompt you to do something that's common. Like, what's the big deal? Why does the Holy Spirit want me to do that? Why does the Lord want me to do that? It's not a big deal. It's just a normal thing. Anybody could do that.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit's going to prompt you to do something amazing or mind-blowing. We want to have an openness. We need to have an openness to be submitted to whatever the Lord puts on my heart, whatever the Holy Spirit prompts me to do, I need to do that. At the same time, there needs to be some structure and understand that things need to line up with the scriptures. And so what happens is sometimes people go crazy, quote unquote, in the Spirit when it's not really a work of the Spirit at all.

It's not God working. It's not the Holy Spirit moving. But they put the title, you know, Holy Spirit on it. And it's not a work of the Spirit at all. But something that's pointed out here in this passage is that the Holy Spirit operates within the boundaries, within the structure of the Word of God. It's written for us there. In verse 12, it says, So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean?

so again as the crowds gather together you hear them in your language i hear them in my language what is going on what does this mean what's the significance they're perplexed they're trying to figure it out at the same time verse 13 says others were mocking and saying they are full of new wine now that's something we know right there's always going to be mockers those who want to attribute a work of the holy spirit to something natural to something that they can just disregard

But Peter, in verse 14, standing up with the 11, raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. So the people are confused. They're trying to figure out what's going on. Ah, you know, they're just drunk. You know, that's all that's going on. They're babbling. Peter stands up and says, hey, guys, I'm

I know you're wondering what's going on. Let me tell you. It's not drunkenness. It's only 9 a.m. This is something else entirely. Verse 16. He says, but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And he's going to go on and quote from Joel chapter 2. But it's important to understand what Peter is saying here. This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is a key to the work of the Holy Spirit.

The key to the work of the Holy Spirit is that you are able to point in the scriptures and say, here is where it is written what is being fulfilled right now. The thing that is going on, the thing that is happening right here in front of you, here's where the scriptures talk about that. Here's where the word of God declares that. And that absolutely needs to be in place when we are engaging in things that we are calling, you know, a work of the Holy Spirit.

We want to be open. We need to be open to whatever the Holy Spirit wants. And I stress that because a lot of times the Holy Spirit's going to prompt us to go pray for someone we don't want to pray for. The Holy Spirit's going to prompt us to say something that, I don't know if I should say that, Lord. That could get me in trouble. The Holy Spirit's going to prompt us to do things that we're uncomfortable with. And so there needs to be an openness on our part that

Lord, whatever you want to do, I want to be open to that. I want to be part of your work. And that can be very scary and it requires faith. But we need to be careful not to take it too far and get carried away and to start engaging in things that are not of the Spirit. But all the while we're convinced, all right, we're doing the work of the Spirit here, moving in the Spirit. And sometimes we can get caught up in the pursuit of the sensational. You know, a lot of times when the Holy Spirit works, we're clueless. We don't even realize it.

It's just normal. When the Holy Spirit works, it doesn't have to be sensational. You don't have to have warm, fuzzy feelings. Your ears don't have to ring. You know, there doesn't have to be a rainbow over your head or anything like that. Many times it's going to be normal. But sometimes people can get caught up in the pursuit of the sensational. Oh, now we know the Holy Spirit's really working because gold dust falls while we pray and worship. That goes on for a little bit, but you know, gold dust goes out of style.

gets old. Now it's platinum. Now it's diamonds. You know, now it's whatever. There's always going to be this pursuit of, you know, well, we've got to do something different, something new. You know, it's pursuing sensation after sensation or emotional experience after emotional experience. And that's a dangerous trap to fall into. And so it's good for us. We need to have this ability to be able to point at the scripture and say, this is that which was spoken by the prophet.

This is where the Holy Spirit is described to us in the work that he does. This is where it shows us that this is a genuine work of God. The Holy Spirit operates within the boundaries of God's word. He doesn't have his own agenda and he just does whatever he wants. He operates. He's able to operate within the structure of the word of God.

And that's part of the reason why we do our services the way that we do. So sometimes we do have the time in the service for afterglow or for the moving of the Holy Spirit, but the scriptures have some very particular clear instruction about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Now again, on the one hand, when it comes to our services, I want to be open to anything that God wants to do. If God wants to interrupt and say, you know what?

You thought you were going to teach Acts chapter 2 today. We're going to do a healing service instead. I want to be open to that. And if the Lord wants to do that, then God should be able to do that. I want to be open. But we also have the responsibility to be able to live according to the scriptures and to be able to say, yeah, that is a legitimate thing that God can do. And so, hey, if the Lord's leading us and it fits within the word of God, well, let's respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit.

But, oh, I feel like the Lord's telling me to do this, and it doesn't line up with what the scripture says. Well, then I need to recognize that's not according to what God has said. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, Paul the apostle outlines the instruction for, well, this is how the gift of tongues is to operate within a church service. And he points out, primarily, this isn't for church service. Primarily, this is for your personal life. But

It may happen. The Lord may want to move with the gift of tongues in a church service. So let there be two or at the most three. And there has to be interpretation whenever it's a gathering of believers. There must be interpretation. So

If there's not the gift of interpretation, then don't exercise the gift of tongues. That's the instruction. The gift of prophecy, let the two or at the most three speak in a service that has parameters. Everything is to be done decently and in order is the instruction. And I thought David Guzik pointed something out that I'd never noticed before. It's really interesting. He says, notice here in Acts chapter two, the speaking in tongues stopped when Peter began to preach.

Did you notice that? I didn't notice that. They're speaking in tongues. They're praising God. Everybody's hearing them in their own language. Then Peter stands up to preach. There's not still the commotion going on. Now Peter has their attention, and he's able to declare to them. He's probably speaking Greek. He's not speaking in tongues at this time. He's able to declare to them what is going on, and we'll see that next week, the message that he brings forth. And so within our services, I want to be open to anything that God wants to do.

subject to the instruction in the word of God. Outside of church, I want to be open to anything that God wants to do. Do you want to be open to anything that God wants to do? You should be. You should be open. You should be willing to just throw off the agenda, do something you've never done before as the Holy Spirit prompts you. But you should also know the scriptures and be able to do a little verification. Okay.

This is on my heart. I feel like doing this. I think God wants me to do this. Does it line up with? Can I point to a passage and say, this is that which was spoken? And a lot of the nonsense, as we talked about on Sunday, could be filtered out if we would allow the word of God to be the standard in our life. The Holy Spirit is at work today, and we want to be open to that, but understand it will always be within the boundaries that God's word establishes.

Well, the final point found in verses 17 through 21 is the Spirit gives people opportunity to call on the Lord for salvation. This is really the point of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He brings conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment so that people can call on the Lord and be saved. And here, Peter is going to be quoting from Joel chapter 2.

He's going to be sharing a scripture to say, this is what's going on. This is what you see. The Holy Spirit being poured out upon his people. And this is the main goal of the Holy Spirit. This is the main goal of this whole event that's taking place here in Acts chapter 2. Now people are going to have the opportunity to receive the gospel and be saved.

In verse 17, it says, So Peter says, look, this is what the prophet spoke about. He quotes from Joel chapter 2. It says, in the last days.

And so Peter says, we're living in the last days. This is starting to be fulfilled. Now, all of Joel chapter 2 wasn't fulfilled here in Acts chapter 2. But it was the beginning of the fulfillment of what has been prophesied there. And you and I today continue to live in the last days. That is, Jesus can return at any moment. So we're living in the last days. So what should we expect to be happening in the last days?

Well, God says in the last days in verse 17, I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh. And he gives some examples on your sons, on your daughters, on the young, on the old, on the men servants and maid servants, it says in verse 18. And on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. So God said, this is going to be a characteristic of the last days. I will pour out my spirits upon my people.

And he points out these different groups, basically saying, all of my people, no age limit, no gender discrimination, men, women, young, old, I will pour out my spirit upon all of my people in the last days. And so the potential is there for all believers. And again, I would ask, are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

You see, again, this wasn't just a filling of the Holy Spirit for Acts chapter 2, for that time frame, for those days immediately after Christ, the establishing of the church that really needed to be the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We are still living in the last days. This is still what God said is a characteristic of the last days, that His people, His

Have the opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the result will be dreams and visions and prophecy, mighty workings of the Holy Spirit because his people are filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you filled with the Spirit?

Now it goes on in verse 19 and 20 to give us some understanding of the duration of this work of the Spirit. In verse 19 it says, I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vaporance of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Here, as Peter continues to quote from Joel 2, we see the duration of this work of the Spirit. As he describes in 19 and 20, the tribulation period. This is also paralleled with Revelation 6, verse 12. The opening of the seven seals. And behold, there was a great earthquake at the sixth seal, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the moon became like blood.

And so here's what the Lord's saying. The last days have begun. That's the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2. The last days continue today and will continue through the tribulation period to the return of Jesus Christ, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so the last days began really with Jesus ascending into heaven, and they continue until the second coming of Jesus.

And during that time, God says, the characteristic of this time is that my people will be filled with the Spirit. I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon them. And then, verse 21, and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever responds to the work of the Spirit and calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. From that time of Pentecost,

to the return of Jesus Christ, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the goal. That's the mission. And this is why, this is the point of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh. And again, I would say Christianity is not a self-help program. The whole point of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon you is not just so that you can have an awesome life and be wonderful and good looking and stuff. But the whole point is so that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

That's why the Lord gives dreams and visions. That's why the Lord gives prophecy. That's why the Lord works in these ways with the power of the Holy Spirit. We do benefit from it. I'm not trying to say that we don't. I'm not trying to say that it doesn't bless us, that we don't have good results in our lives. But it's not the main point. The main point is that we are part of the work of the kingdom of God in giving people opportunity to call on the Lord for salvation.

We are living in the last days just as Peter was, but in a little bit different sense in that we're closer now. Remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 13? Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. We are living in the last days more than Peter was, than the disciples were in the book of Acts chapter 2. So that we should expect there to be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's available now.

Maybe to a greater degree than it was then. It's available at least in the same degree. The Holy Spirit is given without measure. We're living in the last days. And God says the characteristic of those last days is that my people will have the Holy Spirit poured out upon them. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Or are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit...

Are you now trying to be made perfect by the flesh? Are you trying to live the Christian life in your strength, with your wisdom, with your knowledge, with your understanding? Or are you desperate for the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in your life? The Holy Spirit is at work today. He empowers believers. He arrests the attention of unbelievers. He operates within the boundaries of God's word, but he's calling people to salvation in Jesus Christ.

He's reaching out and giving them opportunity. Are you part of that? Because you're filled with the Holy Spirit and you're responding as the Spirit moves in your heart. You have the chance to be. You have the opportunity to be. It's high time for us to awake. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And so let's ask God to fill us with this Holy Spirit and let's respond.

as he moves in our hearts. Heavenly Father, I do pray for us, each and every one of us. Lord, individually in our own lives, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to have a desperation for an urgency, Lord, that we would desire passionately to be filled with your Holy Spirit, Lord, that we would have an absolute surrender to you, a full-out submission to your authority and your plans and your will, Lord, that we might experience, Lord,

the fullness of the work that you have in store for us in your kingdom and making an impact in the lives of the people around us. I pray, Lord, that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. I pray for us as a church, as a congregation, God, that we would be a church that is desperate for your Holy Spirit, for your work in our midst and in our lives. And Lord, may we call out to you and we call out to you now, Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit. We need you. We know you want to work, Lord. We know you're at work.

Help us, Lord, to recognize it, to get in the flow of what you're doing. I pray, Lord, that you would speak to our hearts, that you would prompt our hearts. I pray that you would do that tonight. I pray that you would do that all week long and that you would help us to respond as you move in our hearts. Lord, that we would...

minister in the way that you call us to minister, that we would be bold and strong and firm the way that you called us to be bold and strong and firm. Lord, that we would be soft and gentle and loving in the way that you call us to be soft and gentle and loving. Lord, that we would be open, that we would be open to whatever you want to do. And even if it's different than our personality or against what we're accustomed to, Lord, even if it's outside of our comfort zone, Lord, as long as it lines up with your word, help us, Lord.

to immediately be obedient as you prompt our hearts. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.