Acts 2:1
Outline:
I. \\#Acts 1:1-8:4\\ God’s Work in Jerusalem
A. \\#1:1-3\\ The Introduction
B. \\#1:4-26\\ Jesus’ Departure
1. \\#1:4-8\\ The Command
2. \\#1:9-11\\ The Ascension and Promised Return
3. \\#1:12-26\\ The Wait for the Holy Ghost
C. \\#2:1-8:4\\ The Holy Ghost’s Coming
1. \\#Acts 1:1-4\\ The Holy Spirit Comes
2. \\#Acts 2:5-8:4\\ The Power of the Holy Spirit
a. \\#Acts 2:5-13\\ The Power of Languages
b. \\#Acts 2:1-36\\ The Power of Preaching
c. \\#Acts 2:37-41, 47\\ The Power of Salvation
d. \\#Acts 2:42-47\\ The Power of Fellowship
e. \\#Acts 2:44-45\\ The Power of Giving
II. \\#Acts 8:5-12:24\\ God’s Work in Judea and Samaria
III. \\#Acts 13:1-28:31\\ God’s Work in Uttermost Parts of the World
Questions from last week?
1. What does the name Theophilus mean?
2. What gospel is believed to go with the Book of Acts?
3. Was Luke a Gentile?
4. Where was Jesus when He gave the apostles their last command?
5. How far is a Sabbath’s day journey?
6. Who was appointed to take Judas’ place?
7. How many days after the Firstfruits (resurrection) was
Pentecost?
8. Tell me someone in the Upper Room on Pentecost.
9. What did the coming of the Holy Ghost look like? Sound like?
I. \\#2:1-8:4\\ The Holy Ghost’s Coming
A. \\#Acts 2:1-4\\ The Holy Spirit Comes
1. \\#1\\ The Conditions
a. \\#1\\ "when the day of Pentecost was fully come" - 50
days after First Fruits. The disciples were waiting
for 10 days.
b. "they were all with one accord" - Still with the same
mindset \\#Acts 1:14\\.
c. "in one place" - Presumably in the upper room.
2. \\#2-3\\ The Coming
a. \\#2\\ Activity
(1) "And suddenly" - While the disciples were doing
what they had been doing.
(2) "where they were sitting" - The people, if they
were praying, were in sitting positions.
(3) Apparently, nothing was different in the minutes
before the Holy Spirit came. In fact, there is
no indication that the Holy Ghost came because
of the disciples’ action at all, although
spending long times in fasting and prayer is
always a good thing. The Holy Ghost came
because He was promised and it was time for Him
to come.
b. Audibly
(1) "there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind" - The Bible does not say there was
a wind but the sound of wind. The sound was
that of a tornado coming from heaven.
(2) "it filled all the house" - The sound was loud
all through the house.
c. \\#3\\ Visibly
(1) "appeared unto them cloven tongues"
(a) "cloven" - Divided, parted, thoroughly
partitioned.
(b) "tongues" - A tongue as the organ in a
person’s mouth.
(2) "like as of fire" - Since the shape has been
described, this phrase probably describes the
color or brightness. Perhaps the shape was
bright like fire or the color was yellow to
orange.
(3) So it would seem like a separate, U-shaped,
bright-fire-colored cloud fell on each one of
the believers.
3. \\#4\\ The Effect
a. "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" - Everyone
in the room was filled with the person and power of
the Holy Ghost.
b. "began to speak with other tongues"
(1) "as the Spirit gave them utterance"
(a) All that happened was through the power of
the Holy Ghost.
(b) Notice that the Bible does not distinguish
between the Holy Ghost and the Spirit.
(2) "tongues"
(a) The word is languages.
(b) This is evidenced in \\#Acts 1:8-11\\.
(c) Perhaps the reason the translators referred
to this gift by the word "tongues," which
seems to encourage some to hold to the
belief that the gift is a heavenly tongue,
was because that was the shape of the
visible presence of the Holy Ghost.
(d) Yet there is evidence that a variation of
this gift (or perhaps a completely
different gift altogether existed).
i. From the book of Acts, it would appear
that whenever the gift of tongues was
exercised, everyone who heard
understood the speaker, but that
seems to have changed by Paul’s
writing to Corinth.
1Cor 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for
no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit
he speaketh mysteries.
1Co 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let
him keep silence in the church; and let him speak
to himself, and to God.
ii. Based on the book of Acts, if I had
the gift of tongues, I would never
need an interpreter for each person
would hear in his native language.
iii. Based on 1Cor 14, there is a gift
which "no man understandeth."
aa. \\#1Cor 14:23\\ This gift is for
worship only, never evangelism,
even though Paul states that the
prophecied gift is for the lost
\\#1Cor 14:21-22\\.
bb. And has strict rules for use,
including only in a small group
and one of that group must be an
interpreter.
iv. Why the gift changed we do not know.
Our Pentecostal friends would say
this was the arrival of a new
language, a heavenly language, but
that can not be verified and would
be a completely different gift than
described in the book of Acts.
v. While still a conjecture, it is more
logical to assume that the gift still
dealt with earthly languages but the
reach of the gift no longer included
everyone.
B. \\#Acts 2:5-8:4\\ The Power of the Holy Spirit - A large
portion of the book of Acts demonstrates the power of the
Holy Ghost through the lives of the believers.
1. \\#Acts 2:5-13\\ The Power of Languages
a. \\#5\\ Pentecost was the second of the three feasts in
which all the men had to come to Jerusalem so the
city would have been filled with "devote" Jews from
"every nation under heaven."
b. \\#6\\ "the multitude came together …because that
every many heard them speak in his own language."
Apparently, the disciples walked outside and started
preaching so that the Jews born in other nations
heard the sermon and testimonies in their own
language. This, in turn, caused the crowd to keep
growing.
c. \\#7-8\\ These verses give us the best description of
the gift of tongues.
(1) \\#7\\ All of the speakers were Galilaeans. They
were born in that area and spoke the language
of that area (Greek, Hebrew, Arabic).
(2) \\#8\\ Yet, the foreign Jews were HEARING the
words in the language of their birth.
(3) \\#9-11\\ The languages are listed. 14 are
mentioned, including Judaea.
(a) The description given shows the gift was on
the hearers not the speakers.
(b) The hearers heard in their own language even
though the speakers were speaking in the
Galilaean tongues.
(c) That is not to say that all references
concerning tongues describes it as a
miracle for the hearer, but this event
does.
d. \\#12-13\\ The Reaction
(1) \\#12\\ "they were all amazed"
(2) \\#13\\ "These men are full of new wine."
(a) The question is asked, "If the men were not
babbling with some unknown language, why
would people think they were drunk?"
(b) Perhaps because of WHAT they were saying.
Our attention always turns to the method
that the Holy Ghost gave on this day, but
the emphasis should be on the message.
(c) 120 people or more were just turned loose
onto the street preaching that Jesus had
risen from the dead. Some might would
think they were drunk.
2. \\#Acts 2:14-36\\ The Power of Preaching
a. There was always Bible reading and teaching, but this
is the first Holy Ghost empowered preaching for the
purpose of seeing souls saved.
b. Holy Ghost preaching:
(1) \\#Acts 2:16-21\\ Peter had a text
\\#Joel 2:28-32\\.
(2) \\#Acts 2:14-16\\ Peter applied the text to
present-day problems and circumstances.
(3) \\#Acts 2:22-24\\ Peter preached the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(4) \\#Acts 2:25-28\\ Peter tied in a second
Scripture \\#Ps 16:8-11\\.
(5) \\#Acts 2:29-33\\ Peter explained how it also
supported the preaching.
(6) \\#Acts 2:34-35\\ Peter tied in a third
Scripture \\#Psalm 110:1\\.
(7) \\#Acts 2:36\\ Peter gives a plain, blunt,
personally accountable challenge.
3. \\#Acts 2:37-41, 47\\ The Power of Salvation - This
section is helpful in that it demonstrates how the Holy
Spirit lead Peter in encouraging these people to accept
the Lord.
a. \\#37\\ "they were pricked in their hearts"
(1) The beginning of the process was the work of the
Holy Ghost.
a. There can be no evangelism with the Holy
Spirit.
b. In the lists of first, this is also the first
time the Holy Spirit convicted sinners of
their sin to bring them to salvation.
(2) "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
a. The preaching proclaimed the truth.
b. The Holy Spirit applied the truth to the
heart.
c. Now it is up to the sinner to respond to the
truth.
b. \\#38\\ They were further informed - Peter now
presents the simple plan of salvation.
(1) Peter lists two instructions.
(a) "repent"
(b) "be baptized"
(2) These are the two instructions given and they are
joined by the word "and" which typically joins
two equals.
(3) Let’s consider them.
(a) Repent is a necessary step in the plan of
salvation.
i. It means to turn about, to go in the
opposite direction.
ii. There is no salvation without
repentance.
(b) In this statement, Peter lists baptism in
the same light as repentance.
i. Is he saying that baptism is also a
absolutely necessary step in
salvation? That is what the Church
of Christ believe.
ii. If all we had was this verse, I would
say yes.
aa. Following all the rules of
interpretation, that is exactly
what I would conclude.
bb. The Church of Christ do have a few
Bible verses for what they
believe \\#Mark 16:16\\
\\#Acts 2:38, 22:16\\, although
I believe they can be answered.
cc. For this reason, I find less fault
with them than with many others
who hold to false doctrine.
iii. Yet, these are NOT the only verses in
the Bible.
aa. Verses that tell us salvation is
by grace \\#Eph 2:8-9\\.
bb. Verses that tell us salvation is
by repentance and faith
\\|#Rom 10:9-10\\.
(4) The point being that Peter, under the power of
the Holy Ghost, gave a simple statement of how
one comes to be saved from sin.
c. \\#39-40\\ They were encouraged. These verses make it
clear that Peter did not just give them the needed
information. He continued in an attempt to persuade
them to act on that information.
d. \\#41\\ Then the people chose.
(1) "they that gladly received the word"
(a) If the people wanted to accept the words
they had heard as true, they could.
(b) If they did not, they did not have to do so.
(2) "were baptized" - Those who accepted the word,
obeyed the first command of obedience, "be
baptized."
(3) "and the same day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls."
4. \\#Acts 2:42-47\\ The Power of Fellowship
a. \\#42, 46-47\\ "they continued" - A holy attitude
prevailed in the church as the Holy Spirit lead them.
(1) \\#42\\ "steadfastly in the apostles doctrine"
They were obedient to the doctrine taught by the
disciples, now called apostles.
(a) That term has already been used in the book
of Acts but it does denote a change.
(b) "disciples" means one who is learning, a
pupil.
(c) "apostle" means a messenger or one that is
sent.
(d) The students have become the teachers.
(2) "and fellowship" - They abode together so that
they became a fellowship or a family.
Acts 2:46 And they, continued daily with one
accord …with gladness and singleness of heart,
(3) "breaking of bread" (also \\#46\\)
(a) While the term might refer to merely eating
together, it likely means that they were
partaking of the Lord’s Supper together.
(b) No commandment is given as to how often to
partake of the Lord’s Supper. Partaking of
it is related to how much it means to the
participants. It must have meant more to
the early church than it does to most
today.
(4) "in prayer" - They prayed together as a regular
activity.
(5) \\#47\\ "Praising God" - The church worshipped
and praised God.
b. \\#43\\ A holy attitude also prevailed outside of the
church.
(1) "fear came upon every soul" - There was fear.
The church and especially the apostles, were
likely looked upon as a group of holy people,
especially as they began performing miracles.
(2) "and many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles" - While there are no details of the
apostles miraculous deeds as of yet, that gift
likely accommodated the coming of the Holy Ghost
as well.
(3) \\#47\\ "and having favour with all people" - The
public looked upon the Christians in a good
light, at least at first. They preached against
sin like the Pharisees but they also preached
forgiveness through the death of the Messiah,
Jesus. In addition, their lives displayed a
righteousness and love that was missing from the
Jewish leaders.
c. \\#46\\ "from house to house" - As there were no
church buildings at this time, the believers met in
the homes of the believers.
d. "in the temple"
(1) The early Christians were all Jews. Becoming a
Christian did not change their heritage.
(2) Soon two issues would arise
(a) How far into Judaism must a Gentle go to
become a Christian?
(b) How much of the law should a Christian Jew
keep?
(3) The first issue will be answered mostly in the
writings of Paul. Gentile Jews do not have to
keep ANY of the law. We are not Jews and the
law does not provide salvation.
(4) The second issue will be answered by God when He
allowed the temple to be destroyed and removed
the priesthood. Without these two, the only
aspects of the law that a Jew can keep is the
moral law and the aspects of personal conduct.
(5) During 40 or so years that the temple stood, it
was a natural place for Jewish Christian to
introduce the Messiah to Israel.
5. \\#44-45\\ The Power of Giving
a. \\#45\\ "sold their possessions and goods, and
part them to all men" - Although sacrificial
giving did not originate in the New Testament,
the extent to which the believers gave is.
b. This characteristic will be illustrated in
greater detail in chapters 4 and 5.
6. \\#47\\ The Power of Salvation - I have already mentioned
this but as it is repeated (and wonderful!), we will note
it again here. As the Holy Ghost rested upon the people,
souls were saved EVERY DAY.
Acts 2:47 …And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
