God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.

This lesson is about the happenings in the lives of Jesus’ disciples as they waited at Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Luke tells of these events at the conclusion of his account of the gospel, and in the first chapter of The Acts of the Apostles. In obedience to Jesus’ command, given to them shortly before His ascension, about 120 of his disciples waited at Jerusalem to receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised the Spirit would come upon them. While they waited, *they were together, *united in purpose, *praising and blessing God in anticipation of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

GOLDEN TEXT: Acts 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

COMMANDED TO WAIT

A. Hearing the Resurrected Jesus

Luke 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

…….If you want an understanding of scripture, ASK FOR IT! The Lord does not desire to hold His enlightenment from any of His children. Contrarily, He longs for us to come to the point of desire where WE want nothing more earnestly than His truth in life. He will not impart blessings to those who so easily let them slip away. We must be like the new wine container, absent of the old with plenty of room for the new.

46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved (became necessary for) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48  And ye are witnesses of these things.

49  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry (immovable: settled, steadfast) ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

…….Before He fulfilled His passion, the disciples could not comprehend the purpose, nor His or their own. Since then they have seen Him raise from the dead. He has numerous times walked with them, and now that their understanding was opened, they could be in one mind and one accord.

A lot of us church people enjoy the gathering and services. We all love feeling the presence of His Spirit. We love fellowship and the breaking of bread. But what we have to learn to enjoy is the UNITY and likemindedness that the body must conform to in order for His ultimate purpose for their lives to be fulfilled! Why do you think it’s so hard to get along with others at times? The enemy knows just as well that Unity is the key to spiritual success within the church! It takes an individual enlightenment to experience a corporate understanding! The overflow of your spiritual relationship helps me, and mine helps you! Church success could be summed up into 3 topics: 1, the vast majority of the church must be truly saved. 2, the body has to be Unified! 3, we must be full of the Spirit and operating with His power. We cannot skip step 2 if we want step 3 to be continuous!

B. Holy Spirit Power Promised

Acts 1:4  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but [wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

…….As hard as it is, we must learn to enjoy the wait! Tell a child to wait on anything good, and if they aren’t trained to enjoy the wait it will eat them alive!!! I can remember crying on Christmas Eve because I wasn’t allowed to open at least 1 gift! Some of us Christians are just like that spoiled child, mulligrubing because we can’t experience a sliver of what God has in store for us! When we really learn to prepare for what’s to come, we can then enjoy the wait, because what God has in store is Worth waiting on!!!

5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence].

6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7  And he said unto them, [It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth].

…….Jesus is about to Baptize them with the Hoy Ghost!!! and He still tells them to quit living in wonder. It’s not a sin to wonder with hope and expectancy. What makes wondering a sin is when we wonder with no expectancy. Looking back on my personal life, I “wonder” if certain things would have happened faster if I didn’t spend so much time living in wonder! Will there be disappointments in life? Absolutely! But we must learn to “gain strength from” them instead of being “drained by” them!

The promise (for you and me) is there, but we have to stop searching for the results of the promise, and stay focused on Who made the promise!

WORSHIPPING AND WAITING

Worshiping in the Temple

Luke 24:50  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

52  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

53  And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen

…….Something shifted this time with watching Him leave (vs. 51). This is the true impact of step 2! This time they had faith that He would appear again, and this faith, worship, continuous praising and blessing God was key to them receiving! Now, instead of mourning after His departure, they knew that He would not leave them comfortless!

OBEYING AND RECEIVING

The Holy Spirit Received

Acts 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

…….”Accord”, a key word in this scripture, ultimately describes the position we must all come to. The compound word it is broken down to (thumos) literally means: passion (as if breathing hard): – fierceness, indignation, wrath. We have to come to the common point where we all want the Kingdom of God to have full control in our lives corporately! UNITY, UNITY, UNITY!!!

2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (spoken word, statement, or vocal sound).

…….I can see Luke telling the story in our culture: “It was the craziest, most amazing thing I have ever witnessed! Jesus taught us one last time, and this time His words made more sense than ever before! This time we weren’t discouraged. This time we weren’t afraid of anyone. We had much confidence and left the mountain with hope and sure expectation!

We were worshiping and praising God in the temple. It felt so good to be in that place at that very moment that nothing else mattered! It was the greatest revival I’d ever been to! Towards the end of the prayer meeting, though we were a little tired, everyone was so content in our relationships and friendships. We had the same focus and expected the same outcome. There was harmony in the church like never before! There were no schisms, no splits, and no divisions among us. There was a closeness to the Lord as if He was now living within our very beings! All of a sudden, something supernatural came into the room, something that looked ferocious and no one was worried! Suddenly, there was a specific breakthrough that everyone experienced. Every person in that place was operating with power and speaking in an unlearned tongue. Some were speaking in foreign languages, while others were speaking in a heavenly language that no one had ever heard before. We still speak in that heavenly language since that day, and others also when they pray through to receiving the baptism! It was a moment in our walk that initiated a continuous momentum! Now, when others want what we have, the Lord is freely giving it to them when they come to the point of having a made up mind to wholeheartedly serve him!

Waiting for the Holy Spirit