The New Testament Church Part E

Taped by John Greene, transcribed by Mary Kay Lynd

Bible quotes are from NKJV unless otherwise stated.

Acts 2

We now come to Acts Chapter 2. We're going to begin in verse 1. We've now laid a pretty good foundation of what's happening. I hope that you've been following along. Because it's very important to see what really the Scriptures say instead of what people teach that they say. Now I realize that you say, "Now that sounds like kind of being hypocritical because now you're teaching." Yes, I am teaching. However, what I'm trying to present is exactly what the Scriptures read. I'm not trying to bring into these things anything that's not there. I'm trying to stay as true and honest to the Scriptures as is possible.

Now here we have in verse 1 a confirmation of what's been going on in Chapter 1. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." We said already in Chapter 1 that the disciples, all 120 of them, went in obedience to Jesus to Jerusalem. They're in the upper room. I can imagine how big this upper room is. But it can't be that big. But it's big enough to hold 120. It's in Jerusalem. We know that an upper room is not on the first floor. It's on the second floor. It's probably a room that was put on a rooftop. Buts it's an upper room. And if you look at some of the architecture of the first century Jerusalem you'll find that that's probably true. But understand that we're talking about Jerusalem, one of the largest cities in the entire world. We're talking about several hundred thousand people live in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is one of the largest, if not the largest city, in the known world. It might even rival places like Rome, or Athens in size. It's a very important city. Now they may be perhaps bigger, and they probably were in terms of number because the Middle East has always been considered a drub place. It's the bottom of the bottom, the worst of the worst. The Roman emperors would send somebody to the Middle East like Pilate who was governor, and they would consider that the worst place to be on guard in the entire Roman Empire. Nobody wanted to go there because, first of all, it's mostly desert and dust. Secondly, nobody goes there except those who live there. But as the Scriptures show us Jerusalem has always been the center of the world. And we're talking about a lot of people. We're talking about a lot of Jews. And yes, the Jews had been disbursed from all of the world but remember through Ezra and Nehemiah there were several waves of returnees and Jerusalem had built back up. We know from the revolt in the second century B.C., after Antiochus Epiphanes tried to take over when he offered his pig as a sacrifice on the altar as an open shame to the God of the Jews, and we know that he was defeated, and we know that Hanukkah came from that because the oil in the mennorah didn't get used up. We know all those things happened to them. And I'm not trying to diminish or belittle any, but I'm saying Jerusalem's always has been the center and that there are a lot of people that live in Jerusalem. And that's got to be understood that there are a lot of people that live in Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem this upper room's in one house. There are thousands and thousands of houses in Jerusalem. And I'm saying this because we've got to get an understanding of what's going on here. And suddenly, in this upper room, where we have 120 people who are in God's will, obeying Jesus, who said "wait.", we have an event take place.

They are in God's Will in obedience to Jesus. And here they are in the upper room all in one accord. They have the twelfth apostle. They're excited in prayer, believing God to do what needs to be done. They are listening to what is happening and all of a sudden, while they're in complete obedience, all of a sudden because they're allowing a flow of God that is not recorded like this in any other time, except perhaps when the tabernacle was first set up and Moses couldn't enter the tabernacle because of the glory of God, except perhaps when the temple was dedicated and the priests could not enter the temple because of the glory of God, there is no other time frame recorded that really rivals this moment that is happening!

The obedient disciples now have something suddenly come in like the sound of heaven. There was this whoosh that came out of the heavens "as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." The entire place was filled with the sound of this whoosh of the wind. Some of you may be living in a location where you know what the winds do as it goes through a mountain pass and you hear the sound of the whistling going by your ears on a crisp, fall afternoon as the wind in preparation for the winter to come. It just whooshes, it just blows. This wind came from heaven. And while these obedient disciples were here in the upper room "as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." Now here we have two things that need to be separated. We have the first opening bell; so to speak, of the gift of the Holy Spirit being poured out. When this begins there is something that happens that is a temporal thing. And I say temporal because, as I was just saying, you can go to certain locations and hear the wind whistle through the ear. It's a temporal thing. It's something that tickles your ears. Your ears hear that sound, its temporal. It doesn't say that the Holy Spirit was the wind. And that's an important thing to see. It doesn't say those tongues of fire that sat upon them, and understand we're talking about a little fire about the size of a leaf that stood over top of them was the Holy Spirit. It sat right on top of their heads. That's a temporal thing. That is a sign of the beginning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now again what I am saying this for, is we must stay true to Scripture, not speculation or adding to it. "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven." The sound came from heaven. The whistling of that mighty wind came from heaven. And it filled the house. And there also sat, I believe the King James says cloven tongues. Tongues that were divided among all of them. A fiery tongue sat upon them.

But look at what verse 4 says. And the reason that I'm making this differentiation is because there are a bunch of people out there that will tell you that the evidence that somebody is filled with the Holy Spirit is anything. And then the unbelievers, who I had talked about just recently, that want to twist and say that the Holy Spirit never happens anymore, and they have put together all their teaching to eliminate the Holy Spirit. From that camp comes the idea that if the Holy Spirit were around today those that receive the Holy Spirit would have exactly the same thing happen when we had the kickoff. That's not true either. Here we have the beginning of the outpouring that Peter is going to tell us a little bit later as prophesied by Joel. Here we had the beginning of the truth of the Holy Spirit being poured out, but let's look at exactly what the Scriptures say. Does it say the Holy Spirit gave them prophecy as evidence that they were filled? Some would have you believe that. Does the Holy Spirit say that they worked healings and that was evidence that they were filled with the Holy Spirit? Some would have you believe that. Some have tried to teach that anybody is filled with the Holy Spirit. All they have to do is obey God and that means that they're filled with the Holy Spirit. And some would teach that.

What I am saying is this, let's look at what the Scripture says and allow the Scripture to tell us what it says instead of twisting it. And it says "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." All of them, all 120 were now filled with the Holy Spirit "and began to speak with other tongues, as the flesh gave them utterance." No!! It doesn't say that. "As somebody taught them how to speak?" It doesn't say that either. It says, "as the Spirit gave them utterance." This is the only Scripture reference that is definitive. This is the only Scripture in our entire Bible that is so definitive about the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit giving utterance. That is the evidence. The Spirit gives utterance. Now that must be understood. There can be no other explanation except that from this one verse. And this is the only verse that says the Spirit does it. Well isn't it the Spirit who we're talking about? Isn't it the Holy Spirit that we have been discussing? Isn't that the reason that Jesus said you go back to Jerusalem? Isn't that what Jesus said that they were to wait for? Isn't the Holy Spirit falling on them the reason that Jesus said that you will receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses?

So if we're talking about the Holy Spirit here, if we're talking about what happens when the Holy Spirit falls on a person, if we're talking about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Peter will come along and say the gift of the Holy Spirit, if we're talking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as Joel calls it, the evidence is that the Holy Spirit moves on that person, gives them utterance, well what utterance do they get? This verse tells us. Other tongues!! It doesn't say that you'll speak with a new voice. It doesn't say that you'll be taught by another person how to speak. It doesn't say any of those things. It doesn't say you're going to have instant discernment of the spirits. The only evidence of one being filled that is definitive is exactly what the Holy Spirit is saying here. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers the utterance and its other tongues. And you've got all these people that get up in arms and say, "Wait a minute" and then they want to go back to Babel where they had babbling going on and the ridiculousness that took place and the sin at the tower of Babel. You know it's about time we just compared apples with apples, Scripture with Scripture correctly, not trying to make something sinful and evil, good. And not trying to make good, evil and sinful. The Holy Spirit was prophesied by Joel.

The Holy Spirit was told for the disciples that was to come with the power that they were to need to be witnesses, to fulfill the making of disciples in all nations proclaiming the gospel, "The Kingdom of God is at hand." The Holy Spirit power is there for the church, and if you leave it out whose power will be doing the work? Without the power of the Holy Spirit whose power is the work being done in? Well obviously the answer to that is the flesh, man. And isn't that where we have all our problems? Because man has screwed things up. Man has twisted things up. Man has made things to be what they are not. Man doesn't want to come to God, God's way. Man doesn't want Scripture to be Scripture! Man wants to twist it enough so that man can feel good [Pharisaic legalism].

Just because we've had 1400 years from about the time of 300AD to about the time of 1700AD where we had sin throughout the entire church, or what they called the church, but understand that God has always had a holy remnant, even during the time of the evils of the many popes that were in the Catholic Church, that wasn't "the church"! They called themselves the church, but God only has repentant ones in His church. If you've been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ you're part of the church. If you've repented of your sins and been washed in the blood you're part of the church. You're either a part of the church or you're part of the devil's bride. And there are only two. The church is the Bride of Christ. The world is the bride of Satan. Here we have in verse 4 a definitive! The tongues, other tongues, came upon them by the power of the Spirit. That was the evidence that they received the Spirit. That was the evidence that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They spoke in other tongues.

Let's go on and see what those other tongues say. Vss 5-6"And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together." Now I don't know if you ever use your Bible the way I do but sometimes I highlight and sometimes I underline and sometimes I just write in my Bible. Well look at what it says. "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together." Now remember there are all these houses in Jerusalem. All the people of Jerusalem did not come around the house that this upper room is in. They didn't all come to Jerusalem to stay there. So we've got to have an understanding about what's really going on here. There are a lot of extra people in Jerusalem, Jews from all over the world. They're there to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. They're there for one purpose, to follow the law of God in the Feast of Pentecost. They're from every nation. They speak all sorts of languages. And some people that were near this house where the upper room was, they heard the sound and that's why it's saying "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together." People started saying, "Hey, did you hear that sound? What's going on?" And the people began talking around the house, and they're telling other friends around the house. People began discussing the issues of the day. "I don't know what's going on." "Something really strange is happening here." "We don't know what's going on." And they begin talking about all of these different things, speculating. And when you get men speculating what do you get? Verse 6 shows us! "...and were confused"! They were confused. And here's why they were confused. Upon the speculation of what was happening everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Now listen. This is the part that most people don't see because they don't read this carefully. They think they know what it says. We have 120 people in the upper room. The sound from heaven draws some people. We don't know how many people surrounded the house. We don't know how many people came to this house to see what was going on. To see where that sound came from, what it was all about, why it was there. We don't know how many people. We know that at least 3,000 came around the house. We know at least that many. Now pay attention now. If you have two people in one room and one is talking you can understand because one person is talking. Now if you have two people in one room, and they're both talking to each other at the same time you're going to get a little bit of confusion. You might be able to make out some words here and there but you're going to begin to lose the integrity of the conversation because they're talking over each other. In the upper room we have 120 people who are all praising God. They're all speaking in other tongues, diverse tongues, and 120 people at that. That's a bunch of noise! When you put 120 people being a bunch of noise together there is no way somebody 50 feet away can understand what is being said. It's impossible. Think about that for a minute and look at what it says "Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?" We have an unknown number of people who are hearing in their own language this noise. Verses 9 through 11 the beginning of it tell us all these different locations that they came from Medes and Elamites, some from Mesopotamia and Cyrene, and some were Cretans and Arabs. And look at what they hear. They hear in their own minds, in their own ears, they hear them speaking in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. These people, 120 of them, who are worshipping God and proclaiming God to be God they are being exercised by the Spirit of God in another tongue, all 120 of them together.

Now to add to this, I want you to think about this, I gave you the example of two people talking the same language talking over top of each other. Now suppose you have 120 people each speaking 120 different languages? There is no way anybody is going to recognize anything. And that's what some people try to tell you that this is talking about based on the tower of Babel. And again the tower of Babel was confusion. That's what Babel means. Go back to the Old Testament. What is it? Chapter 11 in Genesis. Go back and look at what Babel actually means in Hebrew. God came down and confused them and sent them away because they were in sin. Wanting to do one thing, build a temple somehow that had a way to go all the way up into the heaven to reach God. And no man can replace God. These are whole groups of different Jews and Proselytes who came to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost and they hear. And somehow going from the ear to their mind, they understand exactly what is being said from this noisy 120. The 120 are noisy. But each person, now listen, if you have standing next to each other a person who is from Cappadocia and a person who is from Egypt and they're both Jews and they're standing next to each other outside where these 120 are praising the Lord, the one from Cappadocia hears those 120 speaking in his own language, yet the one from Egypt hears those same 120 speaking in Egyptian. Do you see what the Scriptures really say here?

The idea that God Himself took and interpreted for all of those devout Jews what was happening in the upper room where 120 people were excited for God, the power of the Holy Spirit was being poured out on those 120 who were obedient to God, the power of the Holy Spirit was being poured out on those 120 who were now with twelve apostles because they had just obeyed God and elected the twelfth apostle. God's Will was being done, and these 120 people are in the process of excitement! They're stirred up with one another because they've been in prayer and supplication believing for the power of God to fall on them. This is actually a good old-fashioned Pentecostal revival. And those other tongues that are being spoken by the 120 is being interpreted by each of the hearers in their own language. And the hearers are so confused at this point because they're amazed at what they see and what they hear.

Now herein are some things that I'm going to bring in for a second or two that perhaps is a little bit controversial, more so than what I've already brought in. But look at what verse 12 and 13 say. "So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." Now notice that the 120 are having a good old time praising God. But yet you go to some churches and it's like a mausoleum! Praise God? We have to sit there with stone cold faces. We don't ever raise our hand in worship where the Bible says to raise up holy hands and get excited for Jesus. But you've got some churches that are afraid to clap their hands. They sit back and they think that worship means attending a church. But here these people were actually worshipping and praising God. Yes I realize there is a difference between praise and worship. Both were taking place here.

These devout men of God that were there at Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost were now experiencing something phenomenal. They were now hearing in their own language what God has been doing for centuries, what God did in the Old Testament, giving God the glory. This is an old fashioned revival, but notice that some of those 120 were acting a little bit different! When somebody goes out and gets drunk there are some things that happen to their speech. It becomes slurred. Their speech becomes almost impossible to understand. When somebody goes out and gets drunk, they kind of fall backwards, stumble over things. They can't stand up straight. They can't walk straight. They're drunk! And one of the things that the mockers are saying about what is happening with the 120 is that they're drunk. They're full of new wine. They've been at the bar too long.

We know that the 120 were in prayer and supplication. We know the 120 were in obedience to God's Will and got the twelth apostle. We know that the 120 are in Jerusalem because Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait. We know the 120 are not any of those things. Yet the mockers saw some things. Now there are others there who were wondering what was going on. They'd never seen anything like this before. What were they seeing? Some people are being slain in the Spirit, falling down under the power of God! Some of those 120 had been laid out on the floor. Some of them had been walking as if they were filled up with that Holy Spirit, but they were dazed. I am using, dazed, as a word to define how they looked, not dazed in what they were. They looked dazed. They looked like they were falling over each other. These people that are surrounding the upper room, they were wondering what's going on because they were hearing in their own ears these other tongues being said, and God interpreted all that noise, and everything that was going on. God says, "Guess what guys? These are the wonderful works that I have done that they're rehearsing and talking about." And people are falling down under the power of God and speaking in other tongues. And all these things are happening. This is a Pentecostal revival. But there are mockers.

As in the truth of God's Word there are always going to be mockers. As in the truth of the Scriptures there are always going to be people who are going to twist the Scriptures. You've got some that say, "Well the evidence is just not there!" Well we can go onto Acts Chapter 8 when Phillip goes and preaches in Samaria. We have people being committed to Jesus Christ at that revival, of those same people, one of them happened to be a sorcerer who believed, who repented of his sins and believed. But then he reverted back, a little pressure on him from his old flesh and what he used to be, when the apostles sent a couple of apostles who had been Holy Spirit filled, and Simon the sorcerer saw some things happen before his very eyes! Then he said, "Let me have that power. How much money do you want?" Well Simon saw something. No it doesn't say they spoke in tongues. It doesn't have to. It doesn't say they were falling backwards, falling over. It doesn't say any of those things. But what it does say is Simon saw something, and it was a lot of action going on, and he wanted what the apostles had and he offered money for it.

We also have Acts Chapter 19 where the disciples were found that were from Ephesus. Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Spirit yet?" And he found out that they had only received the commitment of God through the preaching of John, John the Baptist. And he told them about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit fell on them.

We also have Cornelius who loved God with all his heart and he gathered many of his friends together who also loved God with all their heart and his household. And they sent for Peter and after Peter had started speaking to them about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit fell on them and they were Gentiles. Just over and over again, the same thing happens to those who receive the gift of the Holy Spirit..

Acts Chapter 2 Verse 4 is the only place in Scripture that is definitive where it says the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Well when did the Holy Spirit give them this utterance? When the Holy Spirit fell on them. The only bonafide, indisputable, evidence that somebody has been baptized in the Holy Spirit is speaking in other tongues. You can be a nice person, God can do many things through you, but you're not baptized with the Holy Spirit if you don't have the evidence of other tongues. Don't come tell me that you speak in German. That's great. That's not other tongues. Do I believe in some kind of a dialect? Perhaps. Could be an ancient Hebrew dialect. Could be any kind of a dialect. But I'm also not going to rule out what 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 says, the tongue of angels. I don't know what tongue they use! Paul uses this as he's talking to the Corinthians. Though you speak with the tongue of angels and he goes on to tell them without love it's just a tinkling, sounding brass!. Here we have 120 obedient people who are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the power that Jesus told them to wait for and the evidence that they had received the baptism was the Holy Spirit Himself giving them the utterance of other tongues. But we're going to find out that this is only the evidence.

This is not the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit and this tongue that they are speaking in is not one of the nine gifts. This is the evidence that they have been filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not the gift of tongues that must be interpreted. This is evidential tongues. And also we can see here in this passage that this is worshipful and praiseful tongues, because that is exactly what is taking place that these devout men of God hear, praise and worship! Therefore, we have two kinds of tongues here. We have evidential tongues and we have praiseful and worshipful tongues. And we can go on a little further but I want to try to not get too much into other Scriptures until we come to them.

But here we now have a pretty solid foundation, the truth of what Acts says, not what Acts doesn't say, nor what Acts has been twisted to say! Let's just read what the Scriptures say and let the Scriptures be the Scriptures, that's got to be our primary focus, otherwise we are going to continue to be all screwed up theologically. Some would have you say the book of Acts is no good for making doctrine. Well I'm not making any doctrine. I'm just doing what the Scriptures say. Every book is profitable for doctrine, every one of these books. But we've got to understand that we can't take the book out of the context. Amen? Amen.