Unstoppable Part 6

Unstoppable Part 6 Acts 2:1-4 In the Old Testament, when Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, the Lord established a calendar for them. He was creating a nation for this population of liberated slaves, and of course, every nation needs its calendar, its holidays. America has an annual calendar with patriotic holidays and with religious holidays, and certain days of the year when we do this or that, it helps us to organize our lives and gives us a sense of unity. And so God established a calendar for the Israelites in Leviticus 23, and it included holidays or holy days, which the people were to celebrate. One of those was Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which commemorated the night when the Israelites left Egypt. This is the story that we read about in the Book of Exodus, when the Israelites had just grown exponentially as a people and the Egyptians had enslaved them, and the Lord sent Moses, you know, that story, who unleashed a series of plagues against them. And the last devastating plague to strike Egypt was the death of the firstborn. The Lord told the Israelites that every family was to slaughter a spotless lamb and to paint the doorpost of the houses with its blood, and the agent of death would pass over them. It says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And so that's why this evening is called Passover. During that terrible night, Pharaoh was aroused from bed and realized what was happening, and he rather unwillingly liberated the enslaved people and told the Hebrews to flee quickly from Egypt, and they had to leave before the overnight bread was leavened. And so the Lord put a commemoration of that event in the Israeli national calendar, and every year in the springtime, the Jewish people had a holiday to commemorate their freedom, and it was called the Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, and this is when the lamb was slain. Jesus died and rose again during this festival, and so for us became our holiday of Good Friday and Easter. Well, 50 days later, to mark the harvest season, there was another holiday. During this time, the barley harvest took place, and then the wheat harvest, and then the other crops began coming in, and on the 50th day after Passover, the first fruits of the wheat harvest were brought to the temple and presented to the Lord. Everybody brought the first part of their harvest to present it there to the Lord as an act of worship, and that later went to help feed the priests. And so it was that this next great festival was a harvest festival. It was called the Feast of the First Fruits, or the Feast of Weeks, because it occurred seven weeks after a Passover. And it was also called Pentecost, because it occurred exactly 50 days, that is seven weeks and one day after the Passover. And the word Pente means five.. And so Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover, and it celebrated the harvest season. Well, I'm telling you all of this because of its prophetic nature. In the sequence of Old Testament Holy Days, there was a prophetic pointing forward to the church. Jesus died on the Passover, and 50 days later, the church came into being on the day of Pentecost. The church was birthed. The 120 disciples in the upper room that day were the first fruits of a great harvest of souls, which was to characterize the age of the church. Pentecost is not a single day, but it is the whole time of harvest. The church age is the harvest age. The text says, “When the day of Pentecost came.” That’s a very flat reading, actually. The literal rendering of the Greek here would say something like this, “And in the filling up of the day of Pentecost.” That’s a rather intriguing phrase. What could that possibly mean? It means Pentecost doesn’t end until the last person to be brought into the harvest is safely in. Until the last stalk of grain is harvested. Until the harvest was full. So the church is grounded in the death and resurrection of Christ and founded for the evangelization and the harvest of the gospel. By being established on the day of Pentecost, the church was appointed to go into the harvest fields of the nations of the world and bring about a harvest of souls. “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ There were about 120 of them. They are described for us in the prior chapter, as we've already seen. Jesus started with 12, and now there are exactly 10 times that many gathered in the upper room, probably the same upper room where he had met with his disciples during the Last Supper. This involves the 12 apostles and some of their families, and the women who followed Jesus in Galilee, and our Lord's mother and his brothers were there. It says in verse 2,” “Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Phenomenon 1). Wind Tornado survivors often describe the noise that envelops them when something like a freight train, or an enormous waterfall, or a jet engine, something sounding like that descends on their house. It doesn't say that there was actually a rushing wind, but there was a sound like the wind. And I think that that signifies the descent of the Holy Spirit. The word spirit is the Greek word Pneuma, P-N-E-U-M-A, Pneuma, meaning wind or breath. And so the sound of the wind rushing into the room represented the arrival of the Holy Spirit. And I have a feeling, we're not specifically told this, but I think it was such a loud, tornadic sound that everyone in Jerusalem, maybe everyone in the entire city, stopped what they were doing and in panic and bewilderment wondered, what is that very strange, overpowering sound, that reverberating, sustained burst of noise? Maybe you could have heard it a mile or two or three miles away. Well, verse 3 goes on and gives us another phenomena. “There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them,” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ 2). Fire Not only was there the sound of this rushing wind, but they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them. Now, this is in keeping with what we read about in the temple and the tabernacle in the Old Testament. When the Spirit of God and the glory, the shekinah of God came down into the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 40, or into the temple in the days of Solomon, it was like a great cloud, a burst of fire that came down from heaven, representing the presence of God and dwelt inside the holy place of that structure. And now these disciples are to be the temples of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Temples of God. It says in the book of 1 Corinthians, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? And we're told that the church represents the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christians literally represent now the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes, He will be with you and will be in you. And so I visualize this as a ball of fire falling into the room and dividing into 120 tongues of flame, and each of them set these 120 people on fire. It was like the burning bush in the book of Exodus. It was a fire, but it didn't hurt or consume them. It looked like each one of these believers was just a flame, fire spreading all over them, and yet they were not hurt or burned or consumed. I think it meant that each and every single one of them was now anointed with the Holy Spirit. They were each baptized with the Spirit. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was one ball of fire representing unity, but it divided into 120 torches that set each of the disciples on fire in a spiritual sense. And then verse 4 gives us a third phenomena. “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Not only do we have the sound of the rushing wind representing the Holy Spirit and the fire representing the fact that now God through the Holy Spirit is indwelling each one of them and setting them on fire, but it says all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, other languages as the Spirit enabled them. There was the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, there was tongues of fire, and their was and the ability to speak in other tongues…languages. Well, what does this mean? It means that now these 120 and all who would follow them, who would be called by the name of Christ, had their job, their commission, their mission to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of the world as bold witnesses. The Holy Spirit is given so we might be better witnesses. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Then Holy Spirit was given so we might be bold in our witness. “When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were untrained and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Later on in Acts four the believers are praying for boldness. Listen to their prayer: “and who by the mouth of Your servant David said: ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people devise vain things? The kings of the earth came, and the rulers were assembled together against the Lord and against His Christ.’ Indeed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were assembled together against Your holy Son Jesus whom You have anointed, to do what Your hand and Your counsel had foreordained to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant that Your servants may speak Your word with great boldness, by stretching out Your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be performed in the name of Your holy Son Jesus.” When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭31‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Let me show you something about the pattern and power of prayer. Let me show you something about the gift of having an ascended Lord. “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture —you shall make it just so.” Exodus‬ ‭25‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Then talking about the furniture inside, God says, “See that you make them according to their pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.” Exodus‬ ‭25‬:‭40‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ God reiterates; God says it over and over again. And, you'll notice that, in the Bible, God repeats things, when He wants to emphasize them. And, God says, "Make it according to the pattern," because, you see, there is a spiritual lesson. Notice in Hebrews 8:1-2. “Now this is the main point of the things that we are saying (this is what it’s all about): We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle, which the Lord, not man, set up.” Hebrews‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭MEV‬‬.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Now, the high priest in the Old Testament was just a prophecy of our high priest, Jesus Christ. You understand that all of these things, therefore, that are happening in the Old Testament are but shadows, types, prophecies, pictures, predictions, illustrations, amplifications, and things that point to great spiritual truth in the New Testament. Above us right here is another Tabernacle. It is the Tabernacle of heaven. What happens in this building matters very little. What is really important is what is happening above us because as gathered believers we are under the shadow of another Tabernacle. Jesus the High Priest walks in this Tabernacle. What happens here that is significant, lasting, and eternal, is bound to what is happening in that Tabernacle. Jesus walks above us and casts His shadow over someone in this place and begins to speak to them in the spirit and quickens their heart and makes you a completely different person. Every piece of furniture in the Tabernacle of Moses shows up in the Revelation of John. We are not really talking about the Tabernacle of Moses. We are only using the Tabernacle of Moses as a means to see into the heavenlies. We are not worshipping down here on earth. We are worshipping in heavenly places. We are worshipping in heaven’s Tabernacle where Jesus serves as our High Priest and part of that role includes intercession for us. Let’s look at what happens when we pray. “I saw a Lamb in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints.” Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ The incense being burned on the golden altar in heaven are the prayers of the saints. Your prayers and mine. Now, I want you to notice something that will get a little sweeter. Every piece of the furniture represents Jesus. Remember. Jesus is our golden altar. He is our supplication, our intercessor. Now watch what happens. “Another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Jesus comes with hands full of incense. And, He takes that sweet incense of His worth, that sweet incense of His fragrance, and it is mixed with our prayers and together they are offered at the golden altar before the throne. Isn't that wonderful? We pray to Jesus and through Him at the same time. And we pray. Watch this promise of Jesus. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John‬ ‭14‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ We pray and Jesus prays for us and with us. And when earth’s prayers meet heaven’s prayers they move heaven and earth. When Jesus adds His prayer to mine! Well let’s just say it is unstoppable! While those gathered in the upper room are praying for the promised Holy Spirit, Jesus is praying, “Father send the Holy Spirit. Father fill them with the Spirit. You promised to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. The Holy Spirit descends and there suddenly came the sound of a rushing mighty wind… Then they pray for boldness. Jesus takes that prayer mixes it with His, Father give them boldness. And they spoke the word of God with boldness. The same is true for us.Jesus fill me now with your Spirit. Jesus adds His prayer to mine and the Holy Spirit descends and we are immersed under the power and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus fill me with boldness. Jesus takes that prayer mixes it with His, and we have a new boldness to witness to and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. But why stop there? Jesus fill me with a fresh anointing. Jesus adds His prayer to ours and a fresh heavenly anointing falls on us. Jesus fill me with heaven’s wisdom and Jesus adds His prayer to ours and we begin to see things from heavens perspective. Jesus I want to grow in knowledge of you, Jesus adds His prayer to ours, Father they want to know me more, and heaven begins to give us greater revelations of Jesus. Jesus I want to love like you love. Jesus takes that prayer and adds His prayer to it and the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit, a burning love greater than we had before. When the prayers of the saints mix with the prayers of the Son places begin to shake, God comes down. God shows up, things begin to happen. God begins to manifest. Just when you think it can’t get any better, it gets even better because we are His Temple. Jesus by His spirit walks back and forth in His earthly Tabernacles. In us. In our spirit. Jesus doesn’t walk just above us, He walks in us. And His Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer life. Romans 8:26-27. This is what John 17 talks about. John 17:20-21 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. May they also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. When the prayers of the Spirit of God within us mixes in with the prayers of the Son of God above us…they become a sweet smelling incense to the Father. No wonder Jesus says if we ask anything according to His will…not always right away, but in His perfect time, we have the petitions we desire of Him. “Now dwelling in Jerusalem were Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, the crowd came together and were confounded, because each man heard them speaking in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear, each in our own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the mighty works of God.” They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other, “What does this mean?” Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭12‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ The wind…the breath of God represents the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The fire represents the outpouring and power of the Holy Spirit. And the languages represent the compelling purpose of the Holy Spirit to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Now, this is true for us individually. It's true for us collectively. The tongues came down on the whole body of believers and broke out in tongues of fire on each individual. All this was possible because of our ascended Lord. God is unifying a church. This is the opposite of the Tower of Babel. Well, this is to me the great meaning of the Day of Pentecost. And it's what makes the Church different from every other institution in the world. This is why the Church is unstoppable.