Life in the the Spirit - part seven
Communion Of The Spirit
There‟s so many lonely people aren‟t there? And yet, you know what, Beloved, that‟s not life in the Spirit. Life in the Spirit is coming together enjoying the fellowship of one another, studying the Word of God together, being excited about what you are learning, finding out the needs of others and saying listen, I can supply that, I‟ve got one of those in my house, or listen you can have my outfit. This is what life in the Spirit is all about, sharing things together.
If you long for fellowship, my precious friend, then you need to get with others who are filled with the Holy Spirit. We‟re about to look at Acts, chapter 2, the fulfillment of Joel, chapter 3. And we‟re going to move from there into what it‟s like when a group of people are really filled with the Holy Spirit, when they understand what it means to walk and to experience that life in the Spirit.
Well Joel had promised and we don‟t know when Joel was written, but we know that it was long time before the children of Israel ever gathered on that day of Pentecost and all of a sudden there was a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues of fire set on the heads of the apostles and they began to speak in other languages and the Jews around them that were from there, from all over the world, were hearing them speak in their own language. And they said to Peter, what is this? And Peter explained this is what was prophesied by Joel.
Let‟s look at it and let‟s go to Acts, chapter 2. Now I know we looked at this in the last program, but I‟ve got to put you into context, so be patient with me. In Acts, chapter 2, in verse 14 it says, “But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven raised his voice and declared to them, „Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you and give heed to my words. These men are not drunk as some of you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken of through Joel, the prophet. And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth My Spirit on all mankind.‟” (Acts 2:14-17)
Now that ought to cause us to stop and to say, oh, there‟s a time phrase in the last days. You know what? We‟re in the last days. We‟re in that final period of time, that final economy of God just before the coming of Messiah. The last days began with the coming of Jesus Christ the first time. The last days, in a sense, are going to be wrapped up with the coming of Jesus Christ the second time. And in the mean time and in between time what is it? It is life in the Spirit.
You say you‟re talking about fellowship. You don‟t know how lonely I am and I‟m a Christian. You don‟t know how I deal with my needs and how I long to have someone teach me, but everybody‟s too busy. That‟s a problem, isn‟t it? And that‟s not life in the Spirit. Because life in the Spirit always has to do with bringing the body of Jesus Christ together and that‟s what they‟re about to experience.
So as we look at it, then we‟ll be able to apply it and we‟ll be able, knowing truth, to do something about it. Remember now, we‟re studying inductively. We‟re going to the Word of God. We‟re marking the text to find out what it says. Well now, let‟s finish what Peter was saying to the group. It says, “It shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind.” (2:17) In other words there‟s not going to be a distinction between Jews and Gentiles and God is not going to play favorites.
Yes, from the days of Abraham, God has raised up for Himself, a chosen nation, an elect nation, a people of His own possession, a people that He might give His word to, a people that He might share His commandments with, a people that He might use to record His Word, a people that He might make covenants with, a people that He might use to bring the Messiah from. But now He‟s telling us in this verse, in seed form, that God is going to pour out His Spirit on all mankind.
In other words there will be people from every tribe, and every tongue and every nation who can experience life in the Spirit. It goes on to say, “I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days ….” (2:17-18)
In what days? In these last days, these last days that began with the first coming of Jesus Christ, all the way through to the time when He returns again. “… I will in those days pour forth My Spirit and they shall prophesy.” (2:18) Then He makes this interesting statement and it‟s so important because He gives us a time frame in it. “And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, fire and vapor of smoke.” (2:19) “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.” (2:20)
And so what he‟s doing is, He‟s marking out this time frame and He‟s saying this is when I‟m pouring forth My Spirit and it‟s before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And before that day will come you‟re going to see the sun turned into darkness. You‟re going to see the moon turned into blood. You‟re going to see blood and you‟re going to see fire and you‟re going to see vapors of smoke. You‟re going to see these things on the earth, wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth beneath. And it‟s very interesting because if you take these things and you go to the book of Revelation and you begin reading and you read about the trumpets and you look at what happens, you can see parallels to this passage right here.
And it‟s very interesting. You see when the sixth seal is broken then at that time the sun turns into darkness and the moon turns into blood. And so God is giving us an awesome insight into life in the Spirit and the days of the Spirit and how God is working in time in these last days. Well, as He says this, then He makes this wonderful statement, “And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (2:21)
Now listen very carefully, there is no life in the Spirit if there‟s no salvation without the Spirit. The two go together and we‟re gonna see that and it so exciting for you to understand, because when you get saved you get the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. In fact He is the marker, He is the identifier of every single child of God. Well, let‟s go on and see what happens.
He goes on in his message and he says, “Men of Israel listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through Him in your midst just as you know.” (2:22) Now he‟s speaking to men of Israel. Why? This is the day of Pentecost. This is Jerusalem. I mean the Jews are gathered there. He‟s not speaking to Gentiles at this point and you need to understand that. So as he speaks to these Jews he‟s saying you know who Jesus the Nazarene is. You know that He came from Nazareth. You know the signs and the wonders. You know the miracles. They were done in your midst. You saw them with your own eyes. “… this man …,” verse 23, “… delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God ….” (2:23)
Now watch this very carefully. When the movie, the Passion of the Christ came out, when Mel Gibson produced that movie, they had many, many news programs on it and they would interview Jews and they would interview Gentiles and they would interview people that said they were saved, and carried the name maybe, reverend or pastor or something like that and yet you listened to them and you wondered do you guys really know the Bible? Do you really understand or are you just a product of a seminary that has ignored the Word of God?
But they would ask and they would say do you think that this is going to create anti-Semitism? Anti-Semitism, which means anti-Jewish, it means that you hate the Jews. It means that you‟re opposed to the Jews. It means that you believe that the Jews should not exist. Talk about the classic anti-Semitic was Hitler. All right, so when you look at ant-Semitism, it‟s against the Jews. So they‟re saying okay, the church became anti-Semitic, the church came against the Jews because what they did during the crusades was they went into villages and, and cities and towns and they routed out the Jews and they held a cross in front of their face and they said, “you Christ-killer!” And then they put them to death if they wouldn‟t be baptized, if they would not believe on Jesus Christ, so to speak. But they didn‟t even say believe on Jesus Christ. They just said be baptized. Now what is that?
That is a group of people who are using the name of Jesus Christ, but have no understanding of what Christ is all about, what Christianity is all about. Because true Christians, listen to me very, very carefully; true Christians are not anti-Semitic. Because if you have the Spirit of God living inside of you, you have the Holy Spirit that moved with God the Father and God the Son in the forming of a nation called the nation of the Israelites, later called the Jews, later called the Hebrews, but it begins as the sons of Israel. You‟re not anti-Semitic.
Rather, when you meet a Jew, you are so grateful to them for their nation who brought us the Law, who brought us the commandments, who brought us the covenants, who brought us the Word of God, who brought us the Messiah. You say, but the Jews called for His death. Yes, listen to what he says. “This Man delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you …,” and he‟s talking to the men of Israel, “… nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men, through the Romans, and you put Him to death.” (2:23)
Now listen; stop and look at the whole context. The Jews, those religious Jews at that time, who had a religion, but not a relationship with God, were the ones that did not want Jesus around. Did God know this? Yes. Did God know that the Jews would put Him to death? Yes. Is God through with Israel? Oh no, God has just given them His Holy Spirit. He has just poured out His Holy Spirit on His people, the men of Israel. Oh, Beloved, how important it is that you know truth for yourselves. We‟ll be right back.
Welcome back my friend. Peter is explaining what has happened. And he goes on to say go back to verse 23. “This Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” (2:23) You called for His death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death.
Do you realize what he just said? Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, then death‟s stinger has been removed. Because if you believe in Jesus Christ then when you die you don‟t just die flat out dead. But you are absent from the body and you then are present with the Lord. You‟re no longer going to face hell. You‟re no longer going to face the lake of fire. You‟re no longer going to be tormented night and day where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. He‟s put an end to the agony of death. Because sin has been dealt with. Since it was impossible for Him, for Jesus to be held in its power. Why was it impossible for Satan or death or hell to hold Jesus Christ in death? Because sin had been paid for. And when sin was paid for then the devil‟s power was broken.
You can look at it later in Hebrews, chapter 2, right near the end of that chapter. But let‟s go on so drop down to verse 32. It says, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.” (2:32) We all saw Him. We were with Him when He was alive. We saw Him when He was dead and we saw Him when He was raised from the dead. We are witnesses; He has been raised from the dead. “Therefore, having been exalted to the right of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit…” You want to underline it; you want to mark it like we‟ve been marking the Holy Spirit. “… having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured this, and it‟s the Holy Spirit, which you both see with your eyes and which you hear.” (2:33) This is what‟s happened. Jesus has gone to the Father. He has conquered death. He has been glorified, as John, chapter 7 says. And because He‟s been glorified, now He‟s able to give the Holy Spirit. And so where does all this lead?
Well let‟s go to verse 37. It says, “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, „Brethren, what shall we do?‟” (2:37) And, “Peter said to them, „Repent; have a change of mind.‟” (2:38) You were standing in that crowd You were watching and you didn‟t rush up and say no, no, don‟t crucify Him, He‟s the Son of God. You didn‟t say that. So, “„… Repent, have a change of mind. And let each of you be baptized, now listen, in the name of Jesus Christ…,‟” (2:38)
In other words, I‟m going to identify myself with Jesus Christ. I‟m going to bear His name. I am going to come into a oneness with Him. Because baptize means to be united with. It means to be identified with. So he says, “„… and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.‟” And it says, “‟For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off….‟” (2:39).
That means the Gentiles. There‟s no Gentiles here now, all Jews. But you wait; we‟re going to see it in our next program. It says, “… as far off as many as the Lord God shall call to Himself.” (2:39) It says, “And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation!” (2:40) And that‟s God‟s word to you today. Be saved from this perverse generation.
If you‟ve been listening to me and other Christian programs, just out of curiosity, then listen; God is speaking to you. And He‟s saying be saved from this perverse generation. You don‟t want to live out there in the rest of this world. You want to know what life in the Spirit is all about. You want to know what life is about because you‟re dead in your trespasses and sins. Be saved from this perverse generation. And it says and, “So then those who had received his word were baptized….” (2:41)
Now what does it mean? It means they heard what the Spirit of God was saying. And they took that and they embraced that and they said this is truth and we‟re going to align ourselves with it. And so what happened? It says, “… and they received His word and they were baptized, and there were added to the church that day three thousand souls.” (2:41)
And what happened as a result of it? Listen, this is life in the Spirit. “And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching….” (2:42) They wanted more and more and more of the Word of God. The fact, Precious One, that you want more of the Word of God is because the Holy Spirit is in you. And it says, “… and they were devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship ….” Fellowship means to come together because you‟re sharing something in common. It‟s two fellows in the same ship; it‟s the word koinania. And so it comes together. And “… the breaking of bread…,” they were going around and they were breaking bread with one another. They were eating with one another, “… and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.” (2:42-43) \
Now what you have to understand is they had no New Testament. It‟s about to be written. And it says, “… and everyone kept feeling the sense of awe… and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common, and they began selling their property and their possessions and they were sharing them as anyone might have need.” (2:43-45) What was happening was they looked and they said, hey we all belong to Jesus Christ. We‟re all believers. We‟ve recognized the He‟s the Messiah. And because we are together, because the Holy Spirit has brought us together, then what concerns you concerns me because we‟re members one of another. We‟ll see that when we get into Ephesians.
But it says and, “Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple. They were worshiping God and breaking bread from house to house. They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.” (2:46) Hey, they just wanted to be together. They just wanted that fellowship. They wanted to talk about what they were learning. They wanted to talk about what they were experiencing. They wanted to be together. This is what happens in life in the Spirit. And it says, “… they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.”
In other words, there were no people there that were leeches, that were just coming along and were slothers and they weren‟t going to work and the rest were going to supply their needs. This was genuine Christianity, “… praising God and having favor with all the people.” (2:47) Why? Because their lives had been changed. Because the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, all these things, this nine-fold fruit. And it says, “… they were having favor with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved.” (2:47)
Oh, Precious one, this is the community of life in the Spirit, when we all have one God and one purpose and one Lord and one Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, when we‟re all filled with one Spirit, then we realize that oneness that Jesus prayed that they would have. “That they may be one…,” Jesus prayed in John 17, “… even as we are one.” And that oneness came through being saved and receiving the Holy Spirit. Precious, Precious, Precious One, find yourself another child of God and have fellowship. Read the Word together, pray together, sing together, share with one another. Remember it all is in the family. It all belongs to the family of God. This, Beloved, is life in the Spirit.
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