Acts 2:5-12
Sunday
Morning Bible Study
Introduction
Just before
ascending to heaven, Jesus told the disciples to hang out in
They've been waiting
and praying for about 7 days now, when the day of Pentecost arrives:
Read Acts 2:1-4
Further issues concerning tongues
Last week I
mentioned that there were some further issues I wanted to discuss concerning
tongues.
Lesson:
What is
"tongues"? (the gift of
tongues)
Definition - Allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you, to
God, in a language you don't understand, and haven't learned by normal means.
It's language
addressed to God:
(1 Cor
14:2 KJV) 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.
It's a message you
don't understand:
(1 Cor
It can be a known,
human language, or the unknown language of angels:
(1 Cor
13:1 KJV) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have
not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
Lesson:
What is the gift
for?
1. Prayer
If you're honest,
you'll have to admit that there are times you just don't know how to pray.
Perhaps there's a
specific situation you know you should be praying for, but you don't know just
what to pray for.
Perhaps you don't
even know what's wrong, but you have this impression that you ought to be
praying for a particular thing.
The Holy Spirit
knows how to pray better than we do:
(Rom
2. Praise
Likewise, there are
times when you are so overwhelmed with God's presence, that words just can't
quite describe how much you appreciate Him.
Tongues may be an
expression of worship, as the Holy Spirit gives praise and honor to God,
through your mouth, bypassing the limits of your puny, human mind.
Paul calls it an
excellent way to give thanks (1Cor.14:16-17)
3. Personal
edification
(1 Cor
14:4 KJV) He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he
that prophesieth edifieth the church.
How is the person
built up?
They are able to
pray and worship like they couldn't otherwise.
They are letting
the Spirit work directly through them, learning to trust in His work.
Lesson:
Are gifts of the
Holy Spirit, like tongues, present today?
There are some
folks who teach that some of the gifts are no longer for today, but were only
for the times of the apostles.
They teach that
gifts like prophecy and tongues were only for the time when the church was being
established, but once the church was established, there was no longer a need
for these gifts.
Their main text for
this is:
1
Cor 13:8-10 Charity never
faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there
be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall
vanish away. {9} For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. {10} But
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away.
The reasoning goes
like this: Prophecy and tongues are considered the "partial" things,
and when the "perfect" thing appears, these "partial" gifts
ceased. This is absolutely correct.
They will then take
you a verse to show you what the "perfect" thing is:
Psa
19:7 The law of the LORD is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple.
The reasoning then
goes on like this: If God's Word is the "perfect" thing, then once
God's Word was complete, with the writing of the New Testament, there was no
longer a need for the "revelation" types of gifts, and hence they
ceased.
They will also make
statements to the effect that there are no occurrences of these gifts after the
times of the apostles.
How do we answer
this?
1) It's bad
hermeneutics to say that Psalm 19:7 is referring to a completed New Testament.
David didn't say,
"The Law of the Lord WILL BE perfect", but that it
"IS" perfect.
When David wrote
Psalm 19, the "Law of the Lord" he had in mind was the "Law of
Moses" (having written 1,000 years before the New Testament).
If the Law of Moses
was "perfect", and there was no longer a need for further revelation,
then why is there a New Testament?
More importantly,
Psalm 19 is talking about how wonderful God's Word is, and how it fully affects
our life, not about whether or not we need more revelation.
2) The context of
1Corinthians 13 tells us what the "perfect" is that will cause these
gifts to cease.
1
Cor 13:11-12 When I was a
child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. {12} For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known.
It's when we see
Him face to face that we will have "perfect" knowledge.
Either by death, or
at His Second Coming.
When we see Jesus,
we won't need these "revelatory" gifts, because we'll have perfect
knowledge.
3) There will be
revelatory gifts in the last days:
Joel
2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
Even though Peter
applies this passage to Pentecost, Jesus applies it to the tribulation
(Mt.24:29)
If tongues and
prophecy ceased at the completion of the New Testament, how could they be
present during the tribulation?
4) There are
examples of the gifts being used after the times of the apostles, if you will
choose to accept the evidence.
From roughly AD 150
to AD 250, there was a group known as the "Montanists" who practiced
the gift of prophecy. Some felt they were heretical, but the famous church
historian Tertullian was one of their group.
Modern Day
Examples:
Richard Robles -
shared this with me just last week.
He was visiting a
church, where the Pastor felt led to give an altar call, and a chance to
receive Christ as Savior.
When nobody
responded, the Pastor stepped back and began to pray softly in tongues, but
some of the people could hear the sounds coming out of his mouth, including
Richard.
Later that week, he
got a call from a man who had been in the service, who said that he had gone
home and asked Jesus into his heart. The man was Russian, and apparently the
Pastor had been praying in Russian. The man's heart was so touched, that he
gave his life to Jesus.
From Chuck Smith's
book, "Living Water", pg.175 -
"Lynn Hinojosa
is a lady in our church, who when she speaks in tongues often speaks in French.
Not just the common street French, but an aristocratic variety. And she's never
studied the language!
"In the early
years of Calvary Chapel our family often attended a summer camp in
"Jan said that
as
Lesson:
Does everyone
who is filled with the Holy Spirit speak in tongues? No!
1. Not everybody
is given the gift.
(1 Cor
The wording in the
Greek implies that the answer is obviously "no" (use of mh, A.T. Robertson's Grammar, pg.1175).
Some would say that
it was only because the Corinthians were immature that they didn't speak in
tongues. But …
2. If everybody
had the same gifts, there would be no need for each other.
This is the whole
theme behind 1Corinthians 12, that we are a body, and each a separate part of
the Body.
We're all supposed
to be different.
(1 Cor
We all need each
other.
(1 Cor
Lesson:
Guidelines for
use in the church (from 1Cor.14).
1. Order
(1 Cor
It's not supposed
to be that everyone speaks in tongues at the same time.
It's supposed to be
orderly.
Paul writes:
(1 Cor
2. Interpretation
(1 Cor
Tongues without
interpretation isn't going to build up anybody but the speaker, so the speaker
can speak quietly, and not disturb the others.
3. Self-control
Some people give
the impression that their behavior is unavoidable, that somehow they lose
control, that "the Spirit made me do it".
Yet Paul gives
guidelines, expecting that the people can follow them, expecting them to be
able to speak to themselves if they need to.
(1 Cor
Acts 1:5-13
:5 And there were dwelling at
devout men - guys who want to do what God commands.
This was the day of
Pentecost, one of the three yearly feasts where all good Jewish men were to
come to
Because of this,
there were religious, Jewish men from all over the world, men who took God
seriously, men who wanted to be pleasing to God.
:5 out of every nation under heaven.
At this time in
history, the Jewish people as a race have been scattered throughout the known
world.
:6 Now when this was noised abroad
Or, "when this sound occurred" (NAS)
What sound? Not the
sound of the tongues, but the sound like a rushing mighty wind that had filled
the house.
:6 the multitude came together
The people heard
this roaring wind noise, and they were drawn in out of curiosity, to see what
was going on.
Lesson:
Evangelism can
take place by bringing interested folks in to hear the gospel.
These people heard
the commotion, and in a sense joined in the church service to hear the gospel.
There will also be
evangelism taking place when the apostles and others GO OUT to the world and
preach the gospel as well.
We see both of
these as important in our church.
Not only do we want
to be faithful to preach the gospel in our regular church services, but there
are going to be times when we plan special events, things specifically designed
to bring your friends to, the ones who you've been reaching out to.
We are also
learning that we need to be developing ministries where we take the message
outside the walls of this place, and into the community as well.
Booths at the
Concerts in parks,
on campus.
:6 and were confounded … heard them
speak in his own language.
confounded - confused
language - dialektos - a known language specific to a
particular group of people.
:7 And they were all amazed and
marvelled
amazed - lit. "to stand outside of themselves"
They were
"knocked off balance"
:7, are not all these which speak
Galilaeans?
Was it their accent?
Did they speak "Parthian" with a Galilean accent? (all those
"you-all's") Was it their clothing? (wearing Hawaiian shirts with
plaid shorts)
:9 Parthians, and Medes …
These are places all
across the
Parthians - Southeast of the
Medes - The region south and southwest of the
Elamites - Western edge of Persian, modern
dwellers in
:10
Pamphylia - a province in
parts of
strangers of
strangers - epidemeo - to be present among one's people,
in one's city or one's native land, this is referring to the Jews that lived as
"foreigners" in Rome, but now visiting back home in Jerusalem.
:10 Jews and proselytes,
Jews and
proselytes - these people were
Jewish, whether they were born Jews, or whether they had converted to Judaism
(a proselyte).
:11 Cretes and Arabians,
Cretes - from the island of Crete
Arabians - Jews living in Arabia
:11 the wonderful works of God.
wonderful works - megaleios - magnificent, excellent,
splendid, wonderful things
This isn't
preaching the gospel, this is praise to God for His wonderful works.
Remember, tongues
are addressed TO God, not to men.
:12 what meaneth this?
Lesson:
Our worship
prepares their hearts.
We often think of
worship as being a purely "Christian" thing, where we do it behind
closed doors, where there are only believers.
Yet here are the
disciples praising God, a crowd gathers, and they start asking questions.
And when Peter gets
up to answer their questions, 3,000 people are going to be saved!
This is one reason
why the Harvest Crusade has learned to start off each night with praise and
worship.
I think this can
work in several ways in our lives:
a. Bring your friends to church, and show them that God
is real by worshipping.
Don't be afraid of
worshipping in front of others.
b. When you're at
work, why not say "Praise the Lord!" every once in a while.
Don't let it be
just one of those "Christianese" phrases we use, let it really mean
something!
Invitation
To come to know
Jesus personally.
Perhaps you've
begun to realize that God is real, and He wants you to know Him.
To ask for prayer,
perhaps to receive the gift of tongues.
Perhaps you realize
that you want more in your Christian life, and are open enough to ask God for
all He might have for you.