The sermon explores the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, which was accompanied by the sound of a rushing mighty wind and tongues of fire resting upon the disciples. The disciples, who were Galileans and considered uneducated, began to speak in different languages, astounding the multitude of Jews from various nations. They questioned the meaning of this phenomenon. The sermon emphasizes the unity and harmony among believers, the supernatural working of the Spirit, and the proclamation of the wonderful works of God. It also highlights the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts chapter 2, we will be looking at verses 1 through 12. Very familiar passage to us regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit of God. Acts chapter 2 verse 1. Thus says the word of the Lord when the day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and one sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled saying to one another, look are not all these who speak Galileans? And How is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontius and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. So they were all amazed and perplexed saying to one another whatever could this mean let's pray our Father in heaven we come today really in consideration of the things that we just sang and the things that we have just heard and Lord unless your spirit does the work Lord it is a vain thing that we do for it is not by might nor by power but by thy spirit Lord we need you today we are not sufficient in ourselves Lord I pray that every word that is spoken into our ears, Lord, would be for this sole purpose that it would draw our attention to the beautiful works of Christ and how good you are Lord to give good gifts to men. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. All of the songs that we sang this morning were such a help to guide us and just really to bring us to this very point, to this passage.

I'm so thankful for that. One of those lines specifically in that first song really just sealed it for me. All is vain unless the spirit of the Holy One comes down. And that really is my prayer today and has been my prayer that the Holy Spirit of God would teach us and would draw us unto himself. That he would empower us to be faithful men and women of God.

That he would equip us to be faithful preachers of the gospel as we go into all the world. And this morning as we consider this passage of the coming of the Holy Spirit of God, it's really a demonstration and a declaration of the wonderful works of God Formerly in Acts chapter 1 verse 4 we know that Luke writes this and being assembled together with them He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem But to wait for the promise Of the Father and and now just a few days later here we are and we are going to see The promise of the Father fulfilled we're gonna see the wonderful works of God displayed in his word But I want you to understand that the wonderful works of God we're not limited to Acts chapter 2 and even to the New Testament but the Word of God and the Spirit of God is at work today in our lives and in our hearts. We've seen this in the past few weeks and how the Holy Spirit of God has quickened young people and brought them to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful work of God.

It's not natural that these things happen, but this is supernatural and so I want us to consider these things as being the mighty works of God. The first thing that I want to point to our attention is really very clear. The first four verses will be my first point or the major thing that I want to speak about and then five through 12 will be the second point that I want to focus upon, the first of which being this, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Before this time, the Spirit came upon men and women of God to do a specific task and it seemed as if it would leave. It would empower them supernaturally for a task and then he would leave them.

But now in this passage, just as our brother Josh read in John, when Jesus was going to depart and return to the Father, he was going to give them another helper. We are recipients of that helper. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is the Holy Spirit of God. He is God and He has come to help us.

How true it is that He helps us. He helps us in our weaknesses, He helps us in our struggle and our fight against sin. He aids us in our understanding of the very word of God. He convicts us of sin. He declares the things that are righteous and the things that are good.

He helps and puts within each of us that we understand the righteous judgments of God and we declare that these things are good. You know there's never a moment when God is not working his perfect plan to completion. From the very beginning our Lord has been leading history towards its final consummation where all things will be brought unto obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand and until all of his enemies are made his footstool. And he will bring all things until this final consummation.

As you know that throughout the Bible, the Lord placed signs and types to show us in shadow and figure what he was doing. However, because of the blindness of our hearts, because of what we just quoted in our catechism, that man sinned and rebelled against God. And because of that, we see that fallen man could not see the mighty works of God until there was the mighty work of God through his spirit upon the people. His prophets would write things that they themselves would not fully understand. Most of the Jews to this day still do not see what God has fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.

They're still clinging to shadows and to tights when the fulfillment of the promise is staring them in the face in the Word of God. For them the veil remains. However, here on the day of Pentecost, God began to remove the veil from their eyes so that they would see. He called those to himself. This great work of God began as we see in Jerusalem with the Jews but it did not end there.

It was first to the Jew and then also to the Greek. Today brothers and sisters we are recipients of this gospel going beyond Jerusalem into Judea and into Samaria and into the other parts of the earth we are a testimony of these things it is a good thing to behold Isaiah 42 one says behold my servant whom I uphold my elect one whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the Gentiles praise be to God he has been a light to us we are recipients of this beauty and of this glorious light that he has given to us also in Isaiah 49 6 it says this indeed He says it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the Preserved ones of Israel.

I will also give you his light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth This is the glorious promise of the Father. This is what the Apostle Luke here, this is what Luke is teaching us and writing to us so that we would understand the promise of the Father in the giving of the Holy Spirit of God to bring the gospel to all peoples. And so we see in this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you'll see there in your outline that I've given you, the first little subpoint under that is, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was ordained on a holy day. God is not haphazard in anything that he does, but he's very orderly in all that he does. He works things according to his purpose and according to his plan.

Look with me in verse one. When the day of Pentecost had fully come. I understand this to mean that the fullness of what it meant was being accomplished, when it had fully come. He's not just speaking of the time and of the date, but he's speaking of the fulfillment of what that shadow was for the people of God. This feast was the 50th day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or after the Passover, and was called the Feast of Weeks.

It was seven weeks and then one day, and that was the day of Pentecost. In Exodus 34-22, we read of this in the beginnings of it you and you shall observe the Feast of weeks the firstfruit of wheat harvest and the Feast of in gathering at the year's end This was the the feast of the harvest the wheat harvest. It was the first fruits. So in other words, when Jesus Christ, after his death, burial, and resurrection, after 40 days, we know that he was ascended unto the Father. He was the first fruits of the resurrection.

And then, we are now the first fruits. This was the gift. This was the in gathering. This was the first fruits of the wheat harvest. You remember when he said, unless a grain of wheat or kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains alone But the truth of the fact is, if it dies and is planted, it bears much fruit.

Look around you. It has borne much fruit. It has brought forth glorious fruit unto the Father. This is what the Day of Pentecost, or this Feast of Pentecost, was really showing us, that these early disciples, when the Holy Spirit of God came and he began to quicken these people he began to regenerate them and bring them into life he filled them with the Holy Spirit of God this was the fulfillment this was the Pentecost being fully come and we begin to see the firstfruits coming but notice it was the firstfruits it was just the beginning of the harvest and now we are part in the middle of that harvest and that harvest is still coming in it's beautiful to behold Leviticus 23 16 says count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.

It's also mentioned in Deuteronomy 16, but We're not gonna read all of that for sake of time, but Deuteronomy 16, nine through 12, you can write that down and look at it later. Matthew Poole noted, and on this day to answer the type, what this Pentecost was a shadow of, he says, the spirit was poured out in such a plentiful manner as the first fruits of Christ ascending into heaven. Another commentator noted at Pentecost an offering of the first fruits of the believers inheritance Those gathered into the church then were all the first fruits of the full harvest of all believers to come thereafter Not only was this the fulfillment of a type but it was also Considered with the most agreeable weather Now that seems odd. What does weather have to do with the coming of Pentecost? For at this time there were Jews, and we know that they were scattered as we read this text, that there were Jews from all over the place, all over the known world at that time who were coming in for this feast of Pentecost.

And this was unique. This feast specifically was unique and typically had the greatest number of people to come in because of weather and travel. It was not like travel that we have today where we just hop on a plane or jump in our Air-conditioned and heated car with four-wheel drive if need be and windshield wipers that this was traveling. That was Difficult this was traveling. That was dangerous But during this time it was a a time when the weather was pleasant.

It was a time for good travel. And the Holy Spirit of God, again I go back to what I first said, God doesn't do anything by happenstance. He's bringing these things about perfectly and he brings about this feast of Pentecost in such a beautiful way. One commentator noted this. He said, Of all the feast of the Jewish year, it was that which attracted the largest number of pilgrims from distant lands.

He says, The danger of travel by sea or land in the early spring or late autumn prevented their coming in any large number to the Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles. At no other feast would there have been representative of so many nations. So it may be noted it was the Feast of Pentecost that Saint Paul went up to keep once and again during his missionary work in Greece and Asia. And so far then there was no time on which the gift of the Holy Spirit was likely to produce such a direct and immediate result. Think about that.

The Lord in his sovereignty and in his providence determined that at this time this would be the fulfillment of all of the signs and the shadows. This would be the time in which the Holy Spirit of God would be poured out to come in full the day of Pentecost. So that God's people would be drawn in as a first fruits, but then that they would return to their homelands to take the gospel as they went. And that's exactly what happened. And we again are recipients of that.

Be in your outline, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was preceded by a harmony among the believers. I think it's always important that when we see something repeated over and over again in the Scriptures that we take note of it. And this is one of the things that is repeated over again. And if you'll notice in verse one, the second part of verse one, it says, they were all with one accord in one place. I pray that that is our spirit this morning.

That we've come together in one place, in one accord, with one purpose, with one design, and that is to worship the King of Kings. And when we come with that design, when we come with that heart, brothers and sisters, I want you to know that it is the most fertile ground for the Spirit of God to do His work. When we come with ready hearts to hear and a heart that is ready not only to hear but to obey all the Word of God. One of the things that has struck me in this passage and in studying this and as I've been reading through all of the book of Acts is this beautiful phrase. They were all with one accord.

One of the church's greatest advantages in the gospel is when we dwell together in unity. Don't make light of that. One of the greatest advantages in the church is when we dwell together in unity. And on the other and one of the other greatest, on the other hand, excuse me, the greatest hindrance to the Gospel is when there is disunity in the church. How often have you heard, perhaps, unbelievers or at least people who profess to be believers but are not attending to the things of true believers, how often have you heard them say that the church is just full of hypocrites?

That's usually the number one reason of why they will not attend or will not become a member or a faithful member of a church, is they see the disunity, they see the difference between what is spoken and what is lived. We don't want to be that hindrance. But what we see here is that the early church, they were gathered together. Though I'm not saying that every thought that they had was identical. God created a variety of people with a variety of gifts.

Different personalities, different thoughts, different struggles, all of these things God has designed, but they came together for a common purpose. And I pray that's why we've come, each of us have come this morning, for the common purpose of worshiping the King of Kings. You see in Psalm 133 the psalmist writes this, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. In the book of Ephesians chapter 4, really one of the purposes that God gave apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers is this. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." And then down in verse 11 he continues, "...and he gave some to be apostles and prophets and evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Listen, why? For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things to him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Do you see the importance of the unity of the brethren and the work of the Spirit of God in the church and into the world? It is of utmost importance. So as we come this morning, let us consider the ways in which we are in unity one with another. And brothers and sisters, let me say if there's disunity, there is a remedy for that as well. We should be going to one another if there's disunity.

We should be confessing our sins. We should be repenting of our sins, we should be letting love cover a multitude of sins. One of my little rules for my household is this, when it regards an offense or maybe something that you're having struggles with, maybe another person is this, love covers a multitude of sins but if every time you see that person you don't think of love but you think of the sin you need to go to that person and then you make it right so that there will be unity among the body So if you're here this morning and you when you see someone the first thing that you think of is the offense Your love is not covering that sin Make it right Maybe you need to confess your sin Maybe they do but let love draw you to that person because true love is confessing your sin, repenting of sin, and forgiving of sin. And let love cover that. It will either cover it in the beginning or it should cover it through the act of reconciliation.

Let that be an encouragement to each of us today. You know, it wasn't just back on the night of preaching that we were given some really helpful exhortation in the book of James. You know there's times in the life of a church where our unity can come under attack. It doesn't always come with a frontal attack, it doesn't always come in such a way that we're like, oh yes, something is getting ready to disrupt our unity as a body. Sometimes it comes in a small way, in a thread, it does an end run around, but disunity among the body of Christ is so disgraceful to Christ himself.

We were given a very helpful exhortation in James 1-19. If you were here, you remember it. This verse is James 1-19. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. I've been thinking about that this week and I want us to ever be guarding our tongues from any form of speech that would cause disunity among this flock and among this church.

Because remember, that is one of the things that God hates, is the one who sows discord among brethren. Let us keep this in our mind. Proverbs 10 is helpful. Verse 19, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise and we all know as I quoted before love covers a multitude of sins so let us be guarded in this area and let us seek with all that we are to dwell together as the early disciples did in unity Matthew Henry has some helpful thoughts on this. He says, We cannot forget how often while their master was with them there were strife among the disciples.

One was saying, Lord who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Lord can one sit at your right hand and at your left. He says these disciples which should have been or they were arguing about who should have been the greatest but now all of these strifes were at an end. They had prayed more together of late. Would we have the Spirit poured out upon us from on high?

Let us be all of one accord and notwithstanding differences of sentiments and interests as there were among these disciples, let us agree to love one another. For where brethren dwell together in unity, there the Lord commands his blessing." There the Lord commands his blessing. So take this as an admonition and an exhortation to this body today. May we love one another and may we dwell together in unity. In section C there, the subpoint, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in verse 2 is what we see.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was substantiated by a heavenly wind. It's interesting here, this is something that is often used to describe the working or the Holy Spirit of God. It says, "...and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. In John chapter 3 we know that Jesus described the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God as wind. He gave it this simile.

He says, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who was born of the Spirit. This wind was not a normal wind. It was as wind.

It had the sound of wind, but it doesn't say that they necessarily felt or saw a demonstration of wind. I think personally, my thought is that that's one of the things that was so amazing about what was happening was that they were hearing this sound because it says, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house. So this wind here we know is a demonstration or It was substantiating that the Holy Spirit of God was doing something because wind was representative of the Spirit of God. And we see that in the Old Testament, not only in the New, but in the Old Testament as well. But Matthew Henry again has helpful, helpful thoughts here.

He says, A rushing mighty wind came with great force. This was to signify the powerful influence and the working of the Holy Spirit of God upon the minds of men, and thereby upon the world. Thus the convictions of the Spirit make way for his comforts, and the rough blast of the blessed wind prepare the soul for its soft and gentle gales we read that in Ezekiel 37 he said also he said to me prophesy to the breath prophesy son of man and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, oh breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. I will put my spirit in you and you shall live." This was the work of the Spirit of God coming as a rushing mighty wind. But not only is it described as a wind or a sound of wind, but it's described by fire, a holy fire.

So the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was validated by a holy fire. Look at what he says, Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. In Luke 3 16, the Lord says this, or excuse me, John answered, saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water but one mightier than I is coming whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This is the promise of the Father that he was going to baptize them not just as John's baptism, a baptism of water, but a baptism of fire which is demonstrated of the Holy Spirit of God. It was going to be different.

It was something that was unusual. And so We have here the fulfillment of this passage that John had said in Luke 3.16. And again we have here the comparison of the manifestation of wind and of fire upon the believers. And there appeared to them as divided tongues, or as I think the King James uses the word cloven as it was of fire. It looked like fire but it wasn't fire, it was as fire and it rested upon each of them.

I think it's notable of this. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And we noticed before that they were all with one accord. It filled the whole house. The Spirit of God came upon all the disciples.

There were none who were left out, there were none who were exalted to the certain position of we received the fire and you did not receive the fire. The gift of tongues during this time which will which is the word languages that gift and the gift of the Holy Spirit was given upon all the disciples these disciples who were there in unity these disciples who were there had been praying these disciples who were there believing in the promise of the Father How do I know they were believing? Because they were there. They were waiting upon the promise. Jesus said wait for the promise of the Father and they waited upon the promise of the Father.

What a novel idea that when God tells us to do something we do it. Isn't that wonderful? You know last week we talked to our last time I preached, I think it was last week or week before time flies. It was in the Sunday afternoon I spoke about actively waiting upon the Lord. They weren't just haphazardly waiting, they weren't just bored while they were waiting.

They were actively waiting upon the Lord. They were praying. They were with each other. They were engaging in one another's lives and they were looking forward to the promise of the Father. This is instructive for us, brothers and sisters, that as we consider the Holy Spirit of God and His great work, this validation of the Spirit of God as by fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Calvin noted that God awakened their senses to his power. The Lord did not leave them in question as to whether or not the promise of the Father had truly come. You know, so often today we think we know the will of the Lord. We think we understand God did something. God was removing all doubt during this situation.

In this very special time, God did not want there to be any confusion whatsoever. There was a sound as of a rushing mighty wind and there was fire that looked like divided tongues resting upon each one of them. There was no question the Spirit of God had come. The promise of the Father, the fulfillment of Pentecost had come and it had rested upon each of them. You see, it was beyond doubt.

This assurance, I believe, worked to embolden them and it enabled them to declare the wonderful works of God. You'll note a little bit later on and we'll talk about this. That's one of the things that they said that in verse 11 it says, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God the Spirit of God enabled that And may I say this that when we speak of the wonderful works of God These are not natural things It's a working of the Spirit of God to declare His truth, to take the preaching of the Word and to marry that into your soul so that it would be established in you that you would understand it. He is a great teacher. He teaches us all things.

And that is what the work of the Spirit of God is. Letter E under your outline there, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was generated by a holy endowment in verse 4. A holy endowment and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were all filled. You see, the work of the preaching of the gospel, the work of the ministry, the work of taking it to all nations is not a work that can be done in your natural flesh and your natural abilities.

Now there are some people who have abilities to speak clearly, there are some people who have the abilities to have mercy. There's all of these things that man has the ability to do, but I want you to understand Without the endowment of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God living in us, the Spirit of God filling us, we are powerless to effect change in this world. I think too often that's our problem is we try to preach in the power and the strength of the flesh. We try to go and win converts in the strength and in the wisdom of our apologetics. Brothers and sisters what we need is an endowment of the Holy Spirit of God.

We need to be filled with the Spirit of God. We need to be people who are living holy lives. We need to be people who are quickly repenting of their sins and confessing our sins to the Lord. We need to be people who are filled with the Spirit, who are led by the Spirit, who are walking in the Spirit and look we will then see God do what only the Spirit of God can do. God is no respecter of persons.

The same Spirit of God that filled them is at live and at work in you. The same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead the book of Ephesians says is the same Spirit at live and at work in you What's the difference? What's the difference? We need a holy endowment All that believed were waiting for the promise, and all that were waiting received the promise. That's a hopeful encouragement for each of us.

Are you eagerly waiting on the Lord? Matthew 3.11, John said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." And again in Mark 1.8, the same thing is said, and in John 1.33, again, the same thing is said. In each of the gospels, it is mentioned there that he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire And this is our great need and brothers and sisters. This is what we have We if you're a true believer here this morning you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit Let us now walk in the Spirit. You know the Scripture says, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

That's what we need. Again, one commentator notes, there was an appearance of something like flaming fire, lighting on every one of them, according to John the Baptist saying concerning Christ, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Something interesting about fire that he notes here, he says the spirit like fire melts the heart, it burns up dross, It kindles pious and devout affections in the soul, in which as in the fire on the altar the spiritual sacrifices are offered up. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit more than before. They were filled with the graces of the Spirit and more than ever under his sanctifying influence More were wait.

Listen, they were more weaned from this world and better acquainted with the next Could that be said of us? I pray that that would be the case. He goes on, They were more filled with the comforts of the Spirit. They rejoiced more than ever in the love of Christ and in the hope of heaven. In it All their griefs and their fears were swallowed up.

They were filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost. They had miraculous powers for the furtherance of the Gospel. Note, for the furtherance of the Gospel. They spake not from previous thoughts or meditations, But as the Spirit gave them utterance..." Which leads me to my next point under the last little sub-point here. "...the outpouring of the Holy Spirit energized a holy word." Notice what he says in verse 4.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues. We can very accurately say other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. They weren't speaking their own words, they weren't speaking their own wisdom, they were speaking the utterances of God. They were speaking in such a way that it was so unusual that others listened. They heard the wonderful works of God.

What were they saying? You know, it's very interesting to me as I was studying this, there is no record of exactly what was said. How interesting. We know this. They were speaking the wonderful works of God.

Now I do believe that there is something that we can draw from this. I think there's some passages of Scripture That would be helpful for us. I'm going to read those to you. We know this. Verse 11, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.

I believe that this gives us a clue. I believe some of this, we shared this in men's meeting on Tuesday morning. Psalm 40 verse 5 and then verses 9 and 10 says this, Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts towards us cannot be recounted to you in order. If I were to declare them and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. That's a mighty work of God.

Verses nine and 10 say, I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly. Indeed, I do not restrain my lips. Oh Lord, you yourself know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly they were speaking the wonderful works of God to the people who were hearing. Psalm 77, I will remember the works of the Lord.

Surely I will remember your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all your works and talk of your deeds. Your ways, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders.

You have declared your strength among the peoples. You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. And Psalm 96 verse 3, declare his glory among the nations. This fits very well, doesn't it? Declare your glory.

Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. Brothers and sisters, that is what we are called to do. We are to declare the wonderful works of God not only among ourselves here this morning But we're to do that to the nations. We're to declare the glorious works of our God the wonderful works of our God and Again, if we will understand this and in the Context of being filled with the Holy Spirit of God. We will see the powerful effect of God's Word upon the nations Because remember the nations are not changed by politics The nations are not changed by the wisdom of man The nations will only be changed when they repent and they will acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and until they kiss The son that will not happen Psalm 107 21 says oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

That's what needs to happen. That's the only cure for this world, that they would declare and give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. As we move into verses 5 through 12 we've gone from seeing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the ingathering of the multitudes and That's the way this works. The Spirit of God pours out upon his people and as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we see a gathering in of more of his people. Those who were not his people are now his people.

Those who had not heard have now heard. And that's what was taking place here in verses 5-12. First under this second heading is the diversity of the multitude. Look at what... There's a diversity among them.

Acts 2, 5, and there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. There was a diversity among them. They were Jews, but we also see later on that there were also proselytes, that was those Gentiles who confessed the Jewish religion and they were proselytes into the Jewish faith. They were diverse in one sense, but it was remembered to the Jew first and also to the Greek. In this, Luke turns his attention to those who heard what the disciples were speaking.

They were Jews, but they were not native to Jerusalem. They were actually native to foreign lands. They were living in foreign nations due to the captivity of former years of disobedience. But you know, God is so merciful. Even though he spread them throughout all the nations, he began to gather them in.

He gathered them in so that they would hear. Isn't it interesting in God's providence that he required all male Jews to come back to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate those feasts and festivals He gave way from mercy He gave way for them to come back Is that not a picture of what all of mankind needs to do? We need to repent and come back to the Lord. The gospel was to go to the Jew first. But here we have an amazing and supernatural sign to the Jews who were gathering together in Jerusalem at this feast.

Next we see the confusion of the multitude in verse 6. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused. Think about the picture here that we see. There was a sound of a great mighty rushing wind. I don't know that any of these saw the fire or like fire descending upon the disciples.

That, in my mind, was more private. But this sound, it says specifically, in verse 6, and when this sound occurred, they heard something. It was something unusual that they heard. If it was just wind blowing, I don't think that they would have been confused. It's the wind.

They heard this sound and it drew them to gather together. When this sound occurred, the multitude came together and they were confused they were uncertain what what is this what's going on here either the sound of the rushing mighty wind or it could be the sound of the speaking of the wonderful works of God I think most likely both what's this sound what is going on here God drew them in with the sound, but yet they were confused by what they heard and did not understand. Not that they didn't understand, but rather how is it that this is happening? This was unusual. It was surreal.

You ever been in some sort of natural disaster, maybe a tornado or a hurricane or something really unusual and it causes confusion among the people. It was like that but even, I believe, more astounding because they heard it But I don't believe they saw the effects of this wind or trees falling. It was as a rushing mighty wind. And they came together. They spoke, these disciples spoke in clear understandable language.

The word tongue here means languages. This was not some ecstatic or unknown language that needed to be interpreted but what amazed the people was that they did understand them in their own language. That was part of the amazement. You know, it's interesting here as you think about contextually of all of history in Genesis 11, we see the Tower of Babel. During this time, it says that the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

And they said, Go to, let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach into heaven, and let us make a name, Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth Go and then the Lord said go to let us go down and they're Confound or confuse their language that they may not understand one another speech In the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we have an undoing or an unraveling of the Tower of Babel. During the Tower of Babel in Genesis, there was a confusion of the language because they wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to build a tower that reached right up to heaven. They wanted, in a sense, a one-world government. That they were going to be rulers of all the world but God had told them to spread out across the world but no they were they were disobeying God and bringing them in and and God and his sovereignty has more than enough ability to spread them out.

And how did he do that? He did that through confusing their languages. But here in the book of Acts, God reverses Babel, if you will, so that man would give glory to the name of God. They wanted to make a name for themselves during the time of Babel and now God is making a name for himself among these Jews and proselytes. And so he reversed it.

He took what was one language and made many And now he's taking many languages and through the speaking and through the power of the Holy Spirit all the languages understood as if it was one language Fascinating it's amazing the amazement the next thing was is the amazement of the multitudes in verses 7 & 8 Look at what he says he says Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galilean? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? They were amazed. There were two things that I believe amazed the multitudes. The first is this.

They were amazed by the messenger or the messengers They said are not these men Galileans What's so significant about that? It's a nice way of saying these are ignorant and unlearned men. Galileans. Galileans, it's noted, they were inhabitants of the mostly rural area of northern Israel around the Sea of Galilee. Galilean Jews spoke with a distinct regional accent and were considered to be unsophisticated and uneducated by the southern Judean Jews.

I can relate. When Galileans were seen to be speaking so many different languages, the Judean Jews were astonished. May I say that God delights to use the weak things to show his strength. That way God gets all the glory. In 1 Corinthians 1.26 we see this, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty God does this for his glory they were also amazed I believe at the method not only the messenger but the method of this in verse 8. How is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? These men have languages given to them instantly. The ability for them to speak and all of them understand. They did not learn a new language.

They didn't take whatever these new apps are that are supposed to help you learn a language, I've tried that and apparently I am. They haven't brought it down to my level yet. I'm still working on that. I'd love to learn another language. But here they instantaneously, by the power of the Holy Spirit, were able to go over the borders, to jump over the walls of language, if you will, and the message of the gospel went to all of these people so that they heard.

They were astounded by these things. Next we see the nationalities of the multitude and he lists all of these here. I'm not going to read them all again, but he lists all of these. One commentator noted that there are 17 different people groups with 15 different dialects here. These groups were not close neighbors who you know may have had some sort of understanding in their trade with one another.

These groups were spread apart which made it even more amazing and and just more of a wonder of God. Remember that what caught their attention and confused them was that they each heard them speak in their own language It's almost like a loosening of the ears if you would but the Spirit of God came upon the disciples who spoke not to those Jews who were from all over the nation. So it was a working of the Spirit of God in the ability for these men, these disciples, to speak God's Word and all of them hear. Next we see the message of the Holy Spirit to the multitude. What was this message that the Holy Spirit in verse 11 be that He wanted them to hear?

The Cretans and all of these men and people said we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. I referenced this earlier. I do not believe that it was limited to these passages in Psalms. I believe that the disciples were also speaking in regard to the death, burial, and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. And I believe that they were doing this from the Old Testament and they were showing forth.

Remember when Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus with them, that they were astounded because he opened the scriptures to them. In the law and in the Psalms and in the prophets, he opened it to them, and that's what's happening, I believe, here, in declaring the wonderful works of God. As they were speaking, they were understanding these wonderful things. This gospel is the promise of the Father. We see this so clearly in Peter's sermon in the remainder.

We'll get there in the weeks coming. But in the rest of the book of Acts, I'm going to read just a few passages to you. Let me name them real quick. All of them are in Acts chapter 2, verse 21, 23 through 24, 27, and then 32 through 36. It says this, Listen, this is why I believe this is what they were speaking They were speaking about the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ Verse 21 and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved verse 23 him being delivered speaking of Jesus by the determined purpose and the foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands and have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it." Verse 27, "...for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption..." regarding the resurrection.

Verses 32 through 36, look at what he says. He says, "...this Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses, Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit He poured out this which you now see in here for David did not ascend into the heavens But he says Himself the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ This was the wonderful works of God that he had done and he wanted all the house of Israel to know it and That's what they declared But what were the fruits? Produced in this multitude I believe verse 12 shows us that They asked the right question You know sometimes we failed to get the right answer because we fail to ask the right question. They asked the right question. Notice what they said in verse 12, so they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, whatever could this mean?

What's the meaning of this? This is the question I want to leave you with. By way of application I want you to be so amazed and so perplexed at what you see through the power of the Holy Spirit. And may I note, that is in every believer. That you say, whatever could this mean?

Calvin notes, he says, the principal fruit of the miracle is expressed in this, that they inquire and thereby declare that they are prepared to learn." These were devout Jews and when they saw this they were prepared to learn. Whatever does this mean? He says, "...for otherwise their amazedness and their wondering should not have done them any great good. If you've come here this morning and perhaps when you see this you're, wow, that's amazing. I wonder what that means.

And then you leave. He goes on and he says, and certainly we must so wonder at the works of God, that there must be also a consideration and a desire to understand. So when you leave here today, don't just leave amazed and perplexed at what you saw or what you heard. But I want you to ask yourself the question, whatever could this mean? And I want you to leave here with a heart that is ready to understand.

And I want you to be here and to leave here with a heart that is ready to learn from the Spirit of God. You need to learn many things. You know, if you leave here this morning only amazed, you've missed everything. So mature believer, what does this mean? Young believer, there's some young believers here, what does this mean?

Unbeliever, there are unbelievers here. Whatever could this mean? This is not written so that you would be amazed, but rather that you would be changed. Do not be like the pathway type of soil where the good seed falls and the birds of the air come and snatch it away. Do not be like the stony ground, where it sprang up but had no depth.

Do not be like the thorny soil, where the seed was sown and it sprang up but the cares and the riches and the concerns of this life choked it out. But would you be rather the good soil, where the good seed falls on good ground and bears much good fruit. For these are the wonderful works of God through the power of his Holy Spirit. And by the power of this Holy Spirit and in the words of our Apostle Peter he says this in the same chapter in chapter 2 in verse 21 and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." So if you're here today and you're lost in your sins today is the day of salvation. Let this word sink down deep into your heart and ask yourself that all-important question, whatever could this mean?

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for this passage of Scripture that shows us so mightily the power of the Holy Spirit. And Lord you have much more to show us as we continue through this most wonderful book. Lord we understand that it's only through the power of your Holy Spirit that the disciples could do anything. And Lord, we also acknowledge that we are totally helpless without you.

Lord, my prayer is for the believers here today that they would be strengthened, that they would be encouraged, that they, O Lord, would not seek to live in the power of the flesh and in the strength of their own arm but Lord that they would be equipped to walk in the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit to example the fruit of the Spirit and father for the unbeliever I pray that their hearts would be humbled, that they would not be like the hard-hearted Jews who refused the good word. I pray, O Lord, that you would break that fallow ground, and may your good seed fall upon ready hearts that they would be brought from death to life and father we give you all the glory and all the praise because Lord it cannot be done apart from you. We ask and pray these things in the powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.