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[0:00] Well, I would say this morning that most, if not all of us grew up attending church.! As I scanned the room, I'm pretty sure that that's the case with most of us.

[0:16] As infants, we were taken to church and we were dedicated or baptized. And then our parents continued to either take us or send us.

[0:30] And many of us, even after we had the opportunity to decide for ourselves whether we would continue to attend church, we continued doing so. And so, for most of us, I would say this morning, we are very familiar with the life of the church.

[0:52] But as I assess church life, both here at Kingdom Life and in general, I would say that most of what we understand about church life, not all of us, but for most of us, what we understand about church life is based on our experience.

[1:14] And sadly, much of the experience of church life in churches is subnormal.

[1:25] It is not what we see in the pages of Scripture. And there are many reasons for that, and I won't take time to delve into that other than to say, much of what we experience in church life as it is, is really subnormal.

[1:47] So, we have these experiences and then we build our understanding of the church from these experiences as opposed to primarily from the pages of Scripture.

[2:01] And it's for this reason that it has been a burden on my heart for quite some time now to address us concerning church life and the local church in particular.

[2:17] And we got through the Ecclesiastes series last week, so this morning we're beginning a short four-part series on the church.

[2:27] And my burden for us and my goal for this series is that we as a local church will better reflect church life as seen in the pages of Holy Scripture as opposed to what is seen and experienced in the culture broadly.

[2:47] So, may the Lord use his word this morning and over the next few weeks to reform and to build this local church.

[2:57] As we begin this study on the church this morning, it was my intention to start in Acts 2, 22-41, as is indicated in your bulletins.

[3:11] But as I prepared, initially I was going to just give the earlier sections of Acts as a context and summarize it. But as I began to work through it, I really felt that it would really serve us to start at the beginning of Acts.

[3:30] And so, what I had intended to do this morning, I will, Lord willing, do next week. So, this morning we are going to direct our attention to the earlier section of Acts, starting at Acts 1.

[3:43] I'm going to finish at verse 21 of chapter 2. And since this is quite a long passage this morning, I'm not going to read the text up front as I normally would.

[3:56] I will be reading sections as we work through the whole text. So, let's take a moment to pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to gather this morning.

[4:10] We thank you for your abundant mercy and grace that we have sung about. And now, Lord, as we open the pages of your word, we ask that you would speak to our hearts.

[4:22] Lord, I pray that you will use your word this morning to build your church, to reform your church.

[4:35] Holy Spirit, I ask that you would convict our hearts to the truth in your word. I pray that you'd help us to see we are in our own understanding of the local church.

[4:50] We are in our own experience of life in the local church. There needs to be change and there needs to be reform.

[5:04] Lord, as much as I desire to see these changes, only you can bring them. So, we pray in this moment, do your work, the work that only you can. And I pray, Lord, that you would grant me the grace to be faithful.

[5:20] To proclaim your word for the good of your people. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. As we prepare to consider this rather lengthy opening of the book of Acts, here's what I'm trusting the Lord to help me to show.

[5:40] Church life began with the coming of the Holy Spirit, who baptizes all believers into the body of Christ. That's what I hope we will see at the end of our time this morning.

[5:55] That church life began with the coming of the Holy Spirit, who baptizes all believers into the body of Christ. Now, to help you to follow along, I've organized the passage and my thoughts under two main headings.

[6:12] And they are, number one, the promise of the Holy Spirit, in chapter 1, verses 1 through 11. And then I'm going to jump over, with just a passing reference, verses 12 through 26 of chapter 1.

[6:30] And then we're going to go to chapter 2, verses 1 through 21. And that second head is the coming of the Holy Spirit. So, two points this morning.

[6:42] The promise of the Holy Spirit and the coming of the Holy Spirit. So, let's first consider Acts 1, 1 through 11, the promise of the Holy Spirit.

[6:57] Please follow along as I read. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

[7:18] He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

[7:31] And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.

[7:50] So, when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

[8:12] And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

[8:25] And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

[8:48] This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

[9:00] In the book of Acts, or more properly stated, the Acts of the Apostles, was written by Luke, a physician. And we see in verse 1 that he addresses this book to a man by the name of Theophilus.

[9:17] We also see in verse 1 that Luke refers to a first book that he wrote to Theophilus, and that first book is the Gospel of Luke. And what we would find in the opening verses of the Gospel of Luke is that Luke tells Theophilus that the purpose that he was writing the Gospel of Luke was to provide Theophilus with an orderly account of the things he had come to believe so that he could believe those things with certainty.

[9:47] That's why Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke for Theophilus. And now his purpose for writing the book of Acts was to provide Theophilus with an account of the ministry of the apostles of Jesus, the work they carried on after Jesus ascended back to heaven.

[10:09] I want you to notice that in verse 4, Luke references how Jesus reminded the apostles that he told them about the Father's promise to send the Spirit.

[10:22] In verse 5, Luke records Jesus as saying, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And then, in verse 8, he records Jesus as saying, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

[10:43] Now notice also in verse 8 that Luke records the words of Jesus telling his disciples what was going to happen after they received power from the Holy Spirit.

[10:53] He said, you're going to be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

[11:06] Now, exactly what does it mean? If we look at it on the face of it, it's really not easy to tell exactly what Jesus meant when he said that they were going to be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and to the ends of the earth.

[11:24] We can't tell right on the face of those words. But if we go back to the Gospel of Luke, which I want you to do, you'll turn back to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, starting in verse 44, we're able to see what Jesus meant when he told them that they were going to be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

[11:53] Luke 24, starting in verse 44. Then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

[12:15] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.

[12:28] Notice, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

[12:41] You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

[12:55] Let's turn back to Acts chapter 1. So now it becomes very clear what Jesus is referring to. He was saying that they would be witnesses by preaching the gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit.

[13:15] This being witnesses to these other areas and to the ends of the earth. He said it was going to be a preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins aided with the power of the Holy Spirit.

[13:33] That's what they would do. Beginning at Jerusalem they would preach the name of Jesus into all nations that is in his name that people are to repent and to receive the forgiveness of sins.

[13:45] Now this next section Luke tells us that the apostles returned to Jerusalem. This is in verses 12 through 26. They returned to Jerusalem and they were devoting themselves to prayer.

[14:00] There were about 120 of them all together and during this time they appointed Matthias to succeed Judas Iscariot who had betrayed the Lord and later committed suicide.

[14:12] Now we come to chapter 2 starting in verse 1 and this is my second and final point the coming of the Holy Spirit.

[14:23] Please follow along as I read. So I'll read 1 through 13. When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

[15:01] Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews devout men from every nation under heaven and at the sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language and they were amazed and astonished saying are not all these who are speaking Galileans and how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia Judea and Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome both Jews and Proselytes Cretans and Arabians we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another what does this mean but others mocking said they are filled with new wine now but Luke records here in verses 1 through 13 of chapter 2 is the fulfillment of the promise of God the

[16:31] Father to send the Holy Spirit at the end of the ministry of Jesus on earth this is the fulfillment of that promise that we just read about earlier in chapter 1 now let's look more closely at what happened on this day when the Holy Spirit came first we're told in verse 1 that it was on the day of Pentecost Pentecost was one of the three major Jewish feasts it took place 50 days after another major feast the feast of Passover and we're still we're told that there was this sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues of fire appeared and rested on each one of them now I must admit and I'm sure you probably would identify that I'm hard pressed to visualize what this really was because I don't have anything that I can compare it to and I think the reason for that is this was a supernatural event it's very difficult for us to envision and think about this massive sound and this incredible visual of these flaming tongues and somehow resting on these apostles and the others in the room and they weren't obviously burnt and affected by it so it's a supernatural event

[18:08] I'm not able to aid you and help you to illustrate to say what this is like because I just don't have a context for it other than to say this was a supernatural event this was a supernatural event that was the fulfillment of the promise of the father to send the holy spirit in verse 4 we're told that they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance and let me just say that I don't believe that this was confined to the 12 apostles who were there and I think if you read further you'll see the language where Peter is talking about these people as opposed to these men and the natural reading of it when you follow from chapter 1 is that they were all gathered in the room and the spirit came upon all of them who were gathered in the room and I think the prophecy that we're going to read in a little while Joel's prophecy would indicate that it would have been for all of them and not just the men the apostles who were in the room and verse 5 we're further told that there was this large crowd in

[19:22] Jerusalem from every nation under heaven Jews and Gentiles these proselytes who were converted to Judaism and they were there for the feast of Pentecost because the Lord had said three times in every year all those who were faithful Jews were to journey to Jerusalem and in this loud sound they gathered and they were bewildered and amazed and astonished because they heard people from Galilee speaking in all of the language that were represented among the Jews and the proselyte Gentiles the proselyte Jews who were Gentiles who gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost they were amazed as they heard these 120 Galileans telling of the mighty works of God and languages they had not learned now what happened on the day of

[20:25] Pentecost was a miracle the 120 were not speaking in unknown tongues which the apostle Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14 which would have been required to be interpreted for people to understand so I think it's important to see this and I'll say this again a little later because it's very important to distinguish what was happening on the day of Pentecost from what we see addressed and taught in 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14 those who were gathered in that room upon whom the spirit came was speaking in known tongues known languages that were spoken by people from different nations and if you count the number of nations there Luke I don't think it's an exhaustive list but Luke lists 15 different nations and those who were there in the upper room those upon whom the spirit came they were speaking languages that they clearly would not have learned and so the question is how did they do this how were they able to speak these known languages that people present were able to understand but we're told in verse 4 of chapter 2 they were all filled with the

[21:59] Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance the spirit enabled them to speak these languages now let me just say a few things to make this hopefully abundantly clear what happened on the day of Pentecost when the father sent the Holy Spirit was a unique day in salvation history that was a unique day that ushered a unique season that was not repeatable not a repeatable event it marked the day that the third person of the Godhead the Holy Spirit came to the earth after the second person of the Godhead Jesus Christ had come to this earth lived a perfect life died a substitutionary death was buried was raised again and ascended to heaven the Holy

[23:05] Spirit came to continue that work of redemption this is something that's happening in redemption history and the Holy Spirit now comes and he is very much a part of this work of redemption that God the father is working out in history working out in the time space world and we're going to see that more clearly as we come to the next section once again the tongues spoken on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given did not have to be interpreted again different from the tongues we read about in 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14 and while there were Jews and Gentiles from other nations who understood their native tongues being spoken there is no evidence that the 120 who were baptized with the

[24:05] Spirit were able to understand what they were saying there's no evidence that even though they were speaking these languages that they themselves understood it even though those present who heard they were understanding they were hearing in they were hearing their languages the tongues they spoke spoken and there's also no evidence that this was a permanent gift that they received no evidence that you know if somebody got the Parthian tongue that day and they spoke the Parthian tongue that that was a permanent gift that they were given they could speak in the Parthian tongue forever there's no evidence of that and I make this point to distinguish between what happened on the day of Pentecost and what the Apostle Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14 what happened on the day of Pentecost was not repeatable that was something unique in salvation history and what we see in 1

[25:10] Corinthians 12 13 14 is part of the what we call the charismata the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit gives to the church as he wills and as he sees fit and the third thing I want to share is this these tongues spoken on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given were evangelistic in purpose we're told in verse 11 that they spoke telling the mighty works of God that's what these people heard they didn't just admire them say oh these are some super spiritual powerful people no they heard the mighty works of God being extolled as these individuals spoke in these other languages as the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of

[26:12] Pentecost what they did they did under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the purpose was evangelistic and we see that working out leading up to the sermon that Peter preached well not everyone was impressed and thought that what was going on merited their attention what we see in verse 13 it says that but others marking said they are filled with new wine in verse 12 some were amazed some were perplexed but others said they were drunk and here's the reason I think we could understand that they would say that they were drunk imagine if in this room some of us began speaking French and others began speaking Spanish and some began speaking

[27:13] Portuguese and perhaps some spoke Creole and then we had people from who spoke those native tongues to walk in here and here's what would happen if you spoke Portuguese you would hear Portuguese but in the midst of all the other languages being spoken that you would not understand so they concluded they got to be drunk something just isn't right about this whole thing they must actually be drunk so that was basically what was happening there was obviously a language that a person understood but then there would have been other languages that they didn't understand so the whole thing would have appeared very confusing to them and some concluded that they must be drunk let's continue on verse 14 but Peter standing with the eleven lifted up his voice and addressed them men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem let this be known to you and give air to my words for these people notice these people are not drunk as you suppose since it is only the third hour of the day this is what was uttered through the prophet

[28:35] Joel and in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams even on my male servants and my female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy and I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below blood and fire and vapor of smoke the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood when the day of the Lord comes the great and magnificent day and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved and let's recap what Peter says in response to those who said they were drunk first of all he says listen it's only nine o'clock in the morning so it's not likely that they're drunk it's too early for that to happen obviously they had a different culture than we have today

[29:47] I see people drinking much earlier than that but Peter goes on to say that what took place was the fulfillment of prophecy a prophecy uttered by the prophet Joel where God the father promised that in the last days he would pour out his spirit on all flesh and sons and daughters and young men and old men young men would see visions and the old men would dream dreams now it's interesting to notice that what Peter does is Peter says this was to happen in the last days and we understand the last days to be that period in salvation history where Jesus was born he came to the earth leading up to when he returns back to the earth that period in between where he came into the world as the savior of the world and where he will come back to the world as the judge of the world the period in between that those are the last days so we are in the last days we've been in the last days for more than 2,000 years and obviously you'll have more last days as you come to the very final last day but that's the period that we're in and Peter says this is what

[31:12] Joel prophesied that would happen so he identifies for us this event in salvation history now though the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place in a unique non-repeatable way on that watershed day some 10 days after the day after Jesus had ascended back into heaven what Joel prophesied in Joel chapter 2 and what Peter points to is the ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit during the last days he wasn't talking just about the single event that happened on that day when you read what he's saying he's talking about an ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit where God says I will pour my spirit upon all flesh again what happened on

[32:13] Pentecost that event was unique and not repeatable but the broader event that Joel prophesied about extended beyond the day of Pentecost extended to the last days to all of the last days this period in salvation history when the father would send the spirit and notice he says this pouring out would be on all flesh and here all flesh means all flesh without distinction as opposed to all flesh without exception because it means without exception that means every single person in the world would have the Holy Spirit poured out upon them and we know that's not the case at all when he says all flesh without distinction he's referring to males and females and young and old and Gentiles and Jews and those who are considered outcasts and to make sure that we are very specific with it that we understand it look at what it says in verse 18 it narrows it down even on my male servants and my female servants it's those who are serving

[33:22] God it's those who belong to God he says I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh it's quite interesting when we study this prophecy of Joel or when we just consider it a bit more closely that the emphasis of the pouring out of the spirit is on prophecy and I believe that a good definition of what prophecy is is that prophecy is speech that is enabled or aided or prompted by the spirit of God in the service of God and interestingly the tongues that was spoken on the day of Pentecost it was it was tongues to those who did not understand it but to those who understood it was prophecy those who heard in their particular language what they heard and what they understood was not tongues to them the other parts of it that they didn't understand the other languages that they didn't understand that would have been tongues to them but what they understood would have been would have been prophecy and I think this is why the apostle

[34:47] Paul tells us in first Corinthians 14 verse 13 that if someone prays in a tongue speaks in a tongue and he should also pray that he is able to interpret it so that others around will get the understanding of it and so we see this emphasis in Joel's prophecy in verse 17 it talks about your sons and your daughters will prophesy and then in verse 18 in the end it talks about in those days I will pour my spirit and prophesy but that's it all that Peter quotes from Joel's prophecy look at verse 19 he also points to the fact that accompanying the pouring of the Holy Spirit will be wonders in the heavens and signs on the earth below blood and fire and vapor and smoke and the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great day of the

[35:56] Lord comes the great magnificent day and what does this mean what is he referring to here really theologians are divided in opinions about what all this means and why they may be divided in all the details I think what we can agree is that we can understand these verses as being typical of the prophetic language that we would find in the Old Testament and what the Lord is saying is that he will accompany the activity of the Holy Spirit with wonders in the heavens and signs on the earth below so I don't think that the blood is literal blood nor do I think the fire literal and the vapor of smoke and all that stuff literally I think the sun being turned to darkness is likely referring to an eclipse where the moon would come between the sun and the earth and the moon would block the light of the sun to the earth so the sun would seem dark to us and then also the sun would change the color of the moon that it would seem red or blood red as some would say so the language of verses 19 and 20 seem to be cosmic supernatural signs that

[37:26] God says he would use during this period of the coming of the spirit and his activity among the people of God some say this is judgment and I'm not sure that that would be correct because if you look at verse 20 it says that these signs and wonders will take place before the great and magnificent day of the Lord comes before the day of the Lord comes so I think at best the signs may be pointing to judgment pointing to the similar I mean to coming judgment again we see this language in the Old Testament but I don't think that they are in and of themselves an indication of judgment before the great day of the Lord comes the judgment will come when the Lord comes after he comes as judge and he pours out his wrath on the ungodly and then we see in verse 21 the reason for the spirit coming so that everyone who calls on the name of the

[38:36] Lord will be saved this is the reason the spirit is being poured out not just so that we would enjoy the wonders and the blessings of the spirit and his gifts but so that those who would call on the name of the Lord would be saved and this echoes back to Acts 1 8 when Jesus said you're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth the Holy Spirit is necessary for evangelism and for the conversion of sinners and so what should mark the period of the last days until Jesus returns is people being saved because through the Holy Spirit they were convicted of sin and enabled to call upon the name of

[39:37] Jesus for salvation and this brothers and sisters is the beginning of church life the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved but the Spirit doesn't do his work in a vacuum if that were the case we would not be told to preach the gospel and share the gospel the Holy Spirit would just hover all over the earth and over people and just bring them to conviction and cause them to call on the name of the Lord but they don't call on the name of the Lord in a vacuum they call on the name of the Lord because they have heard the gospel because someone has gone to them and proclaimed the gospel to them he does it as witnesses preach as witnesses proclaim the gospel that he said they would proclaim that we saw at the end of Acts at the end of Luke sorry as

[40:38] Jesus was ascending into heaven said you are to preach the gospel but don't you leave until the spirit comes when the spirit comes then you will go and be my witnesses and the spirit enables men and women convicts them of sin grants them faith grants them repentance they're able to call on the name of the Lord for salvation and see even this morning if you're here and you are outside of Jesus Christ recognize that this is why the spirit has come the spirit has come so that you may call on the name of the Lord and that you may be saved without the Holy Spirit we just could not and would not and would not desire to call on the name of the

[41:38] Lord and so this morning as we study the work of the Spirit and we consider the rest of the New Testament one of the things we see is that God's people are called to be filled with the Spirit in an ongoing way we're called to be filled with the Spirit in an ongoing way and Ephesians 5 18 for example Ephesians 5 18 21 is a scripture that we brothers and sisters must take to heart in a new and a fresh way and do not be drunk with wine for that is debauchery interestingly how he's linking being filled with the Spirit to not being drunk with wine just like what happened on the day of Pentecost but he says do not be drunk with wine for that is!

[42:40] but be filled with the Spirit this is to be filled with the Spirit in an ongoing way addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the Lord before your heart giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ this is what we're called to we're called to be engaged in Holy Spirit aided speech brothers and sisters I want to say to us this morning this is the normal church life it is interesting I didn't read it but we're told that when the disciples went to Jerusalem it says they devoted themselves to prayer imagine that approximately 10 days or so they were devoting themselves to prayer and then we'll see this word devoted being used again to talk about the community life that they had how they gave themselves to that and now we're seeing that the scripture calls us in an ongoing way to be filled with the spirit and not just in a vacuum but addressing one another in psalms it's the word of

[44:02] God having the word of God on our lips and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the Lord with all of our hearts giving thanks always giving people who are thankful and for everything to always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ brothers and sisters all of this is spirit aided and enabled we're called to it in an ongoing way and I wonder if we consider this morning what is it that we are filled with what is it that would mark us as being filled with or that we have given ourselves to and there's so many things that we can think about so many things that we can fill in the blank with so many things and yet we're being called to be filled with this brain and the truth is this we must give ourselves to this this is going to be a reality in our lives

[45:13] I know it's true for me and I know it's true for you we're going to have to make some decisions about what we're going to give ourselves to we're going to to make some decisions about what would be our priorities we're going to have to let this picture that we see of these expectant disciples who had given themselves to prayer mark our lives as well this is the only way that we are going to position ourselves to be filled with the spirit in an ongoing way and I realize that though this is no doubt similar for all of us it's also different for all of us we need to be asking the Lord Lord what does it look like in my life for me to make changes to begin to give myself over to the things of God that I may truly be filled with the spirit of

[46:15] God even as I do the regular things going to work and caring for the children and preparing meals and doing all the things that we have to do we can be filled with the spirit in an ongoing way in this manner and let me just say this I hope to get to it in the coming weeks didn't make any promises but it's quite interesting that when we consider Ephesians 5 18 21 realize that the same author under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who wrote these words also wrote 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14 so he is not contradicting himself here but I find it instructive that we should see the result of being filled with the spirit doesn't take away from the gifts of the spirit that the apostle Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians in that letter in particular but notice these normal activities that should be evident in our midst addressing one another with the word of

[47:34] God addressing one another with hymns and spiritual songs and singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord and giving thanks to God all the time for all things in Jesus name and then submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ humbling ourselves towards each other as opposed to fighting and quarreling for our own way the fruit of being filled with the Holy Spirit and brothers and sisters this is tomorrow church life this is to mark the life that we are to be living with one another and so may this be our prayer today may this be our prayer today and every day that we be filled with the Spirit may this also enable us to proclaim the gospel because what we're going to see next week is that the apostle

[48:40]  Peter wasn't just giving a Bible lesson he was not just talking Peter was experiencing in that moment what Jesus said would happen and why he told them to wait the Spirit had come upon Peter and Peter was able to be a bold witness for the Lord Jesus to this first group of people who are recorded in scripture as hearing the gospel so when we come to this awareness that when we share the gospel that it's not just us giving some data but it is supposed to be us under the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming that truth and trusting the Holy Spirit to convince that person to say yes that's true repent and believe it Lord willing we'll pick up next week in verse 22 let's pray