The Spiritual Nature of the Body
Romans 8:9-11 – 9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
1 Corinthians 12:1-7 – 1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
I. The New Nature of The Body – Spirit Filled
Acts 1:4-5 – 4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
• The Occasion for the Gifting – Pentecost
Acts 2:1-2 – 1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
• The Transformation of the People – The Holy Spirit
Acts 2:3-4 – 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
− What they spoke: “Tongues” (glōssa)
• The Makeup of the Crowd – Local, Global, Multinational, and Multilingual
Acts 2:5 – And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
• The Nature of the Gift – Universal Understanding
Acts 2:6 – And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
− What they heard: “Language” (dialektos)— native, settled, mother tongue
• The Response to the Gift – Wonder
Acts 2:7-8 – 7Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
• The Scope of the Gift – Every language
Acts 2:9-11a – 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs . . .
• The Message of the Gift – the wonderful works of God
Acts 2:11b – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
II. The Underwhelming Nature of the Men - Ordinary
Acts 2:7 – Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?”
• The need for the Spiritual Gifts - Unlettered, untrained, and unremarkable men.
Acts 4:13 – Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:26-27 – 26For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
• The Need for Clay Pots
1 Corinthians 4:7 – But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
III. The Overwhelming Nature of World’s Response
Acts 2:12 – So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
• Comprehension – “Whatever could this mean?”
• Criticism – “They are full of new wine.”
Acts 2:13 – Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Acts 17:32 – And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.”
Acts 28:24 – And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
Acts 2:41 – Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.