What a Difference a Day Makes Part 1

Pastor Mike will be speaking on What a Difference a Day Makes Part 1. He will be reading out of Acts 2:1-13.

It’s not that the Spirit of God is not in us. Some people say we need to get more of the Spirit. And I say you’ve already got all the Spirit that you need. It’s just that you need to be more surrendered to the Spirit.

You need to allow the Spirit of God to fill your heart, to fill your mind, and to continue to guide you as you are serving Him. Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders from the Open Door Church with Hope Worth Having.

It is so great to have you with us as we study the Word of God together. Today, we’re gonna be learning about what a difference a day makes. We’re in Acts chapter two. I like to refer to this chapter as the birth of the church, where God begins to initiate the beginning of this group of people He calls the church.

And this will be a momentous chapter as we learn about what a difference a day makes. Let’s begin. And we come this morning to Acts chapter two, and we’re continuing to track through the book of Acts.

But I’ve entitled the message, What a Difference a Day Makes. On October the 31st in the year 1517, a German monk, Martin Luther, nailed his 95 thesis on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, thus beginning the Protestant Reformation.

What a difference a day makes. On December 7th, 1941, a Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, and World War II began. What a difference a day makes. On September the 11th in 2001, there were two planes that flew into the World Trade Center, and the war on terrorism began.

What a difference a day makes. When we… We come to Acts chapter 2. We see this to be a very pivotal day, certainly in the life of the church, and certainly as us as individual followers of Christ. The second chapter of Acts makes a turning point in the history of God’s kingdom.

The day of Pentecost was a day that changed the course of history. I just want to begin reading in verse 1 and just read through verse 4, just so we have a little bit of a capsule of what we’re trying to share with you this morning.

The Scripture says, 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 a 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.” The Day of Pentecost was tied into a festival often referred to as the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Pentecost.

It was a picture of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish people did not fully grasp the prototypes or the images that were being foreshadowed in their feast and their festivals that God had set up for them.

But this is interesting that 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, which spoke of the resurrection of Christ, the Feast of the Pentecost, the Jewish people would celebrate. And when we come to the Day of Pentecost on Acts 2, we are recognizing and we are witnessing the birth of the church.

We are witnessing something significant, and we are learning about something that is transformational as the New Covenant is being inaugurated or implemented into a new age. The average Christian finds themselves bogged down, and they are bogged down because they understand Calvary.

They understand that Christ died for them, but they’re not truly experiencing the Day of Pentecost in their lives. Yes, Christians understand forgiveness being pardon of their sins, but they do not understand the power that is available to them that is found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

So this morning as we examine this text, I want us to see first of all the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence. The reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence. The Bible tells us that while they were in this upper room, they were all in one accord and suddenly there came a sound from heaven.

A rushing mighty wind. It filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat upon each of them. The Bible correlates this together in verse 4 saying that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God had descended upon His people, and it was only for special times and special purposes, but the Spirit of God did not reside in the hearts of those who were part of the covenant family of God.

And even as Jesus Christ was ministering in His public ministry for over three years, the Spirit of God did not dwell in the disciples of Christ. We see this as we back up to the Gospel of John, if you will, John chapter 14.

I want you to go back there with me, because I want you to see how it all connects together. But we understand that the Spirit was certainly assisting the disciples, but was not dwelling. John chapter 14, verse 16, Jesus is helping the disciples to be ready for His departure.

He is helping them to understand what’s heaven about. He’s helping them to understand that there’s going to be a helper. The Spirit of God is going to come, and He’s going to dwell with them. Verse 16 says, I pray, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever.

Now up until this point, the Spirit of God had not abided in the hearts of the followers of Christ. We look at verse 17, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and He will be in you.

What Jesus is letting them know, that in His absence there is coming the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit, and what is significant and different, is that the Spirit of God will live within them. Now jump down to verse 20, I’m still in John chapter 14.

As he is explaining this and what it means, he says that that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. Now I know that could be a little bit of a tongue twister, but here’s what I want you to get right at the outset of verse 20.

At that day, what day? He is referring to the day of Pentecost. He is referring to that moment and that day in which the Spirit of God will fall upon the people of God and will forever indwell those who love Jesus Christ and believe in Him for eternal life.

In the last days of the prophetic calendar, the Bible teaches us in Joel that God will pour out His Spirit. He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. And that would be significant because that would mean that it would encompass not only the Jewish people but the Gentile people, that it would be a international feeling.

Jesus taught His disciples that they would be filled. But did they have an understanding that not only would they be filled but all, from all walks of life, from all ethnicities and all backgrounds and all different places in life and stations in life that all who believe in Christ would experience the filling of the Spirit of God dwelling within them.

Peter will later connect those dots in Acts chapter 2 as he begins his sermon. But suffice it to understand this that Joel chapter 2 verse 28 through 29 that on the day of Pentecost there is a partial filling of this prophecy that will finally culminate and be completely fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.

But in this moment God is going to fill His people with the Spirit of God, the Helper, the Periclea, the one who comes aside, the encourager who will come alongside and lift up God’s people, will live within the heart of those who believe.

The day of Pentecost was one of the seven major feast days of God’s covenant people. And Pentecost means 50. It is celebrated 50 days after the Passover. You’re familiar with the Passover. You remember that the Bible teaches us that God led His people out of Egypt, out of slavery, and that in this process of leading Pharaoh to let the people of God go, that there was this command given that the people were to take the blood of a lamb and put it on their doorpost.

And that as it was on the doorpost, the death angel would not bring death to the house, but would pass over. And so on that day, the people of God that had the blood of the lamb, which was a foreshadowing of the blood of Jesus Christ, and a savior who would die on the cross, and he would give his life for us, and there would be this passover.

And there is that we are not experiencing the spiritual death of this world because we have Christ within us. The Bible says that Christ is our passover. So again, we’re connecting the dots, we’re seeing what’s taking place, and we see there was this Passover that took place, but immediately, 50 days after the Passover, there was the feast of Pentecost.

You can see all this explained in Leviticus, chapter 23, verse 15 through 21, take time to study it on your own. But this feast that the Jews would partake of would be a momentous moment as Jews would come from all over the world to Jerusalem.

Some Bible scholars believe that over two to three hundred thousand Jewish people would migrate to Jerusalem and partake of the feast or the day of Pentecost. It was huge because it’s a part of this divine plan that God has of spreading the gospel to the entire world.

And as we come and we see the significance that on the day of Pentecost, that 50 days after Christ was crucified on the cross, 50 days, remember He was on this earth for 40 days teaching His apostles about the church, teaching them to understand how everything is connected, the old covenant to the new covenant, and that they would be emboldened and that they would receive the promise of the Spirit.

We remember that, but 50 days after Christ was crucified, we would see the inauguration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the platform of the church. This is important because we see that 50 days after the Passover in the Jewish calendar that the law was given to Moses.

And 50 days the law was given to Moses and he gave it to the people. But now there’s a new covenant. And 50 days after the crucifixion of our Savior, 50 days after, if you will, the Passover where the final Lamb is placed on the cross and is sacrificed for our sins, 50 days later we do not have the inauguration of the law but rather of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the church.

That’s why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3, 6, God also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant. Not of the letter but of the Spirit for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. The early church revered the first day of the week.

We as Americans, we look at Sunday as part of our weekend, but if you go back and look at your calendar, it’s actually the first day of the week. The significance of the first day of the week for us as followers of Christ is very important.

We need to remember that this day is unique because it is the day that we celebrate as believers the resurrection of our Savior. For us, Easter is every Sunday. It’s not just one moment in the calendar, but rather it is every Sunday, and we are coming with thanksgiving in our heart as we are rejoicing that our Savior lives.

We huddle together, if you will. We gather together as the church so that we might again be infused with the hope and the promise that is found only in Jesus Christ. Many do not understand the significance of this day, and thus they neglect it only to their spiritual vulnerability, meaning that as we neglect this awesome time together in the family of God, we only make ourselves vulnerable to the temptations of the devil.

We find ourselves not living in victory, but living as victims of the flesh. And so God has called us to come together, not only that we can rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, and not only that we can see the pattern in the new church, that the disciples gathered with Christ even after His resurrection on Sunday, and it was on that Sunday that He instructed them.

It was on that Sunday that He continued to fellowship with them. Jesus would ascend into heaven. We already learned about that. But then 10 days after His ascension, on the first day of the week, the Spirit of God came to us.

of God after the ascension of Christ descended upon the people of God. We come to chapter 2, verse 1. We cannot hastily rush through verse 1, for we understand that when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

They had gathered there. Jesus had instructed them to wait. They were waiting for the promise of the Spirit of God to be upon them. It was on this first day of the week that they gathered, because on this first day of the week, as they are gathering together, not knowing, perhaps even doubting, maybe questioning and wondering, but the Bible tells us that in Luke 24 that after the ascension of Christ,

they were rejoicing. Some people think the church, that they had gathered in fear, but I’m not certain of that as much as I think they are gathering in patience. as they are holding on to the promises that Christ had given to them.

And as they are waiting for this promise, a significant event happens on the day of Pentecost, the first day of the week. The Spirit of God, for the first time, begins to reside within the hearts of those who believe in Jesus Christ.

What a difference a day makes. The Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, 5, now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. As a believer, you need to understand the reality of the presence of the Spirit in your heart every day.

And you need to recognize that God uses, again, many metaphors, many beautiful pictures to help us to understand the totality of what this means to us as we follow Christ in uncertain times. And the Bible tells us that He has given us the Spirit as a down payment.

Here’s what the Bible tells us, that God has given us a guarantee, a deposit of the Spirit of God. And it is a deposit of what is to come. Now, in your journey of faith, you have to remember that there have been times in your life where you have been so filled with the Spirit, so empowered by the Spirit, so energized by the Spirit, that you have sensed the very glory of God and the very presence of God,

and you have been much like the Apostle Peter where you said, Lord, let us just stay up here on this mountain and let us just thoroughly enjoy your glory and its fullness and rejoicing in all. that you have provided for us as we have trusted in you for our salvation only to find out much like Peter that God says no you got to go back into the valley and you got to go down where the burdens are where the problems are where the challenges are where the ministry is God calls you off of that mountain of glory back to reality you long for that mountain you long in your heart that that would be perpetual that that would continue in your life but God has given you a deposit through his Spirit that you might understand what is to come for those who love Jesus Christ yes we must get back at it but we must remember that as we get back at it we have these glimpses of glory we have these moments where we are almost touching the height of the throne of God as we are experiencing God’s powerful work within us because of the residence of the Holy Spirit within us.

What you are seeing here in Acts chapter 2 is the beginning of an age in which the Spirit of God would permanently indwell born -again believers in Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3, 16, Paul clarifies and expands upon it as he is reminding the Corinthians, do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

It’s not that the Spirit of God is not in us. Some people say we need to get more of the Spirit and I say you’ve already got all the Spirit that you need. It’s just that you need to be more surrendered to the Spirit.

You need to allow the Spirit of God to fill your heart, to fill your mind and to continue to guide you as you are serving Him. Unfortunately, the Corinthians had drifted in their morality. They had drifted in their behavior.

They had drifted in their testimony for God and they had become a stumbling block to their culture rather than a stepping stone to Jesus Christ. And Paul is reminding his appeal to them is that the Spirit of God lives in you.

The Spirit of God lives in us and He manifests Himself within us as we experience Him changing our life. He is transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. So in this turning point in Acts chapter 2, the Spirit of God is now dwelling within believers and this becomes an incredible motivation and an inspiration in our life that we might live lives that are honoring to God, not by the law, but rather by the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God.

also reminded in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13, that for by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

There’s two baptisms in your life. There is when you come to Christ, there is that you are baptized into the family of God spiritually by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God baptizes you into His family and He now resides within you.

And the Bible tells us it doesn’t matter what our ethnicity is, it doesn’t matter what our lot in life is, it doesn’t matter because we all drink into one Spirit. we can never be of the persuasion nor of the mindset that somehow we’re the only ones right whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved and if they have authentically come to Christ and they have received him as their Lord and Savior thus they have been baptized into one spirit there’s not a Baptist spirit there’s not a Pentecostal spirit there’s not a Presbyterian spirit there’s not whatever you want to call spirit there is one spirit he is the third person of the Trinity and when we come to Christ no matter what local church family you’re in no matter what your geography is no matter what your status and life is no matter what your ethnicity is we are all born and baptized into one spirit through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ so many want to try to do every effort that they can to repeat Pentecost they strive to experience it again but that is not our goal our goal is not to come to this text and say hey let’s have another experience of Pentecost are there principles we can learn are there principles that are applicable to us absolutely but theologically what we need to grasp is that the moment we came to Christ we all are baptized into the spirit this one spirit that dwells within us and it’s so important for us as we begin our day to acknowledge his presence in our life and not only to acknowledge the presence of the spirit the reality that he lives within me but to surrender to the spirit of God and to be fully submissive the Bible tells us that we are to walk in the spirit that we are to be filled with the spirit it’s not that you need to have a second emotional experience or that somehow you need to get more of the spirit within you,

but rather you need to be a fully submissive Christian to God Almighty. Making yourself fully available, yielding your complete life, your complete agenda, your complete goals, your complete purpose and plans in life, and that you are to relinquish those and give them fully to Christ and let the Spirit of God work effectively in each of our lives.

Yeah, you may say, well, that doesn’t seem like some kind of a grand plan. Absolutely friends, because practically every day you’re going to be that better person, you’re going to be that better husband, that better wife, that better individual at the job, whatever your status in life is, you’re going to be better at it as you are filled with the Spirit of God, as you are walking in the Spirit, as you’re keeping step with the Spirit,

you’re going to be more effective for Christ. Now God’s plan for us is not always that we’re going to be famous, and God’s plan is not always that we’re going to have some kind of a huge platform, and everybody’s going to listen to us, and everybody’s going to do what we say.

No, many times God works powerfully in our lives just in the small things in life. So the mother who’s at home taking care of the baby can be just as spirit -filled as the elder who is out witnessing and sharing Christ with those who are lost.

The mom and dad who are trying to raise their little ones to follow God, love God in the nurture and admission of the Lord can be as spirit -filled and impactful as those who may stand before large crowds and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And every day that you show up wherever God has for you on the job, in your family, in the community, God is calling us to recognize the reality of the Spirit’s presence. For as Jesus said, He has not left you alone, and He has not left you as an orphan.

He has not abandoned you, and He has not left us helpless, but rather He has given us the Spirit of God. He has given us the Spirit of God that we might serve God and live a powerful life for Christ.

That’s what’s important that we recognize this morning. Now, the Bible says this, Romans 8 and 9, but 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.

Throughout the journey of faith, Christians have strived to have the assurance of their faith. I remember that as a 14 -year -old boy that I wondered, was I truly a Christian? There were doubts in my heart.

Was I sincere? Did I? really believe in Christ. Now most people try to build their assurance based upon a date that they pray to prayer, or maybe they look at the beginning of their Bible and they have written out when they have trusted Christ.

Others might look at a certificate that they receive from the church for their baptism. But the assurance of your salvation in the Bible is to not look at the things of men, but to see the evidence of the Spirit in your life.

You will know that you belong to Him and that the Spirit is truly residing in you when you see the evidences of the Spirit. When we think about the power of the Spirit coming upon God’s people and it leading to so many coming to Christ and the Apostle Peter preaching the Gospel of Jesus and people responding with repentance and faith.

It is really an amazing chapter that we are witnessing, but we are grateful that God is teaching us how important it is for us to walk in step with the Spirit. So I pray that as you’re learning, that you remember as we study the book of Acts, the goal is not to repeat every event.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.