What Happened On The 50th Day After That 1st Easter Sunday | Acts 2:1-21

Takeaway Verse 21:

But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

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Transcription:

Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s Word together and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So, take a deep breath and let’s get started.

You ready to celebrate? Because it’s Pentecost! More on that in a moment, but today’s episode is called, “What Happened on the 50th Day After That 1st Easter Sunday”. Before we dive in, this is like gonna be a powerful day, let me tell you. Let’s pray together and give our time to the Lord Jesus.

Father, we come to you in the mighty name of Jesus, and we are just overwhelmed and in awe of how you work in this world and in our lives. And we celebrate Pentecost today, knowing that you keep your promises. We’re so thankful for you. Please open our eyes and our hearts to what you want us to see and understand in your word today. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. 

Okay. So, what is Pentecost? Maybe you’ve heard the word, and you’re like me, you have to look it up and go, wait, what does this mean again? Well, in Greek, Pentecost means 50. Pentecost happened 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead. Back in the Old Testament, it was a Thanksgiving feast day for the Jews, they were celebrating the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Later, Pentecost also became associated with Moses receiving the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai from God. Some people believe that the Holy Spirit was given to us on Pentecost to represent, to be symbolic of, the fact that the new law was coming. It was the first fruits of the new law, which is very beautiful to think about. So, let’s read Acts, chapter two. We’re gonna go a third of the way into this chapter because it is so powerful, and I don’t want us to miss anything or rush through anything. So here we go. Acts chapter two. Remember, Luke wrote this book, this adventure book, this adventure story, he was a doctor. He didn’t witness what Jesus did in this world, but he spoke to people who did, and he wrote down what they said. So, keep that in the back of your mind too. 

All right, Luke’s pen. He picks it up again. Here we go. “On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven, like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them, and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” This would be like, if right now you saw a tongue of fire on my head, and I started speaking in Spanish or Italian. How marvelous, how incredible, in the true sense of the word, almost incredible. But it happened.

“At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. ‘How can this be?’ They exclaimed. ‘These people are from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages. Here we are Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done. They stood there amazed and perplexed.’ What can this mean?’ They asked each other. But others in the crowd ridiculed them saying, ‘They’re just drunk, that’s all.’ 

“Then Peter stepped forward with the 11 other apostles and shouted to the crowd. ‘Listen carefully. All of you fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this, these people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel.

“‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit, even on my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.'” Here’s our key verse, verse 21, “‘but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”

I wanna say that again, EVERYONE, whatever you’ve done, who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. All of us as humans are on a sinking ship called sin. And all we have to do is reach out to the Lord Jesus, who loved us enough to come and die for each one of us. St. Augustine said He loves us as if there were just one of us. He would’ve come. If it was just you, all you have to do is reach out to him and the life preserver comes. Jesus died for you on the cross so that you could have peace right now. And eternal life in heaven, in a perfect place where there is no need for Kleenex. He died for you. And all you have to do is call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, and you will be saved. You don’t have to fear death. You can know that there’s no black hole you fall into. There is a place you can go into the arms of the Father who sent his Son to die on your behalf. His death on the cross, washes away your sin. Even if you’re not a believer or you’re new to the faith, you might have heard that song, “What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.” You can’t do anything, only Jesus can. 

So, if you’re ready to call on the name of the Lord, repeat this prayer after me. It’s this simple: Father, I come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. I confess with my mouth. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and you rose again. I believe that you defeated death, hell, and the grave. Please forgive me for my many sins and wash me clean. Wash me whiter than snow, as your word promises. In Jesus name. Amen. 

In the show notes, there’s more information for you, if you just took that huge step. If you called on the name of the Lord, you have been saved. You have been washed whiter than snow. God keeps his promises. Can’t wait to dive into the next part of Acts chapter two with you tomorrow. Until then remember, you are really loved. 

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