Revived: By the Spirit of Jesus

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:1-4, 14-16, 22-24, 40-47 ESV

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.  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 ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.  And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Being revived is by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises power to his disciples. He promises "dynamite" for them to be witnesses for Him. That they would be so fired up that they would give up their lives for their witness.

Chapter 1 is about Jesus promising revival through the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 2 is about the fulfillment of that promise.

The spirit turns weaklings into witnesses.

The power God gives enables us to share about Jesus. It gives us courage and strength to talk publicly about Jesus.

Peter stands up and testifies about Jesus being the Messiah. Prior to this Peter had denied Jesus three times. He had run away while Jesus was dying on the cross. Peter had changed. He was changed by the spirit.

The spirit turns crowds into communities

The church is a motley crew. It is made up of people who wouldn't normally be friends or even love one another. It molds a crowd into an intimate group of fellowship.

The Pentecostal celebration was attended by people who only had the festival in common. After the spirit, they broke bread together and prayed together. They were devoted to the teachings of the apostles.

The spirit turns cities into saturation points.

The spirit changes people and crowds until an entire city becomes a witness to Jesus. Three thousand became Christian on the first day. Out of a population of 600,000. 0.5% in one day. By the end of the week, three thousand men... in other words, there thousand families. Enough house churches to witness to every neighborhood in Jerusalem. This is what God wants.