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July 6, 2025 Sunday Evening 

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The SIGN of Tongues

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Whatever could this mean? I will show signs in the earth.”  (Acts 2:4, 12, 19)

You might be wondering, “Why should hearing about tongues interest me?” If you consider yourself a Christian, for at least two reasons. One, it’s in the Bible. You want to, need to understand for yourself God’s word. The Bible was written to you and for you! There is one whole 40 verse chapter in the Bible devoted to the subject (1Cor.14). It’s mentioned as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which makes it good news. Tongues were spoken all over the book of Acts. The church of which you are a member (There’s no such thing as the Early Church – there is only The Church.) was birthed with the experience of speaking in tongues.

Two, your experience in the Lord should match what is in the Bible, our textbook for Christian faith and practice. The Model Church began with this experience of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4). Personally, I don’t want them to believe anything I don’t believe or experience anything I don’t experience.

So, whatever you believe and experience, you must admit this subject is important to God and it should be to you. Every person in the beginning of the church in Acts spoke in tongues. Maybe you should at least consider knowing about and even speaking in tongues yourself.

What is speaking in tongues?  It is a Spirit-filled person speaking in a language he has never learned. The KJV Bible translates it “Unknown Tongue.” It is unknown to the speaker and to everyone else unless it is interpreted by the same Holy Spirit.

Tongues are simply the Greek word glossa meaning languages or dialects. Languages are nothing to be afraid of, any more than being afraid of going to Germany and hearing someone speak German. The difference here is, by the Spirit the language is spoken by someone who never learned that language! It’s a supernatural, spiritual thing. But it is still a language and we do not need to be fearful about it. When you are speaking in tongues you are doing what the Bible says, “speaking the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:11)

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There PATHWAY to Victory

How to Live in Constant Victory Over All Your Enemies

Studies in the Gospel of John (8:48-59)

There is a pathway to victory. You can eventually get there. It is possible.

Jesus is the greatest teacher there ever was or ever will be. If you want to learn how to live the Christian life, which is a life of victory over all your enemies, you need to look at and listen to Christ as you find Him in the Bible. For now, we are looking into the Gospel of John.

We’ve looked at the PROBLEM of defeat in the lives of so many Christians. Large numbers of believers live defeated lives, defeated by their circumstances, their sin, the world and the devil. They are virtual POWs in the war against all their enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil. It is possible to win this victory constantly.

I. There are certain steps that lead to constant victory and Jesus walked that pathway to show us we can too. As the Son of Man, He didn’t heal people to prove He could do it. He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. He did it to prove we could do it (Jn.14:12). He didn’t abundantly provide for people, “pressed down and shaken together,” to prove He could do it; He did it to prove we could do it (Lk.6:38). If there’s a fig tree or a mountain in your way, speak to it and it will move (Mk.11:22-24). Wouldn’t you like to know His pathway to victory?

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Acts 2:1-4 is probably the most controversial and disputed passage in the entire Bible, has been for over 2,000 years. So, do not be offended if everyone does not agree with your interpretation of it. I will begin by noting the two words that most confuse and conflict people: Pentecost and Tongues. I will cover Pentecost in this chapter and tongues in the next. Remember, these are Bible words so we need to come to some understanding of them. God put them in the Bible for our own good.

What is presented in these next two chapters may seem complicated and may require several readings and much prayer and meditation to get the revelation of it, but I have tried to make it as clear as possible. And today’s church world needs some clarity on this matter; half are against the Pentecostal experience and tongues and many make altogether too much of it.

Every sentence in this chapter on Pentecost that you’re now reading is important; therefore, study it carefully. I am taking these important two words in Acts 2:1-4, then using the rest of the Bible to explain them. I’m taking it slowly and carefully because Acts 2:1-4 is the foundation of the rest of Acts, the entire New Testament, and the Church Age. This is the platform from which the church was launched. We must get this right in the beginning. If we don’t we will never hit our target of becoming the Model Church. If your aim is off a milli centimeter at the gun, the bullet will be way off target 100 yards away.

Pentecost means fifty and tongues means languages. The Day of Pentecost was the annual feast of the Jews set up by God in the Old Testament.  It represents and memorializes abundance and the blessings of God; it had to do with the harvest of crops. Pentecost is an appropriate name for what happened in Acts 2 where we see a great harvest of souls “from every nation under heaven” being saved. Pentecost happened 50 days after Passover, the Day of Atonement when Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God. Jesus poured out His blood and 50 days later He poured out the Spirit to bring in the harvest of souls for whom He had died.

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What Does One Accord Mean? (Acts 2:1)

A young preacher just became the new pastor. His first Sunday morning sermon was received with admiration and joy. But things became curious when he preached that very same sermons the second Sunday morning of his young pastorate. But when he preached that same sermon the third time in a row, the deacons called a meeting. They asked him why he would do that and he answered, “When the church begins to do the first sermon I preached, then I will preach a second one.” Although I would never do that, I do understand the sentiment. I feel that way about this sermon, as we are getting into the series on Acts 2. If we don’t get this down, there’s no real reason to go to another one. This is the reason Acts 2 happened. The Spirit would not have been poured out upon these people if they were not in “one accord.”

A dairy farmer father had a teen son who asked him for a three-wheeler, before the advent of the four-wheeler. The dad asked him why, what he intended to do with it, and he replied just to have fun with his friends who already had one. Dad said no!  A week or two later the son comes back with the same request. “What do you want to do with it?” He replied, “I can go to the store on it, ride through the countryside, stuff like that.” No!  Another week went by and the boy came with the same request. Why? The wise boy answered, “I can use it to round up the cows and go out and fix fences and move hay around the farm.” The dad said, “Ok, now you can have it.” The dad was wanting him to have the three-wheeler, but for the right reason. He wasn’t going to get it until he realized why he needed it.

  The powerful and wonderful baptism with the Spirit was to be given to make them witnesses for Christ, as stated in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be My witnesses all over the world.” If we don’t connect with the mission of Christ, we will not get the power of Christ, for the purpose of power is to carry out the mission. We must get this down.

The very first thing we notice when we enter Acts 2 is what the inspired writer said in the first sentence: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place.” One accord means in unison. It has to do with the way they were thinking. They all had the same thing on their minds. There’s great power in a people who are of one mind; there wouldn’t be any more church arguments and splits. Without one vision we have di-vision.

The all together in one place at one time shows a major difference between this Model Church and the typical Modern Church. This must be recognized if we are to be the kind of church God wants us to be, and have Him put His Sprit upon and accomplish the mission Jesus gave the church. These people were all together at one place at the same time with the same thing on their mind because they all had their priorities right. Many believers today don’t have the same priority these disciples had; they are not committed to the mission of Christ in their neighborhood, much less the world. We are not committed to the mission together. That’s got to change.

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6/18/2025 Wednesday Night "The Argument Against Jesus Intensifies" John 8:48-59

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June 15, 2025 Fathers Day Morning is a contiuation of the Acts study in chapter 2. Sermon notes to come.

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(John 8:30-47)

The themes of bondage and freedom run throughout the Scriptures. Salvation is often pictured as a move from bondage to freedom. Nothing is more valuable, and nothing better pictures salvation than the switch from slavery to liberty. Paul presents salvation as an allegory involving Abraham’s two sons: Ishmael born of the bondwoman Hagar and Isaac born of the free woman Sarah (Gal.4:21-5:1). One was born of a slave woman and so is perpetually in bondage to the law, while the other was born of the free woman, picturing the freedom from the law we have in Christ. Paul declares that Christians are not in bondage to the law but we are born free.

It would be good to establish what freedom is. It is not a license to sin. Freedom gives you the supernatural ability to obey and trust God. Those who practice sin are slaves to sin. “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (v.34-35)

Freedom depends on how you were born. Everybody does the deeds of their father. Like father – like son (v.41). The whole book of First John has this as a proof that you have eternal life – you behave like your father. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (v.44)

If you are born of the flesh you are in bondage to the law of sin and death, but if you are born again of the Spirit, you are born free. Free from sin! “Whoever has been born of God does not sin; and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.” (1Jn.3:9-10) Born living under the law produces sin in a person’s life; but the new birth by the Spirit produces freedom from sin and the law. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2Cor.3:17)

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“Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” (Acts 2:1)

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” (Acts 2:17) 

I was first filled with the Spirit as I was reading John R. Rice’s book The Power of Pentecost and the Fullness of the Spirit. Being a Baptist myself I thought this was strange because Rice was the ‘godfather’ of the Independent Baptists, and this book went against Baptist beliefs. I was attending Emmanuel Baptist College at the time and so I asked my professor if he agreed with Rice and he said, “Certainly not! I do think this power is for special people marked out by God as evangelists, missionaries and maybe pastors.” But this is not what Rice was saying, and it certainly is not what the Bible says. Note the texts. The fullness of the Spirit and the power of Pentecost is for all, for every born again believer. (Acts 2:38-39)  Acts 10:44-48 declares, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” You can’t receive something you’ve heard nothing about. You need to say loudly, “This is for me! God has not left me out of this precious and powerful promise. The baptism with the Spirit is for me! Praise God.”

What exactly is this fullness of the Spirit the Scriptures speak of? The name tells us what it is. It is you being filled with God! Your spirit, soul, and body becomes saturated with the Holy Spirit. He fills your inside and comes upon your outside with an anointing that gives you the power of God to be like Jesus and do the things He did. It makes you more like Jesus.

People sometimes say things like, “I don’t want all that Pentecost stuff. I just want to be like Jesus.” Well, Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit at the River Jordan right after John baptized Him in water. Does God want every believer to be baptized in water? Yes, That’s a clear. Then God wants you to be baptized with the Holy Spirit as well, just like Jesus was. Jesus received both water baptism and Spirit baptism (Lk.3:21-22). So, if you’re going to be like Jesus you need both. We all do.

What most people mean when they say they want to be like Jesus is Mister Nice Guy. They want to have a nice life, get along with everybody, work a good job, make enough money to take care of their family, and be a good citizen and neighbor. Love thy neighbor and all that. That is their view of what Jesus was like. But is it a Scriptural view? Is that what Jesus was really like? Consider this. Is the following description of Jesus what you are talking about when you say you just want to be like Jesus? Probably not, but it is the Bible view of Him.

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Stay Connected with Grace Church!

Dive deeper into sermon notes and see how Christ is moving in our community by visiting our website: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons

If you feel led to support our ministry, you can give securely here: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=674824c2-5d42-11ee-90fc-1260ab546d11

Thank you for being part of our ministry! #GraceChurch #FaithInAction #terrysimpson #terry #simpson #clintonar #sermons #pastor #ministry #discipleship