The wait is finally over as the power from on high is released.

1 – The Day of Pentecost

Pentecost was a feast on the 50th day after Passover after seven weeks of harvest had been gathered in. It was significant that the old covenant under the law would be superseded by the new covenant under the Spirit. It was the end of one season and the beginning of another. The harvest was in and it was time to plant a new crop.

2 – The baptism in the Spirit

The coming of the Holy Spirit had been predicted by the prophet Joel (See Joel 2:28-32) and by John the Baptist (See Luke 3:16; John 1:31-33). Jesus confirms this shortly before the event. Though they knew He was coming soon and were waiting for it, the coming of the Holy Spirit still took them by surprise. It is the same word used for the sudden coming of an earthquake in Acts 16:26. There are three outward signs:-

• Noise – It sounded like a strong wind bearing down upon them from out of heaven. It is a figure of speech. The wind doesn’t generally blow from above! The noise is coming from above and sounds like a mighty rushing wind.
• Appearance – After the noise filled he house there appeared to be like tongues of fire sat upon the heads of each person. This is again figurative speech. It was not something anyone had ever heard or seen before! It was not real fire, but something else that had an appearance similar to fire. It was more in terms of the flames of a campfire and not a single flame. This was a supernatural phenomenon that manifested itself upon each one of them. The Holy Spirit came to them all as a group and as an individual.
• Speaking in tongues – They all began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. They didn’t ask for this but they were all given the ability. It seems unlikely this was an intended to be a permanent gift for all in the room. It was an outward evidence of the inward baptism of the Holy Spirit. This baptism is a permanent sign that the person belongs to God. (E.g. Sheep marked to identify owner). The Holy Spirit is the permanent gift for all. See Acts 2:38 and Galatians 4:6. We know from 1 Corinthians 13:8ff and Ephesians 4:8ff that God gives gifts to members of the body of Christ as He sees fit. We can ask for a specific gift but no right to receive. To say that every believer should or must speak in tongues as evidence of the “Baptism in the Spirit” is to contradict what we see in the rest of Acts and the writings of Paul. It can also be little other Christians and cause division. It was the apostles who performed many of the miracles as the early Church demonstrated through signs and wonders its authority from God.

In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit would rest upon someone for a while and then leave. When Jesus was on earth He was filled permanently with the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost and onwards the believer in Jesus Christ would also be permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This was a mark or guarantee of their acceptance by God. The fruits of the Spirit are to be shown by all. Good works should be the evidence. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are many and vary person to person. They are given to help the Church and not the individual.

3 – The bewildered multitude

The noise like a violent, rushing wind was loud enough that it brought many of these people out to see what was happening. People today do the same thing when something happens. We want to see what is going on!

• The multitudes assemble – They were Jews that had come back to Jerusalem from all of the many countries to which Jews had been scattered over the centuries. These were “devout men” meaning they were serious about following after God. That would be the reason that they would have come back to Jerusalem. For some it would have been a somewhat temporary stay as they came back to keep the laws concerning Passover, the Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Harvest. For others, they had moved to Jerusalem permanently.
• The amazement – This was causing bewilderment, amazement and marvel. They were speaking to them in the languages they had learned growing up in foreign lands. It would be one thing if these were people from Jerusalem or some centre of learning, but Galileans were rural people who were considered ignorant and uneducated. The region was not even on any of the major trade routes, so how could they have learned so many different languages?
• The international makeup of the multitude – Luke lists these nations by linguistic groups and geographical areas. Luke does not give further detail about exactly what those speaking were saying other than it was all under the general topic of the mighty deeds of God. It seems that no one was left who did not understand in their own language what was being said by those baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Those who want to say that speaking in tongues is something other than an actual language understood by humans have a hard case to make since the only example of it in which there is explanation is of known languages.

4 – The reaction

There are two reactions to what the people have witnessed by sight and sound.

• Amazement – They continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” They were at a loss to understand what was taking place and what it meant, but they knew something very important was taking place.
• Mocking – There were scoffers present that quickly judged things by their own standards and made a foolish conclusion. Such people have always been around and are still present today. Those who would believe were confused, but they would have it all explained to them by Peter’s sermon that would now follow. God keeps His promises and He works through people in ways far beyond their own ability so that they can declare the glory of God to others. He still does that today. God can use you today if you will obey Him to be filled with the Spirit.

Categories: Acts