PENTECOST HAPPENED!
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 8, 2022 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: June 8, 2022 from Acts 2:1-21
Theme: This passage describes how the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost—and how the church of Jesus Christ on earth was born.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
We now come, in our study of the Book of Acts, to the story of the beginning of a new age in God’s redemptive program. It’s the beginning of the dispensation—that is, the particular administration of the outworking of His grace—in which we now live. It’s the event that marks the birthday of the church.
It’s the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
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What is Pentecost? Well; first of all, it’s a Jewish holiday. It’s the holiday that falls 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits—which itself comes right after Passover.
On the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year (the month of Nisan; which is between March and April of our year), the Jewish people were commanded to celebrate Passover. That was the day on which they commemorated their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. It was the night on which they slew the Passover lamb. And it was on that night, during the Passover feast with His disciples, that the Lord Jesus also presented Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Because the Jewish people began the day at sunset, it was in the morning of that very same Passover Day that Jesus was crucified for our sins. As it says in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”
Now; only a few days later after Passover, the Jewish people would then reap the first growth of their harvest and present it to the priest in the temple as an offering to God. That was when they would eat of the ‘firstfruits’ (that is, the first of their harvest … with the promise of more yet to come). This was called the Feast of Firstfruits; and it was during that feast that our Lord was raised from the dead—the first of more to come!
Leviticus 23:23-24 commanded that the people then count seven ‘sabbaths’ from the day after the presentation of the firstfruits of their harvest. On the fiftieth day after that first presentation (in the month of Sivan; which is between April and May of our year), they would make another offering of grain to the Lord and would celebrate another feast called the Feast of Weeks—or Pentecost. It was the great celebration of in-gathering of the harvest. It was a joyful holiday. And it was on that day that the promise of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled—when He told His apostles,
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
So; in answer to the question, “What is Pentecost?”, it is—primarily—the name of a holiday. But as believers, we celebrate it as the day on which the Lord Jesus kept His promise and sent the Holy Spirit to His followers. Among the great events that we remember with respect to our salvation—such events as Jesus’ birth, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension—we ought also to remember this great event. It was on this day that our Lord’s promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled—and the promise of the Spirit’s ‘in-gathering’ of those that the Lord Jesus had redeemed for Himself. It means that the church of Jesus on earth was born, and that His people have now been empowered to live for Him and be His witnesses to this world. It means that you and I are now united in one spiritual body in Christ, and are given the power to live as Jesus lived in this world. It means that we are sealed for eternal glory in heaven.
What a great day Pentecost is! And what a great event it is for us to study and celebrate!
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So then; let’s look at what this passage tells us about this great event. First, we see …
1. THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT (vv. 1-4).
By calling this a “baptism”, we don’t mean a remarkable and emotional ‘experience’ of the Holy Spirit. Such an experience certainly occurred. But that kind of ‘experiential event’ would be more accurately referred to as being ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit—experiencing His presence and power in a prevailing and pervasive and personal way. Rather, by “baptism”, we mean an objective, non-experiential act of the Holy Spirit by which He has permanently bound Jesus’ redeemed people together in one body and has forever united them fully to the Lord Jesus Himself—so that they—together with one another—are forever His; sharers together of one Spirit. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:13;
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
The “baptism” at Pentecost was a one-time-only event that had to come first before the church could then be empowered to be the Lord’s witnesses on earth. And the story of that work of the Holy Spirit is primarily what we’re reading about in Acts 2.
We’re told in verse 1:
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place (Acts 2:1).
The “they” that is spoken of is the apostles who had been waiting at the Lord’s command—along with all the others of our Lord’s followers. Where were they at the time of this story? It may have been that they were in the ‘upper-room’ that they had been gathering in before. In the old city of Jerusalem, there is today an ‘upper-room’ that is believed by many to have been this place. The next verse, however, tells us that they were in a house. But wherever it was—in the upper-room, or in a separate house—it would have to have been in a place where all of the gathering pilgrims would have had public knowledge of the great thing that occurred.
So; they were all of one heart and mind—waiting for the Lord’s promise to be fulfilled;
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 of 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 (vv. 2-4).
Think of the three amazing things that happened—all of them being symbolic of the Spirit’s coming. First, there was the sound from heaven “as of a rushing mighty wind”. It was so unusual—and so significantly loud—that it caused people to come running to investigate. In John 3:8, the Lord Jesus described the Holy Spirit as being like the wind—coming and acting without being seen, but evidencing itself by the results that it brings about. It filled the room in which the disciples were sitting.
Second, there appeared “divided tongues, as of fire”. It was one single ‘fire’ that—as it were—seemed to have divided into individual flickering flames that rested upon every individual believer. John the Baptist preached and told the people that Jesus would baptize them with ”the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). And here, we see this “fire”—which symbolically illustrated the unity of the Holy Spirit—”divide” in such a way as to symbolize the individuality of the Spirit’s work, and the diversity of His ministry to and through each believer. The Holy Spirit has formed us into one body—but we are each gifted by Him in unique ways for unique roles of service in that one body.
And third, were told that they were all “filled” with the Holy Spirit; and they began to speak with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Isaiah 28:11 tells us that “ with stammering lips and another tongue” God “will speak to this people”. But as we read on, we see that these were not ecstatic utterances. They were real languages that were known to the hearer, but that had not been learned by the speakers. In the Book of Acts, there were three times that this particular kind of token of the Spirit’s work is described as having occurred—here, and again in Acts 10:46, and once again in Acts 19:6.
Are these the kinds of things that we should regularly expect the Holy Spirit to do repeatedly in His people? No. This was the initial act of the Holy Spirit’s work in the church—demonstrating that He had baptized them together as the body of Christ. But now that the Holy Spirit has come, we are commanded to be ongoingly filled with Him—allowing Him to hold control over us and work in us, to enable us to bear witness of Jesus to the world by us, and to powerfully live the life of Jesus in and through us. The Holy Spirit is now our present, indwelling Helper—and will be until the day of Jesus’ return. Praise God that He has come!
Now; this all occurred in a context that was very ‘public’. Many people from around the world were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits. And so, as we read on, we learn about …
2. THE AMAZEMENT OF THE CROWDS (vv. 5-13).
Luke goes on to tell us;
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?” (vv. 5-7).
It’s significant that they referred to the disciples as ‘Galileans’. Galileans had a sad reputation of being a generally uneducated and uncultured community of people—what might be called ‘hicks’ today. And yet, these uneducated men were all speaking languages that they hadn’t been taught:
“And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God” (vv. 8-11).
Not only did they hear them speak in their own languages—languages that represented people groups from all places of the known world—but their words had real, understandable spiritual content. They were declaring “the wonderful works of God”. If they were speaking incoherent utterances, there would have been no evidence of a miracle. But how could they speak fluently the works of God in languages they didn’t know to people who could clearly understand? It was a manifest demonstration that the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon them. It’s interesting to note that, in the original language of this passage, the word translated “tongues” in verse 11 (with reference to known languages) is the same word translated “tongues” in verse 4 (with reverence to the flickering flames of fire that rested upon the disciples).
Then, we’re told something very important about the crowd’s reaction to all of this in verses 12-13. It says;
So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine” (vv. 12-13).
Some heard it all, misunderstood, and mocked. There will always be people like that. But others were reverently amazed and perplexed by it all; and in the original language said, “What will is this?” They spoke in terms of a recognized ‘volition’. In other words, they didn’t see it as some strange, impersonal, meaningless happenstance. Rather, they saw it as a miraculous work with Someone divine behind it; because only a Person can have a will. They recognized that they were witnessing a work of the will of almighty God; and that God was doing something new.
They weren’t left to wonder about it for long, however. In mercy, God provided an answer through His Holy Spirit-empowered servant. Verses 14-21 describe for us …
3. THE EXPLANATION FROM PETER (vv. 14-21).
Peter was used by God to tell them that this event was not what the mockers were saying that it was. Verses 14-15 tell us;
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day” (v. 14-15).
You see; when someone got drunk on wine in those days, it took some time. And as Peter was telling them, this couldn’t be the result of drunkenness. It was still only somewhere between 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning. Clearly, it had to be something else.
One of the things that’s amazing in all of this is the bold power and authority with which Peter now spoke. Prior to this time, he had been fearful—denying that he even knew the Lord; or hiding from the authorities behind closed doors. But now, he was clearly a man under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. And with great confidence and Scriptural authority, he spoke to the international crowd before him; saying,
But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved’” (vv. 16-21).
Peter was quoting from the Old Testament—specifically from Joel 2:28-32. And note that Peter didn’t simply say that this is “like that” which Joel spoke of; but that it was that very thing that Joel prophesied. Many of the things that are spoken of in this prophecy parallel the things that Jesus Himself spoke of in His “end times” discourse in Matthew 24:4-31. This suggests that the beginning of the end times began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and continues until the time of Christ’s return.
This is the age of grace—in which the church of the Lord Jesus Christ declares the good news of the gospel of Jesus; and reminds everyone that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
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So then; that’s how the church began. And that’s how the story of the Book of Acts begins. It’s how all of the amazing adventures we read about in this wonderful book were possible. And let’s remember that the story we read of in this passage is still going on. We today live in the light of Jesus’ wonderful promise:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).
That “living water” is the very same Holy Spirit we read of in Acts 2. It’s the very same Holy Spirit who still works powerfully in our Lord’s church today!
Praise God that Pentecost happened!
AE
