The Church of Jesus Christ: Inception

Matthew 16:18 “18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Reading: Acts 2:1-13

Like the disciples at Pentecost, believers in Christ are given the power of the Holy Spirit

I. The Providence of Pentecost: The Gathered Nations

Acts 2:1–4 NASB95

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Pentecost was a Festival: It was one of the three main pilgrimage feasts celebrated by the Jewish nation.  These feasts would require Jewish men to journey to Jerusalem or a Levitical city to observe these feasts. There was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Festival of Booths

Passover was the first one celebrated in the Jewish calendar year.  It commemorated the exodus from Egypt when Moses told the people of Israel to but the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes so the Angel of Death would them and not kill them.  Tied in with this feast was the festival of Unleavened Bread which also remembered the exodus when the Jews were told to pack immediately to leave Egypt and they did not have time to let their bread sit with leaven or yeast, so they brought unleavened bread.  According to the timetable of God, Jesus was crucified on the cross on the day before the Passover feast and He became the lamb of sacrifice.  It was His blood that was shed and placed upon the hearts of men that God would Passover them at the judgment.  Paul references this in 1 Cor. 5:7

1 Corinthians 5:7 NASB95

For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

Pentecost (The Feast of Weeks) was the second of three OT pilgrimage festivals when individuals were to appear before the Lord with gifts and offerings (Ex 23:14–17). The festival was primarily a harvest festival and celebrated the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest.  It was during this feast, that an offering was made to the Lord of the first-fruits of the labor.  

The feast was proclaimed as a ‘holy convocation’ on which no work was to be done, and at which every male Israelite was required to appear at the sanctuary.  Many Jews would have traveled from different lands to be in Jerusalem for this event.  It was here in Jerusalem and during this time, that God’s plan for the start of the church with the giving of the Holy Spirit to His people.

Now let us consider the providence of God…. The Lord Jesus was killed at Passover, he was buried and he rose on the third day. He appeared in his resurrection form to his disciples for forty days. Within that timeframe, the disciples experienced what was needed to be fully convinced that Jesus was alive and his promises were true! Then they gathered as instructed to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

God set up this event so that the disciples were where they needed to be in the Upper Room and the represented nations were also gathered for Pentecost, 50 days after the first day of Passover. The Disciples were ready, the promises of the Spirit coming were given, and the nations were represented in attendance ready for God’s glory to be on display!

II. The Power of Pentecost: Spirit-Empowered People

Acts 2:2–4 “2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

A. The Holy Spirit Came Expectantly

Jesus had told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit had come upon them.  

Acts 1:5 (NASB95) 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 (NASB95) 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Jesus promised them twice that they would receive the Holy Spirit.  He said they would receive the baptism, which means they would be completely immersed, by the HS and they Holy Spirit would come upon them.  In our text today, the event is described with astounding imagery as so:

B. The Holy Spirit Came Undeniably

Suddenly: 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind

Luke uses the words suddenly as if without warning.  Luke uses the same word in Acts 16:26 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken.  It is an event without warning as the disciples sat in the upper room.  Similarly, Jesus will return to this earth without warning.  Just as Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples suddenly, so He will rapture suddenly only those who trust in Him for salvation.  

Audibly: a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

We see the word “noise” is used to give the event an essence of loud noise.  The word for “noise” is the Greek word echo and it is used other places in the NT as the roaring of the ocean waves.  The noise is also described like a rushing wind that filled the entire house where they were so we can assume that it was loud, almost deafening noise.  The word “wind” here is a play on words with the word “spirit” as they both come from the same root in the Greek. Many elements could have been placed in the room that day to draw emphasis on the power of God in his spirit coming. There could have been lighting, thunder, as in other places in the OT. But with a loud roaring wind, there is the connection to the undeniable coming of the Spirit.

Visibly: 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

What we see here is the visible presence of the Holy Spirit resting upon the disciples.  We have already watched the Spirit of God come upon the Lord Jesus, anointing his ministry, and the Spirit appeared “like a dove” in Matthew 3. Now the Holy Spirit is manifested to the disciples visibly in the form of a “tongue”-the human organ.  This is the second play on word here in this passage. The first being “spirit/wind” and now “tongue/tongues.” What we have here is the correlation between the Spirit falling in a tongues of fire connecting the power of the Spirit and the upcoming languages that will be spoken from different nations. It also resembled the element of fire. It was not made of fire, but instead it looked like or resembled fire.  It is helpful to remember that divine acts of God were sometimes manifested with fire.  God used fire burning a bush to speak to Moses.  He used a pillar of fire to lead Israel in the desert.  

It is obvious by the text that the “tongues of fire” appeared to the disciples as one unit, but then “divided” and sat upon each person in there.  The importance to be seen here is that the each individual follower of Jesus received the tongue of fire that was seen as a whole but then divided individually to rest upon each one of them. This anointing or indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a visible manifestation of the spiritual reality for the apostles. This is an act sets itself apart in the history of the church for it is the Holy Spirit coming and indwelling believers for the purpose and work of God dwelling within man.

Sufficiently: 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

As the Holy Spirit sat upon the disciples, the Bible tells us they were filled up by Him.  The verb “filled up” is passive which tells us that they did not fill themselves up with the Spirit, but they were filled (by something else) with the Spirit.  The verb carries with the idea of completely filling something up like a car full of people.  It is filling up all the space of an object.  

This is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit making a home within the believers. The Spirit had never done such a thing before in the history of God’s work in the world. The Spirit would come upon OT believers but he would also flee from them.

C. The Holy Spirit Came Astonishingly

Acts 2:6–12 NASB95

6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

There are different words that Luke uses in this section of Scripture that carry the idea of amazement and mystery of the work of the Holy Spirit.

v. 6 tells us a crowd of men were when hearing their native dialect confused

v. 7 says these men also were amazed 

v. 12 says there were amazed with great perplexity

Luke was trying to emphasize the wonderful yet puzzling experience the Holy Spirit produced as he descended upon the disciples. 

III. The Purpose of Pentecost: God’s Glory in the Church

What was the confusion about?

There are three aspects to focus on that highlight the power of the Holy Spirit at work in creating the church. Who was speaking? What was being spoken? And to whom was it spoken?

A. Uneducated Servants

It was clearly a glorious mystery that the disciples who had received the Holy Spirit were now speaking in languages they would not have been familiar with. The crowds are amazed because these were uneducated men.

Acts 2:7–8 “7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?”

These disciples could not have known these varying languages from across the regions and the crowds knew it. What was occuring in these moments was the Holy Spirit allowing the hearers to hear in their native language but the disciples were actually speaking in their own native language. The Holy Spirit was the translators to the ears of the crowds.

The first mystery then is the work of the Holy Spirit to use the insignificant in the world to proclaim the greatness of God. He will establish in the church the theme of taking what was small and making it great for His own glory. Just as the smallest of Jesse’s sons was able to slay the giant and rule over Israel, God uses insignificance and humility to bring about his purposes. He does this in the church as well. You don’t have to be some royal bloodline or have some superior intellect to be used by God. He equips you and he empowers you to do amazing things for his glory.

I think my family could attest to the fact that until God saved me and called me to ministry, my academics were subpar. But something took hold of me and drove me to learn and study God’s word in a way that I cannot explain. It wasn’t just a study of the word but it was a desire to teach others and explain the truths of God’s word. Men, anyone of you could be standing where I am if God so desires that for your life. I hope and pray that He does because our elders won’t be around forever. Someone else must be called of God, equipped by him and preach to future generations. By the way, no conditions are required except being genuninely saved by Christ and submitted to his will for your life.

*Can I take a side road just for a moment. I want God to use all of us in many ways and it might the tempation of some to interpret from these verses….”all I need is the Holy Spirit.” In the sense that no conditions are needed to serve the Lord and church, then Yes all you need is the Holy Spirit. But this does not mean that uneducated men and women are all that is needed. These were not uneducated men, they were uneducated disciples. They had already put in tremendous work and sacrifice in following the Lord Jesus Christ, learning from him, sent out by Him. They were committed to learn and they were committed to go. The Holy Spirit did the rest. Let this be a lesson then that a responsibility still exists for those who lead in the chruch and who serve the church must put in the work to be trained in whatever capacity for this honors the Lord and His church. They may mean be trained to evangelize. That may mean be trained to be a teacher. That mean be trained to be a preacher. The HS uses you and your continual growth to spur own blessings in serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

B. The Unknown Message

The message that was being spoken is made clear in v 11…we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God. The message is key to the work of the holy Spirit and the function of the church. In a miraculous way, when the disciples were speaking in tongues, they were not speaking some ecstatic gibberish. They were not moaning and humming. There words were not unintelligent commotion. They were speaking known words and the miracles is that the words were translated in native languages in flux.

Those known words were centered on proclaiming the excellencies of God. His message to the crowds was the mighty deeds of God. There is nothing else to center on in the church and Christ and His wondrous works. In all situations that we read in regarding tongues, we must understand that it is always centered on praising God for all that He has done. It is and always will be about His glory.

This becomes the central thread of churches. We must prioritize all of our components of ministry on the proclamation and instruction of God’s glorious work that is revealed in his word. When the word of God is proclaimed in the church, a similar Pentecost-like illumination occurs by the work of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God informs and instructs your mind and heart and soul to receive, understand and apply such teaching about God’s glory in the world. This occurs when the Holy Spirit calls us to salvation initially and it occurs continually as the Holy Spirit leads us to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God’s word.

What this miracle does initially is prepare them the listeners for the preached gospel words by Peter that will follow. With the authenticating miracle and the preached message, the church begins with thousands being converted to Christ.

C. Undeniable Recipeints

Lastly, we ask why did the Lord bring about this miracle at Pentecost with all these nations represented. Those Jews in attendance at this Pentecost represented all the nations that would hear the gospel and be included in the church. What began at Pentecost with these Jews from different nations hearing the gospel, continued with the gospel going with the Jews to the nations for the glory of God.

Derek Kidner writes,

Acts The Heart of Pentecost

Pentecost signaled the intent of the Great Commission—world evangelism! The gospel breaks down the barriers of race, language, and color, and Pentecost gives us a glimpse of what that looks like. Pentecost says to us that the church of Jesus Christ is composed of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation—as the covenant with Abraham had made clear when God said to him, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (

When Peter stands in the following verses and declares that Jesus is both Lord and Christ and that must repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, he is leading the church forward in the great glocal mission of God’s glory being declared to Jersualem, Judea, Samaria and the utter parts of the earth. What is amazing as you study the book of Acts is that you see that happeing. You see the gospel go to the Jews and they are saved at Pentecost in Acts 2. Then you see Philip take the gospel to Samaria in Acts 8 and they Samaritans are saved. Then in Acts 10, Peter takes the gospel to the Gentiles and the gentiles begin to receive it. From here Paul is converted and he carries the gospel message to plant churches far and wide to the glory of God.

To summarize then these words…the church’s purpose is for the glory of God to made known in all the earth by unimpressive but willing disciples and followers of Jesus proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ so that those from every tongues tribe and nations will hear the good news and trust in Jesus alone for salvation. This goal is realized as we think about the promise of Jesus “I will build my church” and the vision of John as he describes it in Revelation

Revelation 7:9–12 NASB95

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”