Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

The Birth of the Church

Acts 2:1–13 KJV 1900

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Acts 2:1-5

Why was Pentecost important?

Jesus, before He ascended, promised that God would send the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4–5 “4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””

Pentecost: penʹtē̇-kost: As the name indicates (πεντηκοστή, pentēkostḗ), this second of the great Jewish national festivals was observed on the 50th day, or 7 weeks, from the Paschal Feast, and therefore in the OT it was called “the feast of weeks.”

The Paschal Feast is the Passover. The celebration was held on the night of the full moon after the spring equinox.

What was the purpose of sending the Holy Spirit?

Beyond mission, the Spirit fulfills deeply personal functions. The Holy Spirit teaches believers all things and brings Jesus’s words to remembrance. (John 14:26) The Spirit guides believers into all truth and reveals future things. (John 16:13–14) The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 16:7–8) Believers receive the Spirit from God so they might know the things freely given to them by God. (1 Cor 2:10–12)

John 14:26 “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” [The Holy Spirit teaches believers all things and brings Jesus’s words to remembrance.]

John 16:13–14 “13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” [The Spirit guides believers into all truth and reveals future things.]

John 16:7–8 “7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” [The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment]

1 Corinthians 2:10–12 “10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” [Believers receive the Spirit from God so they might know the things freely given to them by God]

Ephesians 1:13–14 “13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” [Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who supports us until the day of redemption]

It was fully come (fulfilled/finished) and they were all with one accord in one place

Accord in one place

unanimously>of one mind

means that they were in harmony with each other. Not like a scale of balancing each other. (Important Point)

The sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting

The sound filled the house, not the wind. Luke uses this figurative of speech to illustrate the point.

We have in the past assumed that the wind (which we associate with the spirit) filled the house.

It appeared to them as cloven tongues like as fire.

The Cloven tongues sat upon each of them. Cloven means to divide or separate

Point: Before we can feel (sat upon) the Spirit, you must first hear (sound). “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God.”

Remember in Matthew 13 when Jesus was telling the parable about the Sower.

The Sower sowed the seeds (Word of God) and they fail (sat upon) on different types of ground. Some seeds didn’t catch and grow

However, Jesus says in Matthew 13:9 “9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!””

The reference to wind and fire are important.

Spirit comes from the word pneuma and is related to pnoe, the word translated wind in the text.

Luke is associating the Spirit with wind and fire to illustrate the power of the Holy Spirit.

John could only baptize with water but He shall baptize you with Holy Ghost and with fire.

Acts 2:4: Two things happen after the Spirit comes to the disciples.

They are filled with the Holy Spirit

They begin to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave utterance

Since the Spirit gives utterance then it’s a part of their worship in the text.

These tongues are different from the Gift of Tongues in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

The gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians was for praising God, and the speaker is speaking to God. And if there was no interrupter it would turn off the unbeliever.

The tongues mentioned in this text, we see that everyone was able to understand because they were on one accord and in one place. They are speaking to each other in their own language (Verse 6), and it was the door to gain the unbeliever.

This is the third sign of the Spirit because here the Spirit is manifested. Reference from Acts 1:8 “8 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.””

First Sign was rushing mighty wind

Second Sign was Cloven tongues as of fire

Acts 2:6-8

Now what caused the multitude to come together in verse 6?

When this was noised abroad (referring to the sound in verse 2 and tongues in verse 3). The people heard!

What happens when you speak and your heart is not aligned with the Spirit of God?

The scripture (Matthew 12:34-37) teaches that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart.

Ephesians 4:29 “29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

This is why I believe we must look deeply at this text and understand the importance of first allowing yourself to HEAR first.

James 1:19 “19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;”

Proverbs 18:2 “2 A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart.”

Proverbs 10:19 “19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Q. What kind of noise is the church making today?

Are we being led by the Spirit?

Are we meeting people where they are? Or are we aligning ourselves with others?

This lessons says that they were on one accord and in one place.

Are we talking the same language?

Remember the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. When God command man to increase and fill the earth, the people began to build a tower in an effort would reach heaven.

The LORD caused them to speak different languages so that they could not understand each other. Stopping their efforts with the Tower. The LORD caused language to be a barrier at Babel as a form of judgement.

In the text, with the Spirit leading and guiding, language was not a barrier because they were building God’s kingdom and not their own.

Acts 2:12-13

How do the people respond to this new phenomenon?

All Amazed and in Doubt (What does all of this means?)

These wanted to know and understand more of what was happening

Compare Acts 2:7 “7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?”

Compare Acts 2:12 “12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?””

Similarities -

They were all amazed after hearing them speak

Key Differences -

Verse 7,

They marvelled, saying one to another. Are not all these speak Galilaeans?

This is an observation of who is speaking

Verse 12,

They doubted, saying one to another. What is the meaning of this?

This is beyond observation because now they are curious.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV 1900) 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We have to ensure our observation are aligned with God’s Expectations

Mocking

Mocking - to scoff (jeer); joke

This is why bible study for us is so important.

How can the same words from God inspire others to come together and speak with different tongues and be understood, but with some, they cannot seem to understand?

Spiritually insensitive - 1 Corinthians 2:14 “14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”