ANSWERS
#836 ANSWERS
Scripture Acts 2:1-13 Orig. 10-4-79
Rewr. 10-20-86
Passage: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Purpose: To lead Church Training in a study of the Book of Acts
Keywords: Bible Study Holy Spirit
Timeline/Series: Acts
Introduction
Acts, chapter one, introduced the church. It identified the meager beginning and the handful of Jesus’ followers who took great comfort in meeting together in a small, second story room in Jerusalem. Chapter two introduces the Holy Spirit who will infuse power into their lives and turn them into living dynamos of personal witness.
We have already discussed the fact of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to this book.
Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Holy Spirit
Acts of the Ascended Christ
It is interesting that in the combined 68 chapters of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are thirty-four references to the Holy Spirit. In the combined chapters of the writing of John, there are twenty-one references. In Romans and 1 Corinthians, there are thirty-two. But in Acts alone there are fifty-six occasions of the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is to be the means to the end of communicating the gospel. The disciples are instructed to wait, and they are content to wait, in the “upper room” until they are infused with this power of gospel enablement. The church, if it be the church at all, must have the capability of communicating the message.
Some time ago I watched a special TV program, “I Heard the Owl Call My Name.” It was about an Anglican vicar with a terminal disease. He had been sent to the village of Kingcome in British Columbia. The bishop had reasoned that if the young vicar was to learn, he must learn rapidly, and he needed a hard place to serve, and Kingcome was that. One incident, in this true story, was of an elderly lady named Marta Stephens who had been there longer than anyone else. She had seen the procession of vicars who had come and gone, who had done their best, and who asked to be relieved. After worship one day, the vicar, whose name was Mark Brian, said to her, “Mrs. Stephens, tell me something. Do you remember the first man who came here for the church?” She replied, “Yes, he had a long, white beard. He had to learn our language so he could teach us his.” It is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to learn the language of “others” so that we can teach them our language and His.
I. First, We Must See the Introduction of the Holy Spirit. V1 It was Pentecost and an undeniable spiritual presence surprised and surrounded them. We must first measure the significance of Pentecost. Judaic roots spring from Leviticus 23:15 where it is referred to as the Feast of Weeks and counts the passing of seven Sabbaths. It is called Pentecost because it begins 50 days after Passover. Spiritual harvest lay waiting.
Farmers must employ harvest equipment. Farmers, tractors, and combines were the only ones who could get in the fields. With the river rising, 23 pickers in one field was an awesome sight to see.
At one of the great festivals, every male Jew within 20 miles was legally bound. Others were expected to try. Travel conditions were ideal. Keep in mind these travelers to Jerusalem.
II. Now, the Significance of Unity Among the Disciples. They waited for they-knew-not-what. They knew a galvanizing “joy” when they were together. Acts 1:13 told of the return to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, to an “upper” room. Perhaps the room where Christ had graced their fellowship. So, 11 or 120, coming and going, but always back to this place.
The contemporary church must recover this sense of togetherness. It begins with an unbridled love for Jesus. It understands the need for the Holy Spirit’s leadership. Notice there is total equality: “they were all together,” “it filled all the house,” “resting on each of them,” “all were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
III. Now, an Attempt to Sort Out what Happened to Them There. The elements of this event included (1) tongues of fire (a symbol of God’s presence—see Exodus 3:2 and Deuteronomy 5:4); and (2) the “sound” of wind--not wind but sound, or pneuma (spirit or wind). This is a consequential, spiritual event. (We try to describe it concretely.)
R.L. Maddox wrote, “God in the form of the Holy Spirit came upon the people. Did the Christians sigh under the weight of the first breath of wind? Did the lamps flicker? Did strands of their hair rustle like angels’ wings? Who knows? But they would talk about that day for the rest of their lives.”
There is no evidence that they would ever try to re-capture or repeat the experience, but similar events happened among the “aliens” in Samaria (Acts 8:14) and the gentiles in Caesarea (10:44-45). Frank Stagg (B104p52) surprises us. “The great release of power on the day of Pentecost is not in the least to be minimized, but it evidently did not stand out so uniquely for first century Christians as for some of us. It is not mentioned in extant first century Christian writings outside the second chapter of Acts.” There were enduring problems. Some were afraid they would not so encounter; others were afraid they would.
Let’s back up and spend a little more time on “cloven tongues of fire.” “Cloven” means parted, divided. What was there, we will never know. What they saw, they described. And what it symbolizes, we can depict. We can only go back in time, “down into Egypt to see Moses leading God’s people.” A thing is done that was never done before. Exodus 13:21 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud; . . . and by night in a pillar of fire.” Cloud and wind by day, fire by night.
IV. Then there is the significance of the “filling” and the “speaking” that followed. V4 “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues.” Thus is magnified the reality of Christ’s presence. Thus is amplified the need of yieldedness on their part to His will. Thus is qualified that function of proclamation of the gospel. Remember the Holy Spirit is not “It.”
Pentecost was necessary to get Christianity out of the Aramaic language. The big question has to do with the meaning of the “tongues” experience for the future of the church. The Holy Spirit did not have his inception at Pentecost.
Psalms 51:11 “Take not thy Holy Spirit”
Isaiah 63:10 “Vexed his Holy Spirit”
John 20:19-23 “Receive the Holy Spirit”
Genesis 1:2 “The Spirit of God moved”
Nor was glossolalia the matter. What is really at issue? Upholding our position to the rebuke of any other? My Holy Spirit encounter is normative, therefore you seek? Trying to tie the hands of the Holy Spirit?
What happened at Pentecost? People heard the gospel. They came to understand and believe. He magnifies the proclaimed word. Do we seek for Him to do so? Do we wait upon media blitzes? When believers are “filled” with the Holy Spirit, when they speak in “tongues,” do others become targets of Holy Spirit ministry?
What is not the Holy Spirit? Wind is not the Holy Spirit. Fire is not the Holy Spirit. Language is not the Holy Spirit. They were evidences of His presence.
Why the Spirit came—To empower Jesus’ teaching. To convict of sin. To comfort. To consecrate for service. To guide the Christian life.