Surprised by the Day of Pentecost

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Our second lesson deals with the sights and sounds of Pentecost, Peter's sermon and the nature of the new church.

The Sights and Sounds of Pentecost

The sights and sounds of Pentecost are recorded in verses 1 thru 13 of this chapter. "When the day of Pentecost had come...." Lets stop there for so much is said in these few words.

First, the day of Pentecost was something that had been celebrated for many years. It was a Feast that celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai. At the celebration of this Feast, thousands of Jews poured into Jerusalem. Fittingly, the Feast was celebrated on the "first day of the week". This particular celebration along with the resurrection established the Christian Sunday as the day of worship.

Secondly, "They were all together in one place." Luke says that they were of one "accord". This meant that they were all of one belief and there was no doubt or discord among them. It also meant that they were in a quiet and prayerful atmosphere conducive to the work of the Spirit. We know from the experience of the past that the Holy Spirit does not come where there is noise, confusion and doubt.

Notice, the Feast had brought people from all over the Middle East to Jerusalem. This was all part of God's plan to have many witnesses to the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and then go back home and tell others of what they had seem. It was an excellent way of spreading the news.

Now, what manner did the Holy Spirit come upon them? "Suddenly a sound came from Heaven like the rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire rested on each of them." In the Old Testament, God often declared Himself in "sight" and "sound". A cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. To Moses He appeared as a burning bush. John the Baptist said of Jesus that He would baptize with "fire". Fire melts the heart, burns up the un-godly, kindles the endeavors and gets us off our "duffs".

Notice how it first manifested itself. It manifested itself in a "miracle of understanding". Two thoughts are suggested about this. It was, either or both, a miracle of "speaking" or a miracle of "hearing". Either the Apostles were able to speak in tongues that they were not familiar with, or those who heard were able to understand a tongue that they were not familiar with. Most believe, from the evidence of verse 8, that each was able to hear in their own language even though the Apostles were speaking in Aramaic, the Hebrew of that century. It has been estimated that there was, because of the Feast, at least 18 languages represented in Jerusalem.

The miracle of Pentecost was not only a miracle of speaking and hearing, it was also a miracle of understanding. Thousands of people not only heard but understood and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Gospel was proclaimed by uneducated men, led of the spirit, and it was understood, by uneducated men, led of the Spirit. Matthew Henry says of this, "It was a miracle of the mind for in the mind words are formed into beliefs and understandings."

Notice, word spread of the "outpouring" of the Holy Spirit. No one was familiar with this kind of communication by God. The "Trinity" was unheard of. Notice that Luke lists many nations as being represented by "devout men" who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast. From the east, the Parthians, Medes, Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia. From the north, men from Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia. From the west, men from Phrygia, Pamphylia and Rome. From the south, men from Egypt, Libya and Cyrene. Also there were people from the Island of Crete and the nation of Arabia. Locally, there were people from Galilee, Samaria and Judah. At least 18 languages and an unknown number of dialects. All the speakers were Galileans.

Now, of what did they speak? Luke says they spoke of the wonderful works of God. We must assume that they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the story of repentance, redemption and salvation. But what of those who had crucified Him? What were they doing now, how could they explain what was going on? Luke says that they could not understand and presumed the Apostles to be drunk, "filled with new wine". If you remember, they also accused Jesus of being a "wine bibber".

Peter's Sermon

Peters sermon and the results of it are recorded for us in verses 14 thru 40 of this chapter. This man, while witnessing in his own strength, had denied Jesus three times. Here, in the strength of the Holy Spirit, he stood courageously confessing Him and preaching the Gospel. Notice he was not standing by himself. All twelve of the Apostles were with him. They were now united under the power of the Holy Spirit. But it is Peter who was led to speak.

Notice the message:

1. "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem." For the most part they were Jews.
2. "Let me tell you something and give ear to my words." We can believe that Peter spoke with a degree of anger and force and determination. He was disturbed that they, under the power of the Holy Spirit, had been accused of being drunk.
3. "These men are not drunk as you supposed sense it is only 9 AM." He could also have added that it had only been 3 hours sense the end of the Sabbath, one of which they could neither eat nor drink. To those who harden their hearts, the words of the Gospel sound like "jibberish".

Then Peter explained to them that the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" came as the result of two things. One, the fulfilling of scripture, that which was prophesied by the Prophet Joel i.e. "In the Last Days, the Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh." The "Last Days" are the days of the Gospel. They began at this Pentecost and will continue till the Second Coming of Christ, known as the Dispensation of Grace. The Jewish teachers tough that the Spirit would fall only upon Israel but Joel prophesied and we know that it fell on all people. Joel said that there would be no distinction between sex or age. This must have shocked the Jewish leaders who considered women as property and the young as unlearned and unimportant but Joel said that the young and old, men and women, shall have the outpouring of the Spirit and will prophesy (preach).

Joel also prophesied "signs and wonders". Blood, fire and smoke. The Holy Spirit fell upon them as "tongues of fire". "The sun shall be turned into darkness." This occurred for 3 hours at the death of Christ. "And who-so-ever calls upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Joel prophesied of the great judgment that would fall upon the Jews when the Day of the Lord came. Some 30 years after the ascension of Jesus, Rome began a destruction of Israel which reached its peak with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Roman Titus. Historians say that never before had any nation been so laid to waste.

Peter reminded them that they were aware of the prophecy of Joel yet they crucified Him. Lets stop here for a little discussion on doctrine. Here Peter, by the power of the Spirit, understood the doctrine of the Foreknowledge of God. All that had happened was according to a plan and the foreknowledge of God. The betrayal by Judas, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, all according to a pre-determined plan. We believe that God foreknew before He created man that he would sin and would have to be saved by a pre-ordained plan. Christ was that plan.

Peter realized this now and he also realized that David had a limited understanding of this when he wrote the 16th. Psalm. David said, after much sin had come into his life, "You, Lord, will not abandon my soul to Hades." He also understood something about the resurrection when he wrote, "You will not let your Holy One see corruption."

"Brothern", Peter said, "This Jesus God raised up, and of this, we are witnesses." Now when the people heard this they were amazed and asked, "What does all this mean?" Peter attempted to answer this by saying, "Let all the House of Israel know that this Jesus that you crucified was both Lord and Christ." "That He now sets at the right hand of God and that we, today, have received the promise from the Father, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us, and you are witnesses of this by what you have seem and heard." Back in Matthew 17:9, Jesus had charged the Disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ, but now it was to be proclaimed.

Notice the result of Peter's sermon. Verse 37 says, "They were cut to the heart." They heard and were under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they were afraid. So they asked, "Brothern, what shall we do?" Notice they addressed the question to all the Apostles. If the man we crucified was the Christ, what shall we do now? The answer was short and to the point. "Repent, and be baptized." Confess your sins. Ask for forgiveness, renounce your wicked ways and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Then be baptized in His name. And what will this do for them? They will be forgiven, they will receive the gift of the Spirit and the assurance of eternal life.

Now it was proper for an Israelite to ask, "What about my children, will they be lost because of my sins?" And Peter answered, "By no means, for the promise is to you and your children, even those who are yet to be born, for generations to come." All whom the Lord our God shall call.

Peter continued to preach as well as did the other Apostles and as a result, 3,000 souls were led by the Spirit to accept Christ that day. Luke tells us that they were baptized and devoted themselves to listening to the Apostles and fellowshipped by the breaking of bread and by prayer. This may have been the celebrating of the Lord's Supper.

The Flavor of the New Community

Verses 41 thru 47 ends Chapter 2 with the establishment of a "New Community", "the Church", the body of believers in Christ. Verse 43 says, "And fear came upon every soul." This was more amazement than anything else. They had experienced conversion and received the assurance of eternal life. They had observed the power of the Holy Spirit and the signs and wonders done by those who had been indwelled by the Holy Spirit. They had witnessed miracles of physical and spiritual healing. The hearts of men were strangely open to the preaching of these men. From this point on, the 12 are usually spoken of as Apostles and all the other followers of Christ, as Disciples.

Notice how they gathered together and took care of one another's needs. They worshipped daily at the Temple. They continued to be in one accord. They remained together in worship, the breaking of bread, in fellowship and went from one house to another. They set up little synagogues that they called domestic chapels. All that they did was under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

They pooled all of their resources and distributed according to the need. Peter characterizes this later on in Chapter 4 talking about Ananias and his property, we see from this account that the pooling of resources was purely voluntary. "And each day the Lord added to their number such as should be saved."

It would appear that their love for one another, their cheerfulness, and their charity, commanded respect from people and recommended their religion to others. And the Holy Spirit was at work daily, convicting and converting new members to the church.

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