Pentecost was no doubt one of the most amazing events in the history of the world. The scene was set. Jesus Christ had spoken of His death. He had spoken of His resurrection. He had also promised that when He would leave this world, He would not leave His followers as orphans.
Jesus promised that He would supply the Spirit of God. In the Spirit and through the Spirit, God would always abide with Jesus’ faithful followers. At another time, Jesus assured Peter that He would build the church through His disciples.
The time had come. Jesus ascended into heaven, and His promise of the Spirit was being embraced by His followers. They were told to tarry, and tarry they did. They sought the face of God and waited for the fulfillment. They would never have been able to build God’s church without His help. But then it came: “a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind” (Acts 2:2). This rushing, mighty wind was the Holy Spirit that came in power and fell on the people of God. They were baptized and forever changed by God’s Spirit.
The people were in the upper room at this time. As the Spirit fell on them, the Bible says that they began to speak in what is referred to as tongues. This brings us to Acts 2:5-13.
The miraculous sign
At the outset, this is not an article on whether the gifts have ceased or are still being used today, such as tongues. With that being said, Luke tells us that, “Now when this noise was abroad, the multitude came together…” (Acts 2:6). What an amazing picture. Those who were tarrying were in the upper room. The Holy Spirit came upon them, and they then began to speak in tongues. This means that the people who heard the commotion were all the way outside in the streets somewhere or in the neighboring houses.
It must have been exceptionally loud. Luke tells us in Acts 1:15 that there were about 120 people. Imagine 120 people all speaking at the same time. This is what was happening. The Holy Spirit filled them to overflowing, and they all began speaking in tongues at the same time.
Their voices filled the streets below as the sound traveled through the holes in the walls of the upper room. The people gathered together to hear a sound that they had never heard before. The sound was first a sign to the people that the message of the Gospel was, in fact, true. Scripture says, “…God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost…” (Heb. 2:4). Second, the sound turned out to be, to their amazement, the people in the upper room speaking in everyone’s own native language.
This was one of the characteristics of tongues. In Acts 2:6, tongues is said to be a known language. However, it is important to see what all of Scripture has to say on this matter. Scripture says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” (1 Cor. 13:1). Paul here tells of the two ways that tongues can manifest itself.
First, he says that tongues can be a known language (the tongues of men). Second, he tells of the way that tongues can be an unknown language (the tongues of angels). It is important to recognize these twin characteristics of tongues. Paul appeared to speak in tongues of men and tongues of angels.
The miraculous response
Acts 2:5-13 tells us that there was a large group of people that were in Jerusalem at that time. Jews from all over the Empire were present on that day. In Acts 2:10, the Bible says that “strangers from Rome” were present. This word “strangers” refers to visitors, meaning that these people would have come for a period of time with the intent of eventually heading back to Rome.
It is believed that, in this miraculous way, the church in Rome had its beginning. The book of Romans is written to a church that was in Rome. The church itself was not started by an apostle like a number of the other churches that are mentioned in the New Testament. Therefore, what seems to be the case is that, during the day of Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit was poured out, Jews who lived in Rome heard the people speaking in tongues. They then would have heard Peter’s message that Peter delivered to the people shortly after. In addition, they would have been among the three thousand souls that were added to the faith on that day (Acts 2:41).
After this point in time, these new believers would have gone back to Rome and started the first church. They would not have had an adequate leader yet, nor were they grounded in New Testament doctrine, but they did what they could. This is why Paul covers many of the foundational Gospel truths in the book of Romans. He sought to establish them with a proper foundational doctrine (Romans 1-12), and He then sought to apply it to their lives in the rest of the book of Romans following chapter 12 (not that there is not practical application found within chapters 1-12).
This was a miraculous response. They were cut to the core. They were Jews who had been converted to Christ immediately following their cries, “Crucify, crucify.”
The miraculous divide
While many were moved by the work of God, there were still those whose hearts remained hardened to the truth. In a world full of lies, there will always be people who believe in those lies. Satan is a master of deception, and he is always at work. Some were amazed at the spectacle and inquired, “What meaneth this?” (Acts 2:12). Other were said to mock what was taking place and said, “These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2:13). What a miraculous divide.
Many others were open to knowing more about what was taking place. The Holy Spirit was at work in them. Others were closed off to the truth. It is interesting to note that Paul later told the Ephesian church that they were to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not with wine (Eph. 5:18). Those that tarried were not drunk with wine. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. If the skeptics would have turned from their skepticism, they too would have been filled with the very One Who promised to give life to their mortal bodies.
Openness to God’s Word is important. It is possible that those who hardened themselves remained hardened and never tasted that the Lord is good. But for those that inquired to know more, for those that asked themselves and others, “What does all this mean?”, their question was heard by the Lord when Peter rose in boldness to provide an answer.
One of the most powerful, Spirit-filled sermons ever to be delivered was heralded from the rooftops on that day. Jesus Christ is risen, and the Holy Spirit has come. The people were cut to the core, and their lives would never be the same. But oh, what a tragedy is seen in that miraculous divide.
God has given His creation proof of Who He is and Whom He has sent. But the divide is real. It is as real as heaven and hell, good and bad, hot and cold, and the light and the darkness.
Application
God has set His seal on His work. He has born witness to the resurrected Christ, the promised Spirit, and His message. Heed His call today, and embrace His work.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the many proofs that You have given of Your message. You are God, You are faithful, and You meet me in my frailties. Please forgive me for being like the Jew who demanded signs and the Greek who sought after wisdom. Help me to embrace the simplistic message of the cross with faith, even if I cannot see any of Your signs today. Help me to believe Your Word each and every day and trust that You have written it for my benefit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.