Acts
Chapter 2
Pentecost-the start of the church/the coming of the kingdom
26 Then
they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven
apostles.
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one location.
2 All of a sudden 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 languages as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now
there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every
nation under the sky.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together
in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not
all these men who are speaking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
9 Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia,
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 languages!"
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. "
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his
voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in
Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
15 These men
are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet
Joel:
17 "`In the last days, God says, I will
pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on
my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my
Spirit in those days, and they will
prophesy.
19 I will
show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire
and billows of smoke.
20 The sun
will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great
and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.'
22 "Men
of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you
by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you
yourselves know.
23 This
man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you,
with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
24 But God
raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was
impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
25 David
said about him: "`I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my
right hand, I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue
rejoices; my body also will live in hope,
27 because
you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You
have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence.'
29 "Brothers,
I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried; his
tomb is here to this day.
30 But he
was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place
one of his descendants on his throne.
31 Seeing what
was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not
abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we
are all witnesses of the fact.
33 Exalted
to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy
Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
34 For
David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "`The Lord said to my
Lord: "Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies a footstool for
your feet."
36 "Therefore
let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ."
37 When
the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
42 They
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone
was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had
everything in common.
45 Selling their possessions and goods, they
gave to anyone as he had need.
46 Every
day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Here is where the New
Testament church got started. The Twelve Apostles were gathered in one house
and just as Christ had told them the baptism of the
Holy Spirit came on the TWELVE APOSTLES, nobody else. (At least not until the same thing happens
later to the Gentiles
in Acts 10) This was a miracle and the purpose for which was
just the same as any other miracle ever done—to confirm that it was God
who was at work. This was a way to
confirm that these Twelve had God’s “seal of approval” as leaders of the new church
and that it was Christ who was working through them. As the scene was creating quite a stir, a
huge crowd formed and was amazed that these Twelve men were speaking in
languages that they had not studied. These other languages they had spoken were
not some unintelligible “mumbo jumbo”, but actual languages of nations
that existed at the time (v.8). The
“tongues of fire” came to rest on each of the Twelve Apostles but not on
members of the crowd that had gathered. Some in the crowd thought the Apostles
were drunk. But Peter explained otherwise. He explained that in the last days
God would pour out his Spirit on all people, on all nations. Up until now the
gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was something God only gave to a
select few—the prophets who lived under the Old Testament. But that was about
to change.
Peter told the crowd how
they had murdered their Messiah some 50 days earlier. The people were grief
stricken. They asked, “What shall we
do?” They had just heard Peter, in the
language of Joel, speak of a possible salvation; and the question, “What
shall we do?” indisputably means, What shall we do to be saved?
And
Peter told them, “Repent” (they weren’t saved yet-- verse 40 confirms
this fact) and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ so
that their sins would be forgiven and they would
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that he spoke of when he quoted the
prophet Joel in verses 17-21. This reference to the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit was a reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all
men and received when we repent and are baptized into Christ for
the remission of our sins (v.38)*. It was a reference to the gift that 3,000
people received that day when their sins were forgiven through repentance and
baptism into Christ. The outward manifestation of the Spirit on the
Apostles was a fulfillment of the prophecy of not only
John the Baptist, but of Christ Himself. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which the
3,000 received when they were baptized, was not accompanied by an outward sign
(the’ tongues of fire’) as it was with the Twelve. This outward sign on the
Twelve served to fulfill prophesy and give authority to what Peter and the
other Apostles taught.
Verse 42—they devoted themselves
to the Apostles teaching. What was the Apostles’ teaching? Whatever it was that
the Apostle Peter taught in verse 38.
“What about the Greek word “eis” in verse 38?”
Both John the Baptist and Jesus
spoke of “the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” This was fulfilled at Pentecost
2,000 years ago. Its purpose was to mark the start of the New Testament
church—the kingdom of God on earth.
* Even without the explanatory phrase-- for the
forgiveness of sins, Peter’s answer remains totally unchanged. The crowd
asks (after hearing Peter speak of salvation, the Lord’s name and, knowing
their intense guilt of having killed Him),
“What shall we do (to be saved)?” And Peter replies, “Repent and be
baptized…”