The Big Event, Pentecost Acts 2:1-4

[HKHaugan]

1 The day of Pentecost came (check below for history). The believers all gathered in one place (see John 20:19). 2 Suddenly a sound came from heaven. It was like a strong wind blowing (see John 3:8). It filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw something that looked like tongues of fire (see Mt.3:11). The flames separated and settled on each of them (see Jer.20:9). 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages they had not known before. The Spirit gave them the ability to do this. What God had done before at Babel, confusing the people with different languages He now enabled by the Holy Spirit. (There are two foreign languages mentioned by Paul in 1Cor.13, tongues of men and tongues of angels.)

Some call it the birthday of the church but it was not the beginning of an institution. It was something quite different. The world was already filled with all kinds of institutions from empires and nations to tribes, clans and clubs. Pentecost was something new. This was God Himself coming to dwell in the hearts of individuals who would become brothers and sisters in a new kind of family, a spiritual family. This event singles out the moment of a new destiny for every human being.

But let’s look at Pentecost from its beginning as a Jewish Feast. It was a designated feast to be celebrated 50 days after Passover which was to remind them of God’s deliverance from Pharaoh (the devil) and in Egypt (devil’s rule). Pentecost celebrated the first harvest in the Promised Land. But it was also the anniversary of the giving of the Law on Mt.Sinai. The priest would take some of the first fruit of the harvest and offer it up to God (a heave offering) then wave it before the congregation (note the foreshadowing of the Cross in historic worship). What before was a physical bonding of people and a bonding with the land now was personal bonding with God in the Spirit who made them a family, the Body of Christ, whose mission was to be fruitful and multiply by spreading the Good News of Jesus. As He is planted in people’s lives their response is to reconcile the world to Him. That is the fruit of good works for which we were created (Eph.2:10).

Something entirely new was happening. Nothing like it in the past had happened. A whole new idea was given in a living way. The contrast was the most dynamic event in human history. It was the spiritualizing of the mind, the heart and the spirit that unlike before they were to think, behave and act spiritually. Everything physical and material was to be seen and understood spiritually since this was true reality, permanent reality and personal reality. Politics, economics, education, social life, relationships and the entire human environment were to be seen from a spiritual perspective and responded to based on the Spirit’s inspiration through God’s Word.

The world, the flesh and the devil were no longer in control of our destiny. Individuals were each precious to God and He was personally involved in each of their lives. The very Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit that conceived Jesus in the flesh, the Spirit that was the power in Creation, the Spirit that gave life to the Scripture, the Spirit of prophecy, the Spirit of Truth, the promised Spirit, He would transform our hearts from within.

The world tries to fix and control man from the outside. But now a completely opposite and opposing reality presents itself. Man discovers that it’s the Spirit of God that has been given through Jesus Who fixes man from within. While the world tries to shape each of us in its image which is the image of the devil, the Holy Spirit through faith gets us to be like Jesus, that is, to believe like Him, trust like Him and have faith like Him. The world conditions us from birth to fit in to its mold. It gets us to yearn, long and lust for what the eyes can see. The Spirit that brings faith, the Spirit that gives God’s life to restore the soul---that personal Holy Spirit was showered upon the disciples who became the beginning of a movement now given to us.

This movement was God establishing His Kingdom in the hearts of mankind. The Kingdom of God was Jesus claiming each believing heart in order to personally live in them so that together they would become His physical Body. The Kingdom of God is the Body of Christ in the world. Each believer is an extension of His Body. This is the revelation of a ‘hands-on-God’ recovering and restoring lost humanity from within.

It was a very dramatic event to say the least. There were three parts to the event: wind, fire and speech.

First, wind.
You can’t see it but it’s there. What you see is what the wind does and the sounds it makes. Wind has the power to move the appearance in a landscape, make waves over fields of grain, hurricanes and tornadoes that can uproot and level. Yet there can be the gentle breezes that cool the brow and calm the moment. The Spirit of God moves in the invisible realm the same way. But it is always in a way that is consistent with the person of Jesus and in fulfilling Scripture. The Kingdom of God moves like a wind across the world (Jn.3:8).

Second, fire.
What appeared to be flames of fire, stood above the heads of each disciple. This was not a fire that would burn the flesh but complete the heart. It looked like fire but was experienced as filling within. Like the wind it signified the effect it had. As physical fire burns so the Spirit of Truth burns away sin but at the same time lights a fire of motivation for mission and ministry. Inspiration, creativity and taking the initiative reflect that spiritual fire moving hearts. Like a forest fire the Kingdom of God moves across humanity.

Third, speech.
The disciples spoke in other languages. Jews from different parts of the world were in Jerusalem and heard them speak in their native languages. What happened at the Tower of Babel when people lost their spiritual bearings and were caused to speak in different languages was now healed. The language of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be the reunifying language for the entire world. What Scripture teaches is available to the world. It is a language of the heart that everyone could understand. When Scripture is taught, studied and prayed the Spirit plants the closeness, the intimacy and personal direction of God in the mind and heart. The Kingdom of God has a universal spiritual heart language.