Acts 2 (NLT)
“The Holy Spirit Comes
On the day of Pentecost (the day of Pentecost came 50 days after Passover – when Jesus was crucified) all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
7They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.
13But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
Notice that the arrival of the Holy Spirit was very public, even though the believers were meeting in one place. It says that “there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm”. This sound was so loud that people all over Jerusalem heard the noise and came running (v. 6). “Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them (v. 3). The third evidence of the Holy Spirit was that they “began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability” (v. 6). Jesus had promised them that the Holy Spirit would come, and that He would give them the power they needed to convince the world that Jesus was Lord. What happened that day was completely obvious – none of them could have been mistaken about what happened.
It’s also interesting that the languages given by the Holy Spirit are listed in verses 9 through 11. Although some people thought all the excitement and what may have appeared to be chaotic was the result of being drunk, most people confirmed that “we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done” (v. 11). That is something that is completely sane and understood.
What I love about these first 13 verses is that the coming of the Holy Spirit wasn’t something the people there could doubt or question. They wouldn’t be able to say they weren’t sure if the Holy Spirit had come yet or not. There was noise (gale force wind sounds), visual evidence (something that looked like flames of fire hovering over their heads), and the ability to speak in a language they hadn’t known before. That last ability gave that day an extra boost in sharing the Good News because everyone who was in Jerusalem could understand the message. All foreign languages were covered.
Today, we also receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. It won’t be the startling, loud experience those first Christians experienced, but when you talk to Christians today, many will tell you they had a special moment when they turned to God and believed his Son died for them; they were assured that they were God’s children. They may even tell you that changes came in their lives that they hadn’t expected. The Apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 8: 14 – 17 NLT:
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead you received Gods Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba Father”. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”
Our song for today is Holy Spirit Come by Hillsong Worship.