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Acts 2.1-21

Good News Translation (GNT)

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  1  When the day of Pentecost came, all the
   believers were gathered together in one place.
  2  Suddenly there was a noise from the sky
   which sounded like a strong wind blowing,
   and it filled the whole house where they were
   sitting.
  3  Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire
   which spread out and touched each person
   there.
  4  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
   began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit
   enabled them to speak.
  5  There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious
   people who had come from every country in
   the world.
  6  When they heard this noise, a large crowd
   gathered. They were all excited, because all
   of them heard the believers talking in their
   own languages.
  7  In amazement and wonder they exclaimed,
   "These people who are talking like this are
   Galileans!
  8  How is it, then, that all of us hear them
   speaking in our own native languages?
  9  We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from
   Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from
   Pontus and Asia,
10  from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and
   the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us
   are from Rome,
11  both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism,
   and some of us are from Crete and Arabia-
   yet all of us hear them speaking in our own
   languages about the great things that God
   has done!"
12  Amazed and confused, they kept asking
   each other, "What does this mean?"
13  But others made fun of the believers, saying,
   "These people are drunk!"

   Peter's Message
14  Then Peter stood up with the other eleven
   apostles and in a loud voice began to speak
   to the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who
   live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell
   you what this means.
15  These people are not drunk, as you suppose;
   it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
16  Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke
   about:
17  'This is what I will do in the last days, God
   says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.
   Your sons and daughters will proclaim my
   message; your young men will see visions,
   and your old men will have dreams.
18  Yes, even on my servants, both men and
   women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
   and they will proclaim my message.
19   I will perform miracles in the sky above and
   wonders on the earth below. There will be
   blood, fire, and thick smoke;
20   the sun will be darkened, and the moon will
   turn red as blood, before the great and
   glorious Day of the Lord comes.
21  And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for
   help will be saved.'

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

     Acts chapter 2 v 1-21

The day of Pentecost fell fifty days after Jesus' resurrection. In the Greek language, Pentecost means "fiftieth."

According to the Old Testament, the day of Pentecost came on the fiftieth day following the Sunday after the Jewish Passover festival, which for Christians is the fiftieth day after Easter.

The Jews celebrate the Feast of Weeks on the day of Pentecost, and observe the day of Pentecost for a second reason: they believe that on that day God gave them the Jewish law.

Therefore, it was very suitable that on that day God should give the disciples the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time.

In the entire history of mankind there have been three events that have been more important than any other: the birth of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the coming of the Holy Spirit in full power on that first day of Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection.

No other event in history can compare in importance with these three events. In these verses Luke gives us a description of the third of these three great events. Jesus' disciples had gathered in a house in Jerusalem.

Then, all of a sudden, they heard a sound like the blowing of a violent wind, and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire. John the Baptist had said that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Fire is a sign of God's presence. God appeared before the great Jewish leader Moses in flames or fire from within a bush. When the Jews fled from bondage in Egypt, God went before them in a pillar of fire to show them the way.

And when believers today experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, they often say that it's like a fire burning in their hearts. May that fire never go out!

Whatever exactly the disciples heard and saw, the important thing is this: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. From that day on their lives were changed.

From that day on they had the power of the risen Christ in their lives. Their fears and doubts were gone. From that day on when they spoke, they spoke with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

When they healed, they healed through the power of the Holy Spirit. From then on, their lives remained fully dependent upon the Holy Spirit and under His control.

Let us remember that today we too can receive that power. That power was not just for those first disciples; it is for all believers. Let it be our constant prayer for ourselves and for each other that we may all remain filled with the Holy Spirit and that His fire will continue burning brightly in our hearts.

The filling of the Holy Spirit does not just take place once. This filling is a continual experience; it is constantly being renewed. From time to time in a believer's life the filling of the Spirit can occur in new and special ways.

But it was on that first day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit first came in power upon believers. And the Holy Spirit has been filling the lives of believers ever since.

How can we tell if a person is filled with the Holy Spirit? First, we will be able to see the fruit of the Spirit in his life, such as love, joy, peace.

Second, we will be able to see the gifts of the Spirit manifested in his life, such as the gifts of healing, of prophecy, of speaking in different kinds of tongues. One of these gifts, the gift of speaking in different kinds of tongues, was manifested by the disciples on the day of Pentecost.

Usually when the gift of "tongues" is manifested, the language spoken is a spiritual language, not an earthly language. To understand this spiritual language, another gift of the Spirit is needed, the gift of interpretation of tongues.

However, on the day of Pentecost these disciples spoke in the ordinary earthly languages of other countries, which the men of those countries could understand naturally.

Jesus had commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. Now, through the Holy Spirit's gift of speaking in other languages, the disciples were able to speak to men of different nations in their own languages.

However, in New Testament times, the use of this gift in spreading the Gospel was usually not necessary, because most of the people living in the Middle East spoke either Greek or Aramaic, both of which languages the disciples themselves could speak.

Some Christians believe that the ability to speak in other languages is the main sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These Christians say that whoever does not speak in other tongues has not received the baptism of the Spirit.

But most Christians do not agree with this opinion; rather, they believe that the gifts and workings of the Holy Spirit are of many kinds and that the ability to speak in other languages is just one of many manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

It is important to remember one other thing: False spirits and false prophets can also speak in other tongues. Followers of other religions have also spoken in tongues.

Therefore, it is always necessary to test what is being said in tongues by understanding its meaning. Simply speaking in some other tongue is not necessarily a sign of the Holy Spirit.

The main thing is to understand what is being said. If what is said agrees with Scripture and glorifies Jesus, then it is of the Holy Spirit.

If what is spoken does not agree with Scripture or if it dishonours Jesus, then it most certainly is not of the Holy Spirit.

In New Testament times, there were Jews scattered about living in many different nations. Many of these Jews used to come each year to Jerusalem to celebrate the main Jewish religious festivals.

One of these festivals was the Feast of Weeks, that is, the day of Pentecost. Therefore, when Jesus' disciples got up and began speaking in other languages, many of these Jewish pilgrims from other countries heard the commotion and gathered around to see what was happening.

To their amasement, they heard these uneducated men from the province of Galilee speaking in their own languages. Perhaps one disciple spoke in one language, and another disciple spoke in another language.

Perhaps they spoke in turn, or perhaps they spoke all at once. But however they spoke, the listeners were astounded. "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?" they asked.

By the power of the Holy Spirit these disciples were speaking foreign languages they had never spoken or learned before, and they were speaking them perfectly!

In these verses Luke mentions the different countries and provinces from which these foreign Jewish pilgrims had come. Most of the places were at that time provinces of the Roman Empire.

Some of the people listening thought that the disciples were drunk. "They have had too much wine," they said.
Probably the people who thought this could not understand any of the languages the disciples were speaking; therefore, it seemed to them as if the disciples were just babbling nonsense (see 1 Corinthians 14:23).

Peter Addresses the Crowd
After the disciples had finished speaking in tongues, Peter, their chief spokesman, stood up and spoke to the people. He said first of all that the disciples were not drunk, because it was then only nine in the morning. Men don't usually drink wine that early!

Then, in order to explain to the Jews the significance of what they had been hearing, Peter quoted from the Old Testament prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). The term last days means the period between Jesus first coming to earth and his second coming at the end of the world; that is.

Through the prophet Joel, God said:
"I will pour out my Spirit on all people (that is, on all believers in Jesus), on Jewish and Gentile believers, on their sons and daughters, and on all believing servants, both men and women".

Joel also wrote that along with the coming of the Holy Spirit there would be other signs as well, such as prophecies, visions, and dreams. One kind of prophecy is the speaking in tongues followed by its interpretation.

There would be natural signs also: wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below. Joel wrote: The sun will be turned to darkness.

On the day that Jesus died, darkness came over the whole land from noon until 3 P.M. In such darkness the moon (there was a full moon on the day Christ died) would appear red like blood.

But in verses 19 and 20, God, through the prophet Joel, is talking especially about the end of the world and about that great and glorious day of the Lord, when Jesus will come again to judge all men.

That day will be a day of judgment, to be sure; but before then, these last days - that is, these present days - are days of salvation for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.

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