What Really Happened at Pentecost?

Now, our final segment, Understanding the Scriptures, and we resume our excursion through the Book of Acts. Here again are Dave and Tom.

Tom: This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment and we are beginning the second chapter of Acts, Dave. We zipped through chapter 1 pretty good.

Acts:2:1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
See All..., “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Wow, didn’t you just mention that earlier in our first segment? They had come together?

Dave: Well, yeah, Tom, that’s another little problem, because Rick Warren talks about different venues, and there were different courts, you know. I named the four courts at the temple.

Tom: Right.

Dave: It is very clear they weren’t in different venues with different kinds of music that would appeal to different kinds of people. It very clearly says here “…they were all with one accord in one place,” okay?

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: Once again, he has taken the Bible to use it to support his own ideas, when, in fact, it doesn’t. But the disciples…they ran, they were scattered everyone to his own place, you know. But now Christ has appeared. They know that He’s alive and He has told them that they are going to receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon them.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: They will be His witnesses and that they are to tarry at Jerusalem. So, they’re acting in obedience; they’re all of one accord. That is, they’re all agreed to do what Christ has told them.

Tom: And looking forward in anticipation.

Dave: Absolutely. So, here they are. And it must have been a public place. It wasn’t some back room somewhere, because as soon as these unusual events began to happen, many other people realized that, and several thousand come together, so it must have been a fairly large venue, as, well, a building, filled the house where they were sitting, yeah.

Tom: Verse 2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Dave: Tom, the house—I don’t think was a single family dwelling with small rooms, because 1:15 says, “And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, “The number of names together were about an hundred and twenty.”

Now, that’s a pretty good-sized living room. They didn’t have those in those days, so I don’t know exactly what kind of a place it’s talking about, but it was something that was open to the public to see what was going on. That’s rather in contrast, too, Tom, to Luke 24 where before the disciples knew Jesus rose from the dead, they’re meeting in secret where the doors are locked. They’re hoping no one will know, but here they can’t help it. The whole city begins to realize what’s going on, and several thousand people come because we know, because 3,000 were saved.

Well, that may not have been all that were there. Maybe there were 5000 there and 3000 got saved. I don’t know. But “…A sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…and it filled all the house, or all the place, where they were sitting.”

Well, the Holy Spirit—Jesus said, “Like a wind.” The wind blows where it will, and you see the effects of it. Even today, I don’t think our top meteorologists could tell you—where did the wind come from, and where is it going? And this was the wind (you could say) of the Holy Spirit. And, it had not only a spiritual impact in their hearts, but something visible as well. And that sound apparently is what attracted a multitude of people. They come running to see what this is all about.

Tom: Dave, is there any significance in verse three, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them?” Is there any—I mean, that’s descriptive. It’s hard to imagine, but it’s still descriptive. What do you say to that?

Dave: Well, you know, when God appeared to the children of Israel on the top of Mount Sinai, the mountain was on fire.

Tom: Mm-hmm. Prior to that, the burning bush for Moses.

Dave: Yes. Hebrews tells us, “Our God is a consuming fire.” John the Baptist said, “You’ll be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. “His fan is in His hand; He will thoroughly purge His floor, burning up the chaff of unquenchable fire.” I think perhaps, it’s kind of descriptive of the purifying power of God in their hearts.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: And they are about to be filled with the Holy Sprit. Now, one of the problems is that then there are groups of people who say, “Well, then we’ve got to duplicate this experience.”

I believe this happened for the church. This was the beginning of the church. I believe it happened for the church once and for all. There was a Pentecost for the church.

Now, you may have powerful experiences in your life, as I have had at times, where you come to a total surrender to the Lord for the first time in one’s life. And, we are really empowered by God in a way we didn’t know before, because now God is able to take us and use us because we’re wholly His. We were saved, but we were dragging our feet in some ways and now we’ve become hungry for God, for His Word, and He has really done something in our hearts. And so it says verse 4, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues….” (This is other languages.) “As the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Now, here again Tom, it’s not learning…I’ve seen this a number of times at meetings where someone lays hands on another person, and maybe several people lay hands on them. And they say, “Now just repeat after us….” And you hear some kind of gibberish, actually. They think they’re speaking in tongues and…

Tom: You mean it’s not French, or German, or….

Dave: No, but they’re not really speaking in tongues. I mean, that would be very rare, and I’ve been at many of these meetings, and Tom, some if it is rather pitiful. But anyway, and they say, “Now, just, you know, repeat after me….” The person tries and it makes some halting phrases—“Oh, you’ve got it! Now, go home and practice your prayer language.”

That’s not what was happening here, Tom. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit of God miraculously, powerfully, falling upon these people and filling them and empowering them. Now, if it is of God, I have no quarrel, but if men are trying to teach you how to speak in tongues, and you’ve got some language that you think you can do, you know, you can do this anytime you want, Tom….

Tom: Dave, it says right here. “As the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Dave: Exactly. “As the Spirit gave them utterance.” So, that doesn’t mean you can learn this language. We have to come back and talk more about that.

But, Tom, I’m reminded of watching the video…and I’m sure you have too—Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida.

Tom: Unbelievable.

Dave: And you remember under Steve Hill, that special Sunday, I think it was a Father’s Day, when the Spirit of God supposedly fell upon them and there was a spontaneous work of God, and so forth. You watch the video—no, he tried, and he tried, and he tried to work up something. A number of people left. And finally, they managed to get things going. That is not…

Tom: And when they did, it was utter chaos, Dave.

Dave: Yeah.

Tom: It was a carnival, I’m sorry to say.

Dave: It’s not what—that is not what happened here. And to liken that so-called revival to what happened here is a travesty. And we’re not trying to put these people down. Many of them were very sincere. But some of them were in fits of paroxysms of laughter and they can’t even act like sensible people. And they took that as a sign of the Holy Spirit. I don’t find that in the Bible.

Well, the next verse tells us, “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad…” well, we’ll have to come back, but obviously, word spread, but also, there must have been those who heard this. Heard this rushing wind, and people are running and gathering. What is going on? And we’ll pick it up there next week.