A Special Sign for the Early Church
July 24, 2022
Commentary
There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come—the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. At least as many came to the Feast of Pentecost as came to the Passover. On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place (v. 1). Warren Wiersbe said, “We are not going to move the world by criticism of it, nor conformity to it, but by the combustion with it.” The coming of the Spirit was by a mighty wind or a roar, fire, and a tongue upon each head (vv. 2-3). The disciples began to speak in real languages which were understood by those from various lands (v. 4). The miracle was the giving of the ability to speak these languages.
At Pentecost all these people heard the disciples speak the wonderful works of God in their mother tongue (vv. 5-11). The people who heard this were perplexed and amazed at what they were witnessing and tried to say that the disciples were drunk (vv. 12-13). Again, we need to note that they were speaking in a known language, and not an “unknown tongue.” The only tongues speaking the Bible knows anything about are established languages of the day, spoken supernaturally as the Holy Spirit gives utterance. Unless we are instructed otherwise in Scripture, we must assume that when “speaking in tongues“ is mentioned in Acts or I Corinthians, it refers to an identical experience where believers were praising God in languages that are known. This leaves no room for tongues speaking as it is often practiced in churches today.
Application
We know that God wants every man to hear the Gospel in his own language (II Peter 3:9). I need to keep asking the Lord what part I am to play in His program to accomplish this.
Acts 2:1– 13 (NET)
1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” 12 All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”
Illustration: Pray for power but don’t try to manufacture it
In his sermon, “A Dangerous Pentecost,” Halford Luccock tells of Lorenzo de’Medici, the great Florentine patron of the arts who was very proud of the spectacles he staged for the citizenry. Among his productions were several amazingly realistic religious pageants performed in church. But one Pentecost, Lorenzo went too far: he used actual fire to depict the descent of the tongues of flames on the apostles. The fragile stage set caught fire and, before horrified onlookers, the entire church burned to the ground The moral is clear: pray for Pentecostal power, but don’t try to manufacture it. (Charismatic Chaos, J. MacArthur, Jr., Zondervan, 1992, p. 175).