This series thus far has helped build out what we know and understand of the Spirit — the Spirit of life that creates, that gives life to dry bones, that makes all things new; last week we saw the spirit of Christ that is part of the Trinity and points to Jesus. In this study, we look at the Spirit of Pentecost — the same Holy Spirit, but here in Acts 2 we see the clearest record of how the Holy Spirit has come and what it does in and for God’s people. From these verses, let us see that the Holy Spirit is real, important and necessary for Jesus’ believers, enabling us to bear fruit and follow Jesus.
(A) The Spirit of Pentecost comes as Jesus had promised and fills His followers (Acts 2:1-13)
To understand the events in Acts 2, we need to see what Jesus had promised His disciples before He ascended. Jesus had promised them that they would be baptised with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), which is different from John baptising with water. This coincides with Acts 1:8, where Jesus promises them power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Importantly, we have the point of the giving of the Spirit in Acts 1:8b — “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”.
John’s gospel is helpful in giving us a fuller picture of what the point of the Spirit’s coming is. John 14 calls the Spirit the Helper, the Spirit of truth, that will dwell with you and be in you (John 14:15-17). John 14:26 tells us the Holy Spirit is sent in Jesus’ name and will teach them all things, and remind them of, explain to them, all of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus tells them in John 16:5-15 that Jesus must go away, or the Spirit will not come to them. He tells them that when the Spirit comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement, He will guide them in all truth, He will glorify Jesus, for He will take what is mine (Jesus’) and declare it to you (disciples).
We see that the events that we are about to read about have already been foretold by Jesus. Jesus keeps His word! The disciples waited for Jesus’ promise to be fulfilled, and it was a period of 10 days between His ascension and Pentecost. Acts 1-2 assures us that our waiting is not in vain — God will do what He says!
One simple point for our consideration about the Holy Spirit here — the Holy Spirit is a real part of the Godhead and Jesus’ ministry to his disciples. We should not shy away from talking about Him, we should not reduce the work and ministry of the Spirit to dreams and visions and gifts. Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit for our good. The Holy Spirit is how we understand sin and righteousness, he is how we understand truth, God’s word, He is how we see Jesus. Even our Bible reading and Bible study is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our desire to know God is his work. Our ability to understand the Bible and turn from sin and follow Jesus — all of this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
What was the Pentecost, and what three things happened when the Spirit came? (v1-4, c.f. Num 28:26)
To Jews, the Pentecost coincides with the Jewish harvest festival that is one of the three great festivals for pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Feast of Weeks (Num 28:26) — a week of weeks, 7*7. It is the day of the firstfruits where the firstfruits of the harvest are offered to God as offerings. The Pentecost is also the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and as we know this is the day the Holy Spirit is poured out on God’s people, marking the start of the early church.
This is also why there were so many people in Jerusalem — a commentator writes that “Pentecost was the best-attended of the great feasts because traveling conditions were at their best. There was never a more cosmopolitan gathering in Jerusalem than this one. It was the perfect time for the descent of the Holy Spirit of God.”
Acts 2:2-4 tell us three things happened:
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house they were sitting” — We recall in our study in Ezekiel 37:9-11 the four winds that breathed on the slain that they may live. It’s the same Hebrew word used here, and we can see how Luke is careful to note this down for our understanding. Literally, the breath that gave new life is what we see here in Acts 2.
“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them” — Fire had always been a symbol for the presence of God - the pillar of smoke and fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness, the fire on Mt Sinai, John the Baptist’s promise of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire in Matthew 3. We see actual literal fulfilment of Scripture again, but notice how the fire divided and rested on each individual. God’s presence is not just corporate, but here we see it is personal. From the Pentecost on, His believers have a personal relationship with the holy God.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They were filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues. What is so important and helpful to see is that with the Holy Spirit coming, God speaksto and through His people. God’s presence is accompanied by God’s word, which is from the Spirit and understandable as we see in the next few verses.
We have God’s promised presence to His people in the form of wind, fire and utterance, which point us to the fulfilment of Scripture and symbols of the past. For us as Christians today, we might be tempted to look at the events of Pentecost and say that is what we want. We want physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We want gifts and signs and tongues of fire on our head. We want to be anointed, or have a visible mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. As believers, we sometimes wish for more obvious things — if only we had Jesus here today, life would be so much easier; God’s will for us would be so much clearer if Jesus were here. If only we had a pillar of fire in our midst, then we would know fully and without doubt that God is real. To this, Luke says — what more do you want? Here is the Helper, the Holy Spirit, given to you for your good. The Spirit is God’s presence with us and in us. The Holy Spirit is a personal indwelling of God in each of us — what a gift!
Perhaps we look to the gifts that we read about here as confirmation that the Spirit has filled us — then and only then do we know that we are actually saved, then and only then would we know we are actually God’s people. Friends, may we be cautious as we apply God’s gift wrongly — nowhere here do we see the Spirit used as proof of our salvation.
What is important for us to see here though, is that the Pentecost was a one-off outpouring of the Holy Spirit in history. It was promised, it is sufficient, and it is full. We do not need another Pentecost to happen to confirm our salvation, or to feel more fully the presence of the Holy Spirit. The events recorded in Acts, not just in Acts 2, show us the mark of a new age in God’s people — one that says Jesus’ death on the cross is enough, one that says the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is full and sufficient.
How did the Jews around them respond? The Jews were “bewildered, amazed and astonished” (Acts 2:5-7) because all these people were speaking (the Spirit gave them utterance) and they were hearing them speak in their own native language, wherever they were from! God’s people were speaking in other tongues, not their own, because they were filled with the Spirit. And this eclectic mix of educated people were hearing them speak, but what they heard was in their own native tongue.
We can make two observations about tongues here. First, tongues are a miraculous work of the Spirit, as we see here in Acts 2. Yet, biblically, it must be understandable by those who hear it. It is not people speaking an angelic prayer language, communicating and praising God in words no one understands. We should be careful to define tongues biblically, even if we do not wish to “quench the Spirit”. The Bible does not point to tongues as a mark of those who are saved, nor does it point to tongues as a form of special revelation.
Second, this episode that we see here should take us back to the Tower of Babel (Gen 11). There, the people were out to make a name for themselves. The people spoke one language and had the same words, and so God confused their language and dispersed them over the face of all the earth. This was a direct result of the fall and the curse of sin, and here we see a reversal of that curse and a unifying of a divided people. In the Pentecost and this episode of the tongues, God is undoing the curse and uniting His people. We recall Jesus’ command to his disciples in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This is a fulfilment of what Jesus promised!
How did the Jews around them respond? Acts 2:12-13 tells us there were two camps, two responses to this supernatural event. They were amazed and perplexed and sought meaning, or they mocked and thought these people were drunk. The two responses to the coming of the Holy Spirit were amazement and curiosity, vs a dismissive mocking of God’s people. These age-old responses recorded here are the same responses we face today as Christians — we should not be surprised then of how we are met as Christians.
(B) The Spirit of Pentecost is a gift to those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ (v14-41)
Peter addressed the crowd with a sermon and He quotes Joel 2. Notice how this is not some grand exposition. Peter simply read Scripture that the Jews were familiar with, and explained it by pointing to the realities that they were observing. He starts by addressing the obvious — these people are not drunk. It is too early in the day, do not be ridiculous. Acts 2:16 is important — “but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel”. He points to the outpouring of the Spirit, and says this is this. Let me point out to you where this is promised in Scripture, oh Jewish friends.
Acts 2:17-18 quotes Joel 2:28-32, which focuses on God’s promise to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. The day of
Pentecost was a near fulfillment of that promise, with the final fulfillment coming in the last days. Joel prophesied about judgment that was coming to ancient Israel. Yet God also gave promises of future blessing, like this one that announces an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter picks this up and says this is exactly what has happened here.
Acts 2:19-21 are a continuation of this age of the last days. This part of the prophecy has not yet come and serves as a warning of days that are to come. The rest of the section from Joel speaks of the day of the Lord that is to come, the great and magnificent day. This is not the first or last we see of the last day - Paul speaks of the day of the Lord at length in his letters. Yet the focus of Peter bringing this up here is Acts 2:21 — “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. By quoting Joel, Peter declares a new age of the Spirit, and with it the way to salvation.
In God’s fulfilment of Scripture, there is also a seed of hope and offer of salvation to His people that they may be saved!
Peter continues to preach in Acts 2:22-36, and unpacks Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. The point that Peter is trying to make is this - the call in Joel that “everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved”, this LORD is this Jesus Christ, the man from Nazareth whom you have crucified.
And David is actually talking about Jesus way back in Psalm 16 (as referenced in Acts 2:25-28). How do we know? Because we know David, the king, is dead and buried (c.f. Acts 2:29). We can visit his tomb to this day. Psalm 16 cannot be about David himself. Davi was also not talking about himself in Psalm 16. David was a prophet as well, and knew that his descendent would be the promised King — and so Ps 16 is actually about Jesus, not about David — “for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption”. That is about Jesus — the Jesus who died but did not stay dead, the Jesus that God raised up, the Jesus who was resurrected and appeared to us, of that we are all witnesses (Acts 2:32).
And about that resurrection and ascension, David talked about that too in Psalm 110:1 - here it is! Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies my footstool. David did not ascend to heaven, so David cannot be with God at His right hand. The one who ascended is Jesus, and Psalm 110 is about Him. And here we are at Acts 2:36 — “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
What a great model of preaching we have here. Peter’s sermon is simple (answers their question, tells them about Christ, calls for a response), scriptural (grounded in God’s word, explained it clearly), Christ-centred, convicting and practical.
Consider also who this Peter is. This Peter was the Peter who walked on water with Jesus, who declared Jesus is the Messiah, who cut off the ear of the guard at Jesus’ capture, but also the one who denied Jesus three times when he died. The Peter we see here is a very different apostle from the one who denied Christ. This great sermon and proclamation of Jesus here in Acts 2 was by the one who denied Jesus. Friends, see how God changes and uses even the most broken for His glory.
Also, remember that the Day of the Lord is at hand. Yes, we have the Spirit, so turn away from sin. Repent and call upon the name of Jesus, who died on the Christ for your sins.
This would have been incredibly mind-blowing for the Jews who had gathered at Pentecost and heard Peter’s sermon and call to repentance.
How do the people respond having heard God’s Word preached? In Acts 2:37-41, we see that they were cut to the heart — God’s Word is convicting, and indeed this too is the work of the Spirit. They asked for clear instruction — what shall we do? (Acts 2:38-39).
Friends, the promise that Peter speaks of here, is for us too. This promise is for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. The gift of the Holy Spirit is for those who have repented and been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). The response is simple. Today, if you are not a Christian, hear what is being said here. If you have not repented, will you turn? Will you yield? If you have not been baptized, why not?
Baptism, like the Pentecost, isn’t a two part confirmation of your salvation. Baptism comes with repentance. It is not merely administrative, nor is it performative and unnecessary. If you believe in Jesus Christ, repent and be baptised in his name. When we witness baptisms, we are reminded of this reality.
Do we read our Bibles like this? Do we know the truth that Jesus is Lord? Not only do we know this, but do we believe it? These verses show us that we are to read our Bible from left to right in its entirety. Peter, Joel and David’s claim here is simple — all of Scripture points to Jesus as the Messiah King. All of history leads to Jesus as the culmination and fulfilment of God’s promise to save His people. Have the dots connected for us, and have our eyes lit up as we’ve read God’s word? The Bible is not a collection of stories and morals but the one story of Jesus Christ. Let us read our Bibles in this way — with an eye to see Jesus, our Saviour, and all who calls upon His name shall be saved.
The Spirit of Pentecost is a gift to those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Praise God for this.
(C) The Spirit of Pentecost bears firstfruits in the early Church (v42-47)
What did the believers specifically devote themselves to, and what was their response? (v42-43)
The believers devoted themselves to the:
Apostles’ teaching
Fellowship
Breaking of bread and
Prayers
Notice the pattern of teaching, of being amongst God’s people, of commemorating the Lord’s Supper and sharing meals, and of praying together. This was regular Christian life. It was the norm for God’s people to do these things. This was early church life! This is also what we are to do when we gather on Sundays. What does your church life look like? Do we look forward to doing these things together with God’s people on Sundays?
Or perhaps, what are we looking for in a church? Luke here in Acts 2 gives us a helpful rubric for assessing what a church is and should be like. Is God’s word’s preached faithfully? Do the believers gather to break bread and fellowship? Do they gather to pray? If so, praise God and stay in the church! Know and be known by the people in your church.
As Spurgeon said, “To be driven from church to church, as some are, is a wretched business. To be like others, changing their views as often as the moon; happy nowhere, miserable everywhere, agreeing with nobody, not even with themselves, is a poor business.”
What will it look like for you to commit to doing these 4 things in your church life this year? How will your life and calendar and use of money look like? What would it look like for us to devote ourselves to these few things? To God’s word, to His people, to remembering Christ, to praying. How different would life look like?
And what was the early church’s response to this? “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” When was the last time we were in awe of God and the regular routines of regular church life? What a precious thing we have been called to be a part of — His body and His church.
Luke records for us how they lived together in Acts 2:44-47. They:
Were together and had all things in common.
Were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing to all as any had need.
Communed daily, attending the temple, breaking break in their homes
Received their food with glad and generous hearts
Were praising God and having favor with all the people
They had turned from their sins to live together and share in their life together. This is not communism, but a picture of freedom from the love of money, of generosity, of hospitality, of care for the needy. At the heart of this is a heart of gratitude — freely they have been forgiven, freely they may give.
Acts 2 shows us how the gift of the spirit was not given to be enjoyed in or lived out in isolation. Yes it was a personal outpouring but it always, always, always came in the context of a community, of a family. God’s people communed together daily and worshipped, and in that the church grew. Nothing else.
How have we, having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, responded? How do we view our time, money and resources? Do we give freely, or do we seek our own comfort, our own joys, our own wealth?
This passage ends on a sweet note — that from the day of the firstfruits, the Spirit was poured out on His people and bore the firstfruits of the early church. “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47)”
Friends, the gift of the Holy Spirit is ours if we believe Jesus Christ. How will we live as a people filled with the Spirit?