I recently discussed the promise of the Holy Spirit, and then some lessons we can learn from the disciples in the Upper Room as a part of my series in the Book of Acts. As I continue this series, I would like to begin teaching on Chapter Two, which shows us what happened on the Day of Pentecost. Some people often confuse the Day of Pentecost to only be historically significant to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, however, there is more to the Day of Pentecost. The disciples filling of the Holy Spirit just happened to occur on the Feast of Pentecost or also known as the Feast of Weeks. This was one of the three required feasts of the Jews. This celebrated the beginning of the early weeks of harvest. A historic event tied to the Feast of Pentecost was when Moses received the 10 Commandments from God. The Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost occurs this year on June 9, 2019, it usually occurs on our calendar at the end of May or beginning of June. If you would like to look further into the Feast of Pentecost in the Old Testament, I would like to encourage you to read into the following scriptures:
• Exodus 34:22
• Leviticus 23:15-22
• Deuteronomy 16:16
• 2 Chronicles 8:13
Now that we have some Old Testament background on the Feast of Pentecost, we can now dive into what happened on the Day of Pentecost with the disciples. In Acts 2:1 (KJV) it says, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”. The disciples were all gathered together in one place, based on what took place in the previous chapter, I believe the disciples were praying together. Acts 1:14 (KJV) tells us, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”. If you remember from my previous teaching, I discussed the importance of us praying together as followers of Christ. Continuing to Acts 2:2-4 (KJV) it tells us, “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.”. There is so much here just in these three verses to digest. As the disciples were gathered together praying, they heard the sound of a strong wind from heaven that filled the whole room. Right, when this happened, they had tongues of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. I would like to dig deeper into what happened in this scripture. First, the disciples were praying together, then all the sudden a sound of a powerful wind filled the room, and then they became filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit goes where He is invited, the disciples wanted the Holy Spirit and they wanted the moving of the Holy Spirit. We as the church need to truly invite the Holy Spirit into our church services, there are so many churches dry right now of the Holy Spirit. The enemy is succeeding at oppressing people with sickness, depression, anxiety, addiction, pride, and much more. We need the Holy Spirit flowing in our churches not only for people to be delivered but for people to receive the Holy Spirit in their lives too. Jesus said in John 14:16 (KJV) “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”. The Comforter Jesus is talking about is the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit, I believe they were praying for this as they were gathered together. Jesus told them in Acts 1:8 (WEB) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”. Not only was the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus it was also prophesied in the Book of Joel. Joel 2:28 (KJV) tells us, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions”. In my next teaching, I will go more in-depth on the prophecies of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, I would like to touch upon the Gift of Tongues, which are still available to us today! Acts 2:6 (KJV) says, “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.”. When the Jews saw this they were first confused because they heard each of the disciples speak in a language of the Jews who were all from different nations as mentioned in Acts 2:5. Reading further, Acts 2:7-8 (KJV) says, “And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?”. The Jews were amazed to see the disciples speaking different languages that they clearly did not learn. The Jews were able to understand what the disciples were speaking, because each of the disciple’s gift of tongues from the Holy Spirit, was a language of the Jews. You might ask how did the disciples speak a language they did not learn? The answer is the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 (KJV) again says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”. A reason why people have difficulty beginning with their Gift of Tongues is that they let their mind get in the way. We must realize that the Gift of Tongues is from God, and the Holy Spirit will give us what to say. The Type of Tongues the disciples had was the Tongues for Public Administration, which I will go into more detail on in one of my next teachings, along with the two other Types of Tongues that you can receive from the Holy Spirit.
I would like to encourage you to subscribe to my blog so you can be notified on when new teaching is posted. My next teaching will be on how the Jews responded to the Gift of Tongues. After that, I will break off shortly from the Book of Acts and we will take a look at the three Types of Tongues one can receive from the Holy Spirit, along with the other Spiritual Gifts as listed in the First Book of Corinthians.