Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
February 2025
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” (Acts 2:1-13 NIV)
A Popular Chapter
We are studying the Book of Acts. Today, we come to Acts 2. It is a popular chapter. Everyone likes this chapter. Every group has a favorite verse in it. Even cults like this chapter. There are some crazy interpretations from this chapter.
Charismatics like the chapter because it mentions speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4). It even mentions “signs and wonders” (Acts 2:43).
They like it because it says in the last days God is going to pour out His Spirit on all people. Sons and daughters will prophesy. Young men will see visions. Old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17). Pentecostals get their name from the chapter.
Megachurches like it because there is a church of over three thousand people in it (Acts 2:41). The first church was large.
Baptists like it because there is a gospel sermon in it with a big altar call. There is an evangelistic sermon in it. Thousands of people get saved.
Presbyterians like it because Peter said, “the promise is for you and your children” (Acts 2:39)—not just you, but you and your children. They take that as a verse that we should baptize babies. Are they right?
The Church of Christ likes it because it has Acts 2:38 in it. That is their favorite verse. They always quote it. It says, “repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins” (Acts 2:38). They take that verse as proof that you have to be baptized to be saved. Are they right?
Oneness Pentecostals do not believe in the Trinity and they also quote Acts 2:38. It says, “ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (NIV), They say that baptism is just in the name of Jesus and not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Radicals like the chapter because the believers had everything in common (Acts 2:44). Marxists like this because it talks about economic redistribution. Should we do this today?
A Controversial Chapter
Acts 2 is controversial. Christians fight over this chapter. Whole denominations have started because of Acts 2. They fight over speaking in tongues. What is it? Should we still speak in tongues today?
They fight over the Baptism of the Spirit. They fight over signs and wonders. They fight over baptism for salvation. Some understand this chapter and some misinterpret it. We will try to clear up some of the confusion.
Acts 2 is an important chapter. It is not only the most important chapter in Acts, but also one of the most important chapters in the Bible. God did some things in this chapter He never did before and hasn’t done since.
Today, we are going to look at the Day of Pentecost. It was one of the most important days in history. It was a day that changed the world. We are going to look at what happened on that day, what it means to us and what all of the controversy is about.
There are many extremes when it comes to Pentecost in the church today.[1] Some see Pentecost as something that is just historical. It is something that happened to the early church two thousand years ago and does not have any bearing today. It is just ancient history.
Others see it as something that happens every fifteen minutes. In many ways, this event is unique. It has never happened before and will never happen again.
The tongues of fire have not been repeated. The rushing mighty wind has not been repeated. Plenty of people speak in tongues today but there is no visible flame over their head.
Another view is that this is a one-time event that still has bearing today. The Spirit has been given to the church. Everyone who gets saved, gets the Spirit today.
Significance of Pentecost
1) A promise is fulfilled
Acts 1 deals with the promise of power. Acts 2 deals with the arrival of power. What the disciples waited for and prayed for ten days took place. The Spirit came. He arrived. He comes to indwell His people.
He came in a spectacular way. The result was power, Pentecostal power. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). That is what happened at Pentecost.
When we think of power, we think of raising the dead and healing the sick. That does require power, but Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses.”
Jerry Vines said, “Bethlehem is God WITH us. Cavalry is God FOR us. Pentecost is God In us.”[2] “The average Christian and the average church are somewhere bogged down between Calvary and Pentecost. They have been to Calvary for pardon, but they have not been to Pentecost for power.”[3]
2) The church began
This was the birthday of the church. The first church starts in Acts 2. It started over two thousand years ago in the city of Jerusalem. It started in the very city that killed the Lord Jesus. It started on a Jewish holiday.
The holiday is called Pentecost or what the Jews today call in Hebrew Shavuot (shah-voo-ote). Pentecost is the Jewish Thanksgiving. It is called “The Feast of First Fruits” in the OT.
Jews celebrate Pentecost the giving the Law to the Jews on Mount Sinai. Christians celebrate Pentecost for the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church.
3) God showed up
He filled the whole house. His presence was in every room. There were signs of His presence. There were audible signs and there were visual signs. There were physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The room shook. They heard the wind. They saw the fire.
When God shows up, you know He is there. When he shows up in your church, you can tell. You can feel His presence. When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, they could tell He was there.
There are some incredible miracles in this passage. Let’s set the stage. Right before Jesus rose from the dead, He told 120 disciples not to leave Jerusalem but to stay and wait.
Why did He tell them to do that? If they waited ten days, more people would be in town to hear the gospel. All the Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from all over the Roman World.
The city swelled from 50,000 to 250,000 people during these festivals. On the day of Pentecost, Luke says that there were people “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:15 NIV).
There was an international crowd there. Some were from Asia. Some were from Africa. Some were from Europe. Some were from the Middle East.
Jesus told them to wait and that is what they did. For ten consecutive days, they met in the Upper Room. Picture 120 people in the same room. They were seated. They were waiting. They were praying. They were worshipping. Then, suddenly something spectacular happened.
The prayers were interrupted by a loud sound and a ball of fire. God showed up as wind and fire. C. Peter Wagner called these “visible signs of the invisible spirit.”[4]
Three Incredible Miracles
There are three miracles in these verses. There are three supernatural events. Wind blew. Fire fell. Languages were spoken. There is a miracle of sound. There is a miracle of sight and there is a miracle of speech.
1. A Miracle of Sound
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:2 NIV)
This was a heavenly sound. This sound came from heaven, not earth. It was a loud sound, like a rushing or mighty wind. The sound was so loud that it could be heard outside the house. It could be heard all over the city.
This sound was inside the house. It is one thing to hear the sound of a storm or a tornado outside the house. They heard it inside the house. This was not wind but a sound like a violent wind and it filled the whole house.
Why the sound of wind? Wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Wind is invisible like the Holy Spirit. Wind is not seen. It is heard. We just see the effects of the wind. Wind is powerful, like the Spirit.
Some winds reach three hundred miles an hour. This is just a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can soften the hardest heart, but the Holy Spirit is a person, not a force.
2. A Miracle of Sight
They saw something. They saw fire. Why fire? Fire is s symbol of the presence of God in the Bible. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush.
There was fire on Mount Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments. A pillar of fire led the Israelites by night. God is called “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
They saw fire in the Upper Room but once again it was not destructive. No one was burned.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on EACH of them. (Acts 2:3 NIV).
The sound goes through the whole house but the fire lands on each person sitting in the room. This is big. The fire did not fall on a group but on individuals.
In fact, it did not land on some individuals but on all individuals in the room, including the men and women. It did not just land on the apostles or the spiritual people in the room. It landed on every believer in the room.
3. A Miracle of Speech
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:4 NIV)
It does not just say that they spoke in tongues but all of them did. It doesn’t say that all of the apostles spoke in tongues but everyone in the room. Peter says that God is pouring out His Spirit on all flesh, not just the apostles.[5]
Going back to chapter one, we know there were 120 people in the room, so 120 people were speaking in tongues. They did not necessarily all speak at the same time but as the Spirit gave them utterance. They were not speaking naturally but supernaturally.
People heard them speaking. How did they hear? The noise attracted a crowd. The wind was so loud that people on the outside heard it and came to see what it was.
The sound drew the multitudes. It drew an enormous crowd of people. They followed the sound. The disciples came outside. The Holy Spirit draws people. He still does that today.
Truths about TonguesThere is a lot of confusion about tongues today. This is the first tongues speaking in the Bible. What were these tongues in Acts 2? There are four things that we know from the text. 1) These were human languages They are a real language. They are a real human language, not made-up gibberish. This was not baby talk. That would not have impressed or amazed anyone. 2) These were foreign languages We don’t know how many they spoke, but these were real languages (e.g., Italian, French, Latin, Arabic). There were people from fifteen different countries mentioned (Acts 2:8-11). 3) These were supernatural languages They spoke “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They were speaking languages they had never learned before. The only reason they could do this is that the Holy Spirit supernaturally enabled them to do this. Did they understand what they were saying? 4) These were worship languages This is contrary to what many preachers believe. John R. Rice said, “The speaking here was for the purpose of preaching the gospel.”[6] Many have said that. It is simply not true. Tongues in Acts 2 were for praising, not preaching. They were worship languages. They declared the wonders of God (Acts 2:11). They were praising God. People heard them speaking in their own languages the great things God has done. They praised God and praised Him in a language they had never spoken before. |
The Purpose of Tongues
What was the purpose of tongues on the day of Pentecost? Why were all of these people speaking in tongues? Was it to improve their prayer life? No. Was it to preach to people? No.
Did the tongues save anyone? No. Signs and wonders do not convert anybody, but they can get people’s attention and that is what these tongues did.
It got them ready to hear the gospel. It got them ready to hear the sermon that Peter was going to preach. They were going to get saved through Peter’s sermon. Paul said that tongues were a sign for unbelievers (I Corinthians 14:22).
The first to ever hear tongue-speaking was unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem. They were religious. They believed in God. Luke calls them devout men but they had not accepted Jesus as their Messiah. Tongues were used, not for evangelism, but for pre-evangelism.
Reaction to Tongues
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” (Acts 2:12-13 NIV)
In Acts 2:1-4, we see the ARRIVAL of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:5-13, we see the REACTION to the Holy Spirit’s Arrival. There were three reactions. We see these three reactions today to the work of the Spirit.
What are the three reactions? There are those who receive what God is doing. There are those who watch what God is doing. There are those who mock what God is doing.[7]
1) The first reaction was to RECEIVE what God is doing.
The 120 disciples received what God was doing? They were ready to receive it. They had a promise from Jesus Himself. They waited in prayer in the Upper Room. They were obedient to Him. When the Spirit came, they received Him.
2) The second reaction was to WATCH what God is doing
Another group of people watched what was happening. They investigated it. They went to where the loud sound was coming from. They asked questions. How is this possible? What does this all mean?
They were shocked. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Why were they shocked? These were Galileans. These were hillbillies. They were rednecks. They were not scholars or linguists. They were not university professors.
They were not even educated. They were fishermen from Galilee. They were uncultured. They wanted to know how they learned all of these languages and speak them fluently.
3) The third reaction was to MOCK what God is doing
Miracles do not cause everyone to believe. Someone could rise from the dead and people will still not believe. Some mock the work of the Spirit. They said these people are just drunk, which is a joke.
People who are drunk do not start speaking flawless French or Italian. They do not start speaking foreign languages. You do They can barely speak their own language. They slur their words. They can barely stand up. People mock the supernatural today. They mock the miraculous and still do it today.
Two Doctrinal Errors
There are two doctrinal errors that are taught in many churches.
1) The baptism of the Holy Spirit comes after salvation
That is what many teach. That is common in some circles. They believe in a second work of grace. They believe that Holy Spirit baptism comes after salvation. They teach that many are saved who have not been baptized in the Spirit and they need to seek this experience.
It seems to come right from the text. The 120 disciples were saved but then got baptized in the Spirit in Acts 2. They had a post-conversion experience, but they lived in a transition period.
They got the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We get the Holy Spirit at salvation. How do we know? Peter said that in his sermon.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)
You don’t have to wait five years after you are saved to get the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to pray through. You get the Holy Spirit today when you get saved.
2) The sign of Holy Spirit baptism is speaking in tongues
Some teach the only sign of the baptism is speaking in tongues. If you don’t speak in tongues, you have not been Holy Spirit baptized. They argue that this is the pattern in Acts 2.
One hundred disciples were baptized in the Spirit and spoke in tongues. Acts 2:4 says, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit AND began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (ESV).
There is no doubt about it. Everyone who was filled, supernaturally spoke in some foreign language. Is this the one sign of Holy Spirit baptism? Is this the one sign of Holy Spirit filling? No.
That is how it was manifested on this day, but it is not the only way it was manifested, even in the Book of Acts. Filling also results in power to evangelize (Acts 1:8). It results in supernatural boldness (Acts 4:31). It results in incredible joy (Acts 13:52).
You can be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit and not speak in tongues. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, but He never spoke in tongues.
[1] https://learn.ligonier.org/sermons/pentecost
[2] Jerry Vines, “O What a Day,” (Spoken Recording).
[3] Jerry Vines, “Pentecostal Christianity,” (Spoken Recording).
[4] C. Peter Wagner, Acts of the Holy Spirit, 66.
[5] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210104.htm
[6] John R. Rice, Filled with the Spirit, 77.
[7] https://goservglobal.org/2023/06/12/three-groups-of-people-acts-212-15/
