"Perhaps the best way to see at a glance the value and significance of this book of the New Testament, would be to imagine the New Testament without the Acts of the Apostles. What a gulf would then be opened between the Gospels and the Epistles! ... What discrepancies, what oppositions would be found between the earlier books and the later!"Dean Howson, Hulsean Lectures, 1862, P. 221
"Suppose again the Epistles were there, but the Acts of the Apostles left out, how startling would appear the heading 'To the Romans,' which would confront us on turning from the study of the Evangelists! How could we account for the transition involved? How could we explain the great thesis of the Epistles, that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile ... ? The earlier Scriptures will be searched in vain for teaching such as this. Not the Old Testament merely but even the Gospels themselves are seemingly separated from the Epistles by a gulf. To bridge over that gulf is the Divine purpose for which the Acts of the Apostles has been given to the Church. The earlier portion of the book is the completion of and sequel to the Gospels; its concluding narrative is introductory to the great revelation of Christianity."
Sir Robert Anderson, The Silence of God, Pp. 54-55
We shall now see just how important Acts is to understanding the Church of the 21st Century!
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."Acts 1:4-5
This hearkens back to the early days of Christ's earthly ministry. John the Baptist told the crowds that followed him: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." John the Baptist was the promised prophet who ran ahead of Christ announcing His Coming to Israel.
This is just one of many things Christ reminded and taught His Apostles between His resurrection and ascension. Jesus spent 40 days instructing Peter, James, John and His other apostles about what had happened to Him and what was going to happen to them. The agonizing events of the previous days began to make sense to the disciples. Luke explained it well to Theophilus.
"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."Acts 1:1-3
Luke gives us much insight into what Jesus did for the last 40 days He spent on earth. He was busy doing and teaching. He gave the apostles "many convincing proofs" that He was alive. I can imagine what a shock Christ's death was to the apostles. It must have almost torn the hearts out of their chests with grief and terror. The last chapters of the Gospel accounts of Luke and John include some of the proofs Jesus gave the Apostles. Jesus spoke with them, prayed with them, walked with them, sat with them, cooked for them, ate with them, showed them the wounds in his hands, feet and side, let them touch him, gave them a miraculous catch of fish, walked through walls and vanished from sight, performed many other miracles in their presence, and answered their many questions. Jesus "spoke about the kingdom of God." Christ explained that He was the Promised Messiah of Israel. He told them how the Old Testament prophets wrote hundreds of years earlier, in great detail, about His Death and Resurrection. Jesus showed them how all the events that unfolded before their eyes were part of God's Plan to raise up Israel to Kingdom status in the world. Jesus did so much in those 40 days that the Apostle John wrote: "If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25)
Christ gave instructions to the Apostles "through the Holy Spirit" during those 40 days. How could that be since the Apostles weren't baptized with the Spirit until days "after" Jesus returned to Heaven? The disciples received the Spirit's Power and Authority in two steps. The first happened the same day Jesus rose from the grave.
"Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.'"John 20:21-23
Jesus "breathed" on the 11 Apostles and they received the HOly Spirit. With that came the power and authority to forgive and not forgive people's sins. Can you imagine such power on earth? This was not the first time Jesus had taught His Apostles about how the Holy Spirit would work through them. Jesus had given the Apostles authority to drive out evil spirits and heal every disease and sickness in the early days of their ministry with Him.
"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel ... Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."Matthew 10:5-6, 17-20
Jesus gave the Apostles a foretaste of what they would experience with the Spirit.
"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."John 7:37-39
The Apostles had not received the Holy Spirit by the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles. They would receive Him after Christ had been "glorified." Jesus prayed to His Father about glorifying Him just before He went to the Cross.
"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you ... And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. "John 17:1, 5
Christ's glorification began with His obedience to Death on the Cross and continued through His Resurrection and Ascension. John gives us more insight into the timing of Christ's Glorification. These words followed Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
"At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. "John 12:16
The Apostles' understanding about the things that happened to Jesus came during the 40 days that Christ taught them prior to His Ascension to Heaven.
Jesus pointed to His Death as the hour of His glorification.
"Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life ... Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.'"John 12:23-28
"Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once."John 13:31-32
Jesus had been glorified when He spoke with the Apostles the night following His resurrection. The Apostles "received" the Holy Spirit after Christ "breathed" on them. This was the event Christ prophesied when he said, "'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive." The Apostles were the first to receive the Holy Spirit in the Kingdom Dispensation.
Jesus "breathed" on them. The Greek for "breathed" is enephusesen . It means "to breathe into." The word is made up of en (in, into, on--with the primary idea of rest) and phusao (blow in or on, breathe on). Phusao , comes from phuo (to germinate, to grow or spring up, produce). The idea of this amazing event is of someone placing something inside another as the beginning of something that will grow and produce more of the same. That's what Jesus meant when He said: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." The Holy Spirit was that stream of living water that began inside the Apostles and then flowed out to meet the needs of a thirsty world.
Jesus "breathed" the Holy Spirit into the Apostles. The Holy Spirit resided fully in the Person of Christ. Jesus was "full" of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had been upon Jesus from His Holy Conception inside the Virgin Mary. Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit" when the Spirit led Him into the desert to face Satan's temptations. Jesus breathed on the Apostles and they "received" the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit took residence inside them. The Holy Spirit had come "upon" God's people in the past for special service to God, but now the Spirit was going to live inside God's people forever. Jesus had promised this to the Apostles earlier.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth."John 14:15-17
Christ's breathing the Holy Spirit into the Apostles in John 20:22 is the realization of His promise to them in John 14:16. The Spirit would live in them forever. He would always be with them to counsel, teach, empower, and encourage.
"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you ... I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."John 16:5-7, 12-15
John does not record any response from the Apostles to receiving the Holy Spirit from Christ. The Apostles continued to question Christ and have fears about the future. Receiving the Holy Spirit on the night of Resurrection seems to have been a quiet beginning to the powerful ministry the Apostles would have almost two months later.
"After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."Mark 16:19-20
"When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."Luke 24:50-53
"So when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'"Acts 1:6-11
The disciples of Christ had just witnessed one of the most remarkable events to ever take place on earth. They had heard the resurrected Messiah of Israel tell them they would receive supernatural power from the Holy Spirit of God. They heard Him say they would be witnesses for Him throughout Israel and across the world. They had witnessed Christ taken from earth to Heaven. Angels told them Christ would return to earth in the same way He had left it.
"In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, 'Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--he was one of our number and shared in this ministry ... Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of the resurrection."Acts 1:15-16, 21-22
The Holy Spirit had prophesied through King David centuries earlier that one of Messiah's followers would sell him to His enemies. Peter knew from Christ's teachings that 12 Apostles were necessary to bring in the Kingdom of God on earth; one for each of the 12 tribes. They had 11 and needed one more to take Judas' place. Peter and the other Apostles "all joined together constantly in prayer." They bathed their situation in prayer. They did not act hastily. They looked to the Holy Spirit for guidance in their next steps. They chose two men, Justus and Matthias, who qualified to be Apostles. They cast lots and the lot fell to Matthias; "so he was added to the eleven apostles." (Acts 1:26) That action completed all events necessary for the Apostles to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
(We might consider why Peter didn't suggest the name of Paul to become one of the 12 Apostles after Christ's Ascension. Jesus designed the Kingdom Dispensation to have 12 Apostles; no more, no less. 12 was the Spiritual number. Why wasn't Paul named as the 12th Apostle? Why did the Spirit of God lead the 11 Apostles to choose Matthias as the 12th? Why not Paul? Did Peter make a mistake? Did he not understand the leading of the Holy Spirit? Or was Paul never intended to be a member of the 12 Apostles of Christ? Did God have something else in mind for Paul? Could it be that Paul was to be an Apostle of another Dispensation?)
"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."Acts 2:1-4
Pentecost was the second of the great Jewish national festivals. Jews observed it on the 50th day from the Paschal Feast. It was seven weeks after the 16th day of Nisan.. The Old Testament called Pentecost "the feast of weeks" and "the feast of harvest." Moses set exact standards in the Law of obedience to Pentecost. Every male in Israel was to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary on Pentecost. All labor stopped. The people of Israel came before God to give Him thanks for His provision to them. It was designed as a harvest celebration. It was to be a day of great joy. Israelites were to present two loaves of leavened, salted bread to God. The Law specified the size and make-up of each loaf. The people were to give God a free-will offering. Levites, strangers, orphans and widows were to receive liberal gifts from the children of God.
(Pentecost is a transliteration of the the Greek word pentekostos . It comes from pente ("five") and means "a fiftieth part).
This was a perfect day for Christ to baptize His Apostles and other disciples with the Holy Spirit. Every male of Israel was assembled in Jerusalem at the sanctuary. What a built-in audience! The Law brought them together for the purpose of rejoicing about what God had done for them. They were in the right place at the right time for what God was going to do for them. It would be unlike any Pentecost in Israel's history. Nothing could be greater than Christ sending His Spirit to prepare Israel to receive her Messiah King.
"They were all together in one place." The Apostles were on a mission for God. Jesus told them to "wait for the gift my Father promised." Christ told them they would be "baptized with the Holy Spirit" in a few days. Peter and the Apostles were doing just what Christ had told them to do. They were waiting. Christ spent 40 days with the Apostles, then ascended into Heaven. The Apostles and other disciples of Christ waited another ten days. They prayed and waited. The feast day of Pentecost arrived and the Apostles waited.
"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." The disciples had waited and prayed for ten days. They were together in one place. They knew something special was about to happen. "Suddenly." The word is aphno . It means "suddenly, unexpectedly, unforeseeably." The disciples knew something was going to happen, but they didn't expect or forsee the coming of the Holy Spirit in this manner. The Apostles had already received the Holy Spirit when Jesus "breathed" the Spirit into them. They had not experienced anything so strong as what happened on Pentecost.
What came into the room with the 12 Apostles and 108 disciples (total of 120) was "a sound like the blowing of a violent wind." The King James Version called it "a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind." "Sound" is echos . We get the English word "echo" from it. The writer to Hebrews used the word for a "trumpet blast." (Hebrews 12:19) Luke used the word for the "roaring" sound of the sea. Luke 21:25)
The "sound" came into the room of waiting disciples suddenly "like the blowing of a violent wind" from heaven. "Violent wind came" ("rushing mighty wind" KJV) is pheromenes pnoes biaias . It means a strong, forceful, mighty blast of breath. It was not a gentle breeze that entered ever so softly into the disciples' room. It was a great, powerful, violent, roaring blast of God's Spirit into the presence of Christ's Apostles and disciples! It came straight from the Throne of Heaven to the little upper room in Jerusalem. It was driven (pheromenes - present passive participle) with great force and echoed around that room and through the ears and minds of each member of that tiny group of God's chosen people. The Spirit of God had come in all His Strength to give the Power of God to these 120 special Israelites so that they might accomplish the Will of God in Israel. The Kingdom of Almighty God was upon them!
This powerful sound "filled the whole house where they were sitting." "Filled" is eplerosen . It means "to fill to the full." The Spirit of God was everywhere. He "filled" the whole house with His Presence and Power. The "sound" was of His entrance from Heaven into the little building where the Apostles waited.
Close your eyes for a minute and "see" the Apostles and disciples sitting together in that room. See them react as the Holy Spirit entered the room with the "sound like the blowing of a violent wind." Have you ever heard an extremely loud sound? It's startling, unnerving. It captures all the senses and puts all other thoughts and concerns aside. The only thing you can consider is the sound. What it is? From where did it come? Imagine what the Apostles must have felt as this amazing event unfolded.
"They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them." First, the Apostles and disciples heard a great "sound" like a violent wind. Second, they saw what seemed to be "tongues of fire" that separated and came to rest on each Apostle and disciple. The Greek is glossai osei puros ("tongues as of fire"). The word osei , means "resembling." These were tongues that resembled fire; not actual fire. The word glossai , is used in the New Testament for an organ of the body (of taste and speech), something shaped like a tongue, metaphorically for speech or language, of a particular language of people, and an unknown language. The disciples hear, then see. The audible is followed by the visible.
These "tongues" that resembled fire "separated." The word is diamerzomenai . It's the present middle participle of diamerizo (to cleave asunder, to cut in pieces). The picture here is of a fire-like appearance that the disciples see first as a single body in the room, then it separates so that a portion of it rests on each person in the room. God sent His Holy Spirit to empower the whole and the one at the same time. The Holy Spirit came upon the group and each person to give them His Gifts and Strength for the mission at hand -- the proclamation of the Kingdom.
"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit." Everyone in the room was filled with the Holy Spirit. It wasn't just the Apostles. Every disciple of Christ was filled with God's Spirit. Nothing is said about one person getting more or less of the Spirit than another. "All" of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. "Filled" is eplesthesan . It's the aorist passive (meaning that someone else filled them) of pimplemi . It was not the doing of the disciples. They did not consider whether or not they wanted to receive the Holy Spirit. They didn't discuss it. The Spirit came upon them with great volume and "filled" them with Himself.
What happened next is not surprising. Jesus told His disciples that certain signs (semeia ) would accompany those who believed Christ: "In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Christ said that just before He ascended into Heaven. "They will speak in new tongues" is glossais lalesousin kainais . The word for "tongues" is the same from Acts 2:3 (tongues resembling fire). The word "new" (kainais ) means "that which is unaccustomed or unused, new as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old, not before known, newly introduced."
The Holy Spirit gave each of the disciples a new ability: to speak in "other tongues". The Greek is heterais glossais . The word "other" (heterais ) means "different in character, altered, changed." The "tongues" the disciples spoke were different than anything spoken before.
The disciples began to speak in other tongues "as the Spirit enabled them." "Enabled" is edidou (imperfect of didomi ) . It means as the Spirit gave them the ability. The disciples did not speak in other tongues as they willed, but as the Spirit of God enabled them. The disciples did not "work up" this ability. God gave it to them without them asking, hoping or wishing for it. The Spirit of God filled them and each disciple began speaking in different tongues.
Please continue this study about The Holy Spirit in Acts.
Taking God's Grace to the World!
"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright ©, 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
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Last Updated: 12/20/1999