Pentecost; Preaching in Different Languages
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| .1
¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with
one accord in one place.
.2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. .4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. |
1
- Pentecost ... fully come It came every year but this time
was special. It was the Pentecost which the ceremonial service in the Sanctuary
had pointed forward to le2315.
It was called the Feast of First Fruits or the Feast of Weeks because it
was seven weeks (50 days, counting first and last) after the Wave Sheaf
which pointed forward to the resurrection. The Greek word we see as Pentecost
(fiftieth) had been in use before this time. See an explanation of this
very significant time ac02notes.
3 - Cloven tongues More accurately, "tongues distributed." Apparently the fire came and divided going to each of the waiting ones. 4 - Filled ac0104f, jn2022, lu1113. |
| 5 ¶ And there were dwelling
at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? .8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? |
 8 - Our own tongue This was the result of the gift of tongues 1co1228. |
| .13
Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. .16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; .17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: |
13
- New wine The statement was indeed slander. The Greek word
is gleukos, not oinos the ordinary word for wine. Gleukos
means "grape juice." We may understand that those who accused the disciples
knew their habits of not drinking fermented wine and were trying to humiliate
them, scoffing at their pure lifestyle. For what we call "the Lord's supper,"
the beverage was called "fruit of the vine." mr1425.
See on jn0203.
15 - Third hour They counted from sunrise, so it was around 9 a.m. This was further reason why the disciples were not drunk. 17 - Pour out my Spirit Quoting beginning jl0228. The outpouring of the spirit is often misunderstood. If it had been accompanied with falling over on the floor, uncontrolled, with bodies contorted or other forms of hysteria, Peter would certainly have explained, or Joel, whom Peter quoted, would have mentioned the special initiation The gift is discussed more with commentary on Joel. Click above. |
| .21
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
.22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. .25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [the grave], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. .29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. [Also v34.] .30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. |
21
- Whosoever This a clear statement of the invitation to accept
salvation in Christ.
22 - Israel Implying the covenant relationship. 23 - Delivered Betrayed. 23 - Determinant Counsel God had a plan although He knew what would happen. See ac0116. Also is5310, lu22.22. 25 - David spoke of Him 29 - David is with us This hardly sounds like he was in heaven looking down! Verse 34 is even clearer. 
Tomb of David, early1900s 30 - Being a prophet David had been used as a prophet, certainly in the many inspired psalms. |
| .32
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
.33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. .34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. |
32
- God raised It is interesting that Christ also arose on
His own jn0219,
jn1017
and we may see that angels were agents in the call. See mt2802,
ro0811.
It was a cooperative effort.
33 - Exalted See on jn0828. 33 - Received the promise It was the Holy Spirit which the people saw and heard. 34 - David ascended Peter has a good argument. It could not have been David. Apparently people believed that David would be raised to sit on the throne of Israel and throw off the Romans. 34 - Not ascended Above in verse 29 we were told that David was dead and buried. Here Paul clarifies that he was not in heaven. The false idea that people go to heaven when they die came from Greek philosophy re14q. |
| .37
¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do?
.38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. .39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. |
37
- Repent and be baptized This is the response to the call
of Christ.
38 - Name of Jesus Christ Was this fulfilling the gospel commission to baptize in three names? mt2819. Yes, in the sense that Jesus represented the Father and the Holy Spirit spoke of Him jn1408, jn1526. To know Jesus is to know all three. |
| 42 ¶ And they continued
stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. .46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, .47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. |
44
- All things in common This was a sort of socialism of which
God approved. (Part of the problem with the system in the former Soviet
Union was the atheism associated with it.) See the story of Ananias and
Sapphira in ac05.
46 - Daily ... breaking bread The picture is fellowship at meal times, perhaps in the evenings after coming home from their jobs. 46 - One accord ... singleness A good example for us. 47 - Added to the church Those convinced of truth joined the church. Baptism is associated with participation in the church. We should add that most old manuscripts to not mention "church." 47 praising God and being regarded with favour by all the people. Also, day by day, the Lord added to their number those whom He was saving.(from Weymouth's New Testament). |
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