The Wonder of the Holy Spirit: The Coming of the Holy Spirit

The last couple of weeks we’ve talked about who the Holy Spirit is. We saw how Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit, promised His arrival, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for it.

In Acts chapter 2 we see that they’ve done just that. Then we see the Holy Spirit arriving among these believers in a dramatic way in Acts 2:1-8:

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language which we were born?’”

I have a pretty good imagination, but I will admit I struggle with being able to imagine just what it might have been like to be there on that day. “A noise like a violent rushing wind” took place and apparently it drew attention from all over the city. If that wasn’t enough “tongues as of fire” rested on each of the believers in the room. Then to top it all off the Spirit’s first work in them was giving them words to speak in languages that weren’t ones they normally spoke. I feel like the description of the crowd as “amazed and astonished” seems like it might have been understating it a bit. “Bewildered” definitely seems like a possibility. I would have to think that hearing and observing the whole thing for those outside the room would have been concerning, confusing, and maybe even a little fearful.

My imagination can easily picture all of that. What I have trouble imagining is what the experience must have been like for those in the room who had the tongues as of fire resting on them and found themselves speaking a language they didn’t know while feeling the Spirit in them for the first time ever. It is incomprehensible to me. While I know what it feels like to have the Spirit in me and the sense of peace and promptings and guidance that He gives, I also had others in my life who had received the Holy Spirit before me and taught me about Him. This was completely new for all of the them in the room, but of course they had just spent three years with the Master Teacher and had seen more amazing things than this with their own eyes especially during the previous few weeks.

In response to the crowd and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter begins to preach. He reminds the crowd what God said about sending His spirit in Joel 2:28-29:

“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Peter went on to explain how those listening could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well. In Acts 2:38-39 he says:

“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 2 goes on to tell us that about 3,000 people believed and were baptized that day. They listened to Peter’s words and believed. Peter’s words there, prompted by the Spirit, had a deeper meaning than even he knew that day. As he said that the promise was for “all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself”, he probably didn’t imagine that a short time later, after seeing this rapid expansion of the number of believers within Jerusalem and even beyond that due to the rising persecution they were facing, he would have a vision from God that would once again change everything.

The vision and subsequent message that God brought to Peter on a rooftop in Acts chapter 10, led Peter to do the unthinkable for a Jewish man at the time and go and stay in the home of a centurion named Cornelius to share God’s message. Peter did as God asked him even though it probably didn’t make sense to him. He shared with Cornelius and all of those gathered there the message of Jesus. Acts 10:44-48 tells us that:

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, ‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

Not only had the Holy Spirit come upon the Jewish believers in a miraculous way at Pentecost, but now Peter got to witness the Holy Spirit fall upon Gentile believers for the first time as well. I find myself wondering if the words that Peter spoke at Pentecost came back to him in that moment. “For the promise if for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

As one who was once “far off”, I’m so thankful that the promise of the Gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit was for me (and you) too!