The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Transcript

GR 1578
10/10/10
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1-13
Gil Rugh

We're going to Acts 2. We've come to the chapter that is key because it marks the beginning of the church. I want to read you a few comments from a well known commentator on the whole issue of dispensationalism, those of us who hold that there is a distinction between Israel and the church, and the church marks a distinct a clear change in the unfolding program of God. This person writes, it is important that we emphasize that the plan of salvation did not come into the mind of God after the fall of man, it was in His mind even before the creation of the world. The plan of salvation was not conceived after the fall. There have been no readjustments in God's plan. And we would agree with that. But he goes on, some have taught and still teach a notion of a series of readjustments in God's plan. They teach that God dealt with the children of Israel in an experimental or empirical manner, trying this and that and when He found that one plan did not work He tried another. For instance, they say that God gave the Law to the children of Israel as a possible way of salvation. Then when it did not work, He began to give promises through the prophets that He would send a deliverer. This erroneous teaching is carried even further in the notes of a well known edition of the Bible which do not hesitate to say that even when eventually God sent His Son into the world, the plan had to be changed. The church have never been thought of before, it came in as an afterthought, as a temporary expedience because the Jews had rejected the teaching of the kingdom and the offer of entry into the kingdom. The church and salvation through the death of Christ were a kind of improvisation. The prophetic clock was stopped for the time being, and after this church age which is a digression, God's plan and purpose will be continued again. Such notions are a complete denial of the biblical teaching concerning the purpose of God conceived in eternity before the foundation of the world and the creation of man. They represent the teaching which is known as dispensationalism.

Those are the comments of Martin Lloyd Jones who has written many fine things, this is not one of them. I agree with him, such notions are a complete denial of the biblical teaching concerning the purpose of God conceived in eternity. But I have never read or heard of a dispensationalist who held such views. He has made this up in his own mind, I question, has he ever read anything by a dispensationalist? I know of none for the last 50 years I've been exposed to dispensational teaching, sat under professors over a period of 8-10 years, I've read books. I have never read anybody who held such views.

So he goes on to talk about this, put it in print in his commentary and then people pick it up and say, oh, that's what dispensationalism teaches. The church is not an afterthought in the plan of God. God hasn't been adjusting Himself along the way. God established His purposes and plans in eternity past, but He has not revealed those plans from eternity past. There is progressive revelation unfolding as we move through our scriptures.

Turn over to Ephesians 3. We need to be clear on this as we move into the founding of the church in Acts 2. There is no alteration, no change, no adjustment in the plan of God from eternity past, this has been part of the plan. But that part of the plan was not revealed in the Old Testament, it was not revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai with the Mosaic Law, it was not revealed to the prophets, it was not revealed by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. Ephesians 3:1, for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, that was his gift—an apostle to the Gentiles, a stewardship of God's grace. That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, something not before revealed by God. It's not new to God, it's not a new wrinkle, it's not a change or adjustment in God's plan. It is something that God had chosen not to reveal until this time, a part of His plan kept in the secret counsels of God for His own purposes until He brings the Apostle Paul on the scene. That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, what God was going to do through the finished work of Christ.

What is this mystery? It is something, verse 5, which in other generations had not been made known to the sons of men. It's not something God didn't know about, God hadn't planned for. It is something that had not been made known previously to the sons of men. It's God's plan but He had chosen to keep it a secret within the counsels of the godhead. Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has not been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Keeps on. Of which I was made a minister according to the gift if God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me the very least of all the saints this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, to bring to light, note this, what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things. So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus.

So you see it was the eternal purpose now revealed. I mean, it is inexcusable for such an educated man, and some of you know, D. Martin Lloyd Jones was physician to the queen before he left his position there and became a minister of the gospel and had a thirty-year ministry at Westminster chapel where G. Campbell Morgan preceded him. And we still benefit from his writings. But to manifest such ignorance of what dispensationalism is, which started in its present form with a man from that part of the world, Darby, and so.

And so I just want you to be aware, we're not talking about a new plan for God. We're talking about new revelation regarding God's plan. And even as the church starts in Acts 2 the full and complete revelation of the church and its place in the eternal plan of God will not be made known until it's revealed through the Apostle Paul. And we get to Acts 10 and 11 and we find there is still confusion. And Paul writes Ephesians and explains some of the material that needs to be understood.

So come back to Acts 2. There are key chapters in the Bible that you have to understand to make sense of scripture—the creation and fall in the first three chapters of Genesis. If you don't know something about the opening chapters of Genesis, the rest of the Bible makes no sense. So there are key chapters for that. The flood of Noah in Genesis 6-9, the judgment of God that encompassed the whole world. The Abrahamic Covenant set forth in Genesis 12 and then subsequently in following chapters. If you don't understand the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12, you are at a loss. I mean, everything down to the salvation we are preaching today has its foundation in the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenant that God established with Abraham and what he promised in that covenant, not only for the physical descendants of Abraham but for all nations of the earth. The exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Law beginning in Exodus 19. I mean, understanding Israel as a nation, as the people of God and their functioning and so on in the plan of God.

You jump over to the gospels, the life and death of Christ, of course, is pivotal. You have to know something about Jesus Christ, who He is, His life and His death. The beginning of the church in Acts 2 is such a pivotal chapter. Doesn't mean the rest of scripture between these sections is not essential and necessary, but if you don't have some grasp of these pivotal points in scripture, the rest of scripture you are adrift in. That's why when a person picks up their Bible maybe and starts reading, just opens it up and says, this is easy. Just jump in here and I think I'll read it. Where are they? I mean, if you came out of a totally pagan background and don't know something about the opening chapters of Genesis, you don't know something about the covenant God made with Abraham, the book of Revelation that tells us how it all ends and brings it all to completion.

So we're in Acts 2, one of those pivotal kinds of chapters. It is a major event because here is the coming of the Holy Spirit as He was promised in the Old Testament in connection with the New Covenant, which required the finished work of Christ on the cross, which John the Baptist announced would take place in connection with the work of Christ, the Messiah of Israel, which Jesus promised as He anticipated His death. We saw in Acts 1, we looked back in John's gospel where He spoke of the coming of the Spirit and it is essential. I return to the Father because if I don't return to the Father the Holy Spirit will not come to you. It is better for you that I go to the Father and the Holy Spirit comes to you than I remain with you. So it is an even of awesome proportions.

You understand the change that is taking place in Acts 2. Everything in our Bibles from Genesis 12 until Acts 2 has to do with Israel and God's plan and program with the nation Israel, and God's work of salvation as focused in the nation Israel. I mean, that means everything except the first eleven chapters of Genesis, basically. Everything from Genesis 12 up to Acts 2 is about Israel and the place of Israel in the plan of God. And God's program of salvation was focused in the nation Israel. And the other nations are just there and dealt with as they relate to the nation Israel. That's all going to change with Acts 2. Now there will be a process but the foundation now for the change is established with the establishing of the church.

What we have for the first time in all of history is the baptism of the Spirit will take place in Acts 2. That is the event that has not occurred in the scripture up until Acts 2, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I Corinthians 12:13 says it is the baptism of the Spirit that makes you part of the church. By one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. So we have the beginning of the church set forth here. From this point on, and there will be a progression as we've seen in Acts 1, the gospel now that is going to be used to build the church will reach out starting with the Jews. But then beyond the Jews ultimately to throughout the world. And so we begin the period of time which Jesus referred to in John 16 when He talked about the Holy Spirit, what would the Holy Spirit do. He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. That's in anticipation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in salvation has been focused in Israel and any non-Israelite that would come to salvation would come to believe in the God of Israel, God's covenant program with Israel and become identified with Israel. Now the Spirit is going to be convicting the world. You and I are evidences of that. The vast majority of the group here is comprised of Gentiles, non-Jews.

We begin the time in Acts 2 known as the fullness of the Gentiles. Turn over to Romans 11, we will soon get to this in our study of Romans. Romans 11:25, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery. Here is the word again, it is something that had not been revealed with any clarity or fullness at prior times. That a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. We live in the time now, beginning in Acts 2, of the fullness of the Gentiles. This is a time basically of Gentile salvation. Israel is under the judgment of God, they are experiencing the judgment of God with the hardening of their hearts toward the gospel. But it's a partial hardening, by God's grace there are Jews saved. But by and large the church is Gentile in its makeup, overwhelmingly Gentile. So understand the fullness of the Gentiles is referring to that period of time from Acts 2, the beginning of the church, until the rapture of the church. That's different than the times of the Gentiles, which is characterized with Jerusalem being dominated by the Gentiles. So the fullness of the Gentiles is the time of basically Gentile salvation, the church age.

Come back to Acts 2. We've had preparation for this with the events of Acts 1 and Jesus promising that you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Acts 1:5, remember when the Jews asked, does that mean the kingdom is going to be established now? Jesus said, you don't need to know when the kingdom will be established. What you need to know is the Spirit is going to come upon you in a new and unique way, and then in Acts 1:8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you will be My witnesses. And that witness will involve carrying the gospel to the remotest parts of the earth, well beyond the confines of Palestine. You understand Jesus' earthly ministry, marvelous as it was with the Son of God on earth, was basically limited to Palestine, Israel. But you are going to be My witnesses to the remotest parts of the earth. Did anybody have any idea about this continent and where we are then? And here the gospel has been carried to even here. How far are we from the land of Israel and so on.

So a few days, not many days, it's going to be about ten days later, give or take a few days depending on how you look at it. But Jesus spent forty days after His resurrection ministering to the disciples off and on. Then He has the ascension, there, there is a period of approximately ten days, and then we come to Acts 2:1, when the Day of Pentecost had come. And Pentecost means fiftieth, it occurred fifty days after Passover and the Passover Sabbath. Passover was a holy day, a Sabbath day. Didn't necessarily have to be on Saturday because certain holy days were also Sabbath days in Israel. But fifty days after Passover you have Pentecost. And we're not going to go back and look at the references to Pentecost in the Old Testament, you can find it in Leviticus 23:15-16. Now it has some other names, let me just mention them to you. It is called the Feast of Weeks in Exodus 34:22, the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16, the Day of Firstfruits in Numbers 28:26. So we'll call it Pentecost, but just so you understand you can go back and wonder what these other names are. These different names all tie together because on this day the first sheaf of grain, bundle of grain is brought in from the harvest and presented to the Lord. And that's the sign of a coming harvest. It is one of the three major festivals of the Jews. The other two would be Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. And Pentecost, Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, the three major feast or festivals in Israel among the Jews and if possible men were to come to Jerusalem for this observation.

So we're told Pentecost had come. So we were told in Acts 1 that Jesus had ministered with His disciples for forty days after His resurrection from the dead, and His resurrection took place in the context of Passover, and then we're told Pentecost is come so we that's why we say we are about ten days after His ascension in Acts 1. The disciples were all together in one place. At the end of Acts 1 they had replaced Judas with Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles. And they were all together in one place. Some would hold this was larger than just the twelve, but for sure we are talking about the twelve here because we wouldn't have chapter division as Luke wrote this or a verse division, and we flow from the fact that now you have replaced Judas, you have twelve apostles again and they were all together in one place. So you could have the twelve meeting together, they being more of the disciples, they had about 120 over in Acts 1 meeting together. But for sure the twelve are here and the focus will be on the twelve. And even the speaking will focus on the twelve.

So let's read this account and move along a little bit. They are together in one place and something happens. Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves and they rested each one on each one of them. So if this was the house like they met in in Acts 1 in that upper room and there were 120, maybe there were additional. It doesn't say specifically. They are in a house. But this is a house that has a proximity to evidently a large area, and we assume it seems to be the temple because this is where the crowds gathered together. Some of the details are not filled in as clearly as we would like, but they are here meeting in a house in a spot where they meet together. And they are taken by surprise. We assume they are meeting together for prayer like they did in chapter 1, continuing that practice, for fellowship, perhaps the apostles talking further about what Christ had taught them following His resurrection. We are not told the details of that. And there comes from heaven a noise like a mighty rushing wind. It doesn't say a mighty rushing wind, it says from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind. Someone said it was a noise like the roar of a tornado. We don't know, but that's the sound. So we don't want to get the picture that all of a sudden everything is blowing around in the room, their robes are blowing and there is a wind. But there is a sound of the wind because with the coming of the Holy Spirit there needs to be in a new radically different way some evidence of His coming. Because the Holy Spirit is here in this room, present in our bodies, present in this room in this gathering, but we don't sense Him with our senses. So for this coming on this initial occasion there needs to be some manifestation to demonstrate His arrival. So the sound of the mighty rushing wind is the first thing mentioned.

It filled the house. So this place of gathering is filled with this roaring sound of a wind. Secondly there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves upon them. They rested on each of them. So here come tongues like fire and they rest on each one of them. So it is appearance of fire. Again the picture, tongues as of fire. That doesn't mean you could have put your finger up and been burned, but at least you do have the manifestation of fire here. It is as of fire. So you have a visible indication now. You had the hearing so you could hear the coming of the Spirit with the rushing wind, now you have the visual demonstration of His presence with the fire. And then you are going to have the speaking which brings clarity to the situation, if you will.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So we have three things that happen here—we have the sound like the wind, we have the tongues of fire, and we have the speaking with tongues. Speaking with tongues goes on. Evidently the sound of the wind and the visible tongues of fire resting on them are temporary because no indication as the crowd grows and gathers that they hear the wind or see the tongues of fire, but they will hear the speaking in other languages. That's what will be going on for the crowd.

So verse 3, the tongues of fire distributing themselves and rested on each one of them. With this they are filled with the Spirit. Now we can go back to the Old Testament, go back to Exodus 3:2, we're dealing with Jews here and at this point their whole background is the Old Testament. That's all they have, there is no New Testament yet for them to read. Exodus 3:2, when God appeared to Moses He does it in the burning bush. Verse 2, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. And the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is a manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ, as you are aware. And yet the bush was not burned. God manifest His presence in the context of a fire burning, perhaps in the context of our God is a consuming fire.

Go over to Exodus 19 with the giving of the Law. Verse 18, now Mt. Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. The smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace. But there again the presence of the Lord manifested with the fire. Ezekiel 1:27 with that vision of the glory of the Lord, burning as fire. So it is consistent with some of the revelation of the Old Testament in the presence of the Lord. Now this coming presence of the Spirit who does not have a physical presence manifesting Himself like Christ who came to earth and was born into the human race and had a physical body, but He comes and manifests His presence in a visible way as God did in the Old Testament.

And He is resting upon them because now He is taking up residence in them. How do you manifest that? How do you see the Holy Spirit in a person? You don't. So here the presence of the tongues of fire, and then their ability now to speak with other tongues will manifest the presence of the Spirit in them. When it says they were filled with the Holy Spirit, that's different than the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now it comes out of the baptism of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit is a one-time event that identifies them with Christ and placed them into the body of Christ, the church. But the filling of the Spirit is ongoing, it is a control of the Spirit. So the Spirit now has come to indwell them, He takes control of them. Several times through the book of Acts we will see, they were filled with the Spirit. Some have confused that with the baptism and so have taught that baptism occurs repeatedly. But the baptism of the Spirit occurs on one occasion. The filling of the Spirit, and that's why we are commanded as believers in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit, having Him to control us. But the baptism of the Spirit according to I Corinthians 12:13 placed us into the body of Christ.

So we begin the church here. How do we know? Come over to Acts 10 for more specificity. Peter will carry the gospel now for the first time to the Gentiles. So it takes a while and it is interesting. In Acts 9 the apostle to the Gentiles is converted on the Damascus Road. In Acts 10 Peter carries the gospel for the first time to the Gentiles, so he has that privilege, but Paul will be the one who carries on the apostolic ministry to Gentiles, as we are aware of. Peter is preaching at the house of Cornelius to a collection of Gentiles here. And he is going over the gospel. He tells about the life of Christ, verse 39, then he says they put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God has raised him up on the third day, granted that He become visible, not to all the people but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is to those of us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify this is the One who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening to the message. And all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter, those are Jewish believers who had come with Peter, were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. How did they know that? They were hearing them speak with tongues, exalting God. We're going to talk about tongues in a moment. But you see they were speaking with tongues. And so verse 47, they say surely no one can refuse water for these to be baptized in identification with Christ with water baptism, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did.

You come over to Acts 11, the apostles in Jerusalem call Peter to account and want to know why he went and preached and ate with uncircumcised Gentiles. Verse 2, when Peter came to Jerusalem those who were circumcised took issue with him. Again, Jewish believers, saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. You see the clarity of the gospel going beyond the Jews has not yet been impressed upon them. Peter began to speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence. And he goes through all that happens in Acts 10 beginning with God giving him a special vision. Down in verse 15, as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. Fell upon them in Acts 10, the Gentiles that he was preaching to in Acts 10, just as He did upon us at the beginning, back in Acts 2, as He fell upon us Jews in the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore if God gave them the same gift as He gave to us, what was the same gift? The baptism of the Holy Spirit that we got in Acts 2, they got in Acts 10 as we have it. We got it at the beginning, now He has also given it to the Gentiles. Verse 18, when they heard this they quieted down and glorified God saying, well then God has granted it to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. The evidence being they were baptized with the Spirit.

All right, come back to Acts 2. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. They began to speak with other tongues. This becomes the big discussion point in Acts 2, they are speaking with other tongues. But it's not very confusing and it's not very difficult. They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. I take it the tongues here are languages. We are told in verse 6, each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language; verse 8, how is it that we each hear them in our own language or dialect. The word language there, dialect, we just carry it over into English. Dialect is just the Greek word carried over into English, letter for letter. In our own dialect, our own language to which we were born. Then he mentions the different dialects that were here—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, on he goes. Down in verse 11, we hear them in our own tongues. Now some have taken this and said it was a gift of hearing. They were speaking in a heavenly language, angelic voices, but the gift and the miracles was people were hearing their own language. They use that to justify tongues today, just being what we might call babbling speech, not any kind of recognizable, discernible, earthly language. It's a heavenly language. But the gift is a gift of hearing. But verse 4 says it's a gift of speaking. They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. So the gift was to be able to speak in other tongues, other languages.

We use that same expression today. We say, what is your mother tongue? We mean what is your mother language. You may have learned other languages, but we say his mother tongue was Spanish, and we know what it means, it was his original language that he spoke. He may have learned others and if he learned it very far along in life it probably still has an accent that betrays that for us. English was not his basic language. Just like an adult who has English as his basic language and he speaks another language, he usually speaks it with a discernible accent and so on.

So it's a language, they are speaking with other tongues, other languages. This is the common use of the word tongue. So in Acts 2 there is not much room for discussion or debate that we are speaking in languages, earthly languages, because there they list all various ones in verses 9-11, the various dialects. Because since this is one of the three major feasts in Jerusalem, Jews came from all over the world. Now they are amazed to hear these people speaking in their own language.

Look at verse 5, now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. They had come from all over the world, some maybe have come back to gather more permanently, some had gathered just for the Feast of Pentecost. This would bring people in, Jews from all over if possible were to come up to Jerusalem for this feast. They were amazed. When they heard this sound occur, verse 6, the crowd came together and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. So as the disciples begin to speak in these different languages it is in the context where others can hear and gather and assemble. They were amazed and astonished saying, why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? That's why we say the focus here is on the twelve, they were all Galileans. Remember the original twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him was the only non-Galilean. It may be Galileans had their own accent and maybe that carries over here even as they speak the other language and it is recognizable. These people come and they hear this and the diversity of these languages and yet they are all Galileans. And they are not viewed as the educated class. How are they doing this? They are hearing them speak in his own language.

They were amazed and astonished saying, why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear them in our own language to which we were born? So these Jews and devout Jews who had come to Jerusalem, they had learned languages as they had been dispersed throughout the world. Now they come back and here they are in Jerusalem and here there are Galileans speaking our language. How can this be? And you have that whole list.

And they are speaking of the mighty deeds of God. Now note here, some people say they were given the gift of languages so they could communicate the gospel to these people in their own language. That's not so. The indication here, they are speaking the mighty deeds of God, we're not told the particular context. They may have been talking some about Christ and so on, but really the gospel will be preached when Peter stands up and preaches the gospel in the Greek language which would have been a common language of the world in that day. So these people had their native language where they were, but then they could come and hear the common language. So the gospel is preached by Peter. The focus is not that each of these is giving out the gospel in their own language, this pulls the group together and they hear these men giving testimony to God. What all they talked about, the mighty deeds of God, and not saying they didn't talk about Christ, but we don't know.

But they all continued in amazement and great perplexity saying to one another, what does this mean? So what do you make of this? We come here from all parts of the world, we have a multitude of dialects, languages here. We hear these Galileans speaking in our own language. They recognize there is something supernatural here. Others were mocking saying, they are full of sweet wine, they are drunk, they wake up and they just put it down. Because you have a variety of languages being spoken. There is just a lot of confusion going on here, they are probably drunk. Which is a superficial, trite way of passing it off. Because obviously there is enough clarity here when they have mentioned all the languages and the amazement of the people, but there are always those who just pass it off.

Now that sets the stage. You'll note verse 14, we're not going into this, but verse 14, Peter takes his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and now he'll begin to preach. He'll tell them these men aren't drunk, it's early in the day. This is the fulfillment of Old Testament scripture, because remember he's talking to Jews. When it says back in verse 5, there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, that word used for devout is only used of Jews in the New Testament. So it's a further explanation. There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation. They are devout because they have come to Jerusalem because they are committed Jews. And they see their responsibility and obligation.

So this supernatural event, the coming of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, the visible evidence of the Spirit's presence now in their lives in a new way prepares the way for the gospel. Why come? Come over to I Corinthians 14. It may be at least part of the reason. We're not going into the gift of tongues as unfolded in I Corinthians 12-14, but my understanding is it's the same particular gift manifestation of the presence of the Spirit in a life, it's the ability to speak a language the person had not known. But why tongues? Well Paul explains it. Verse 20, he's talking about the gift of tongues here and having a proper understanding of it. Brethren, do not be children in your thinking, yet in evil be infants but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, and the Law can refer to the first five books of the Bible. We talk about the Law of Moses, but the Law also becomes a statement of the overall Old Testament. And so when he says in the Law it would be like we say, in the scriptures, in the Old Testament, in the Law. So he is quoting here from Isaiah 28:11. In the Law it is written by men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me, says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not for those who believe but for unbelievers. Prophecy is a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe. And Paul draws from a passage here in Isaiah 28:11. And so when he says by men of strange tongues, but the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, obviously the tongues there refer to an earthly language.

What Isaiah is talking about there is the northern kingdom is going to be conquered by the Assyrians. And the sign of God's judgment on Israel will be the presence of a foreign language among them. Because when Israel hears Assyrian being spoken, they are in trouble, they are in judgment. So the presence of this foreign language in Israel was a sign they had been conquered, they were under the judgment of God, because when they weren't under the judgment of God they had the protection of God. So Isaiah 28:11 is talking about judgment. So he ties this in I Corinthians 14:21, by the men of strange tongues, by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. Even so they will listen to Me. So tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. Why? What does he mean? Well to Jews. You hear this strange language you are under judgment. What is going on in Acts 2? We have a change, Israel is under judgment. And now God's blessings in salvation will no longer focus in the physical nation Israel. But we being the time of the fullness of the Gentiles. And even though the church begins with Jews it will very quickly move beyond the Jews and become a Gentile focused outreach.

So why tongues in Acts 2? Well, where are we? We're in Jerusalem. Who is the audience? Jews. What is being indicated? They are under judgment. But it is a salvation that is offered to Jews and God is gracious. Even at the beginning there will be a multitude of Jews who will come to salvation by faith in the Messiah. But make no mistake, the nation is under judgment. Their Messiah has come, and as we saw in Romans, has ascended and been seated at the right hand of the Father on high. So even though the message of the gospel will begin with the Jews in Acts 2 and through the first part of Acts, it will soon spread and the focus will become the Gentiles and the Apostle Paul's ministry will begin in Acts 13 and the rest of that book is primarily taken up with his missionary journeys, his ministry to Jews. But the response is by and large negative.

Tremendously important section for us. Here we are 2000 years later. Acts 2 is of great importance to us. I thank God that in the plan He established in eternity past, it included this period of time that was not revealed until later, but He was going to graciously extend His salvation beyond the boundaries of Israel and carry it throughout the world and invite Gentiles to the salvation that the Jewish Messiah provided by His death on the cross. But then again in the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12 He promised that His salvation blessings would not only be for the physical descendants of Abraham, but also for the spiritual descendants of Abraham because in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. So here we are, part of the fulfillment of that promise and have experienced through faith in Christ the baptism of the Holy Spirit that first occurred there. These physical phenomena are not repeated. That's not unusual. God gave the Law on Mt. Sinai, we read just a portion of that, with fire coming down and smoke arising and the earthquake shaking the mountain. Why? Because God is giving new revelation. After that God's word is proclaimed, that same law is repeated by the teachers and the prophets and so on, but you don't have all those visible signs because now you have the word of God and you have to believe that.

So the coming of the Spirit God manifests the uniqueness of what is taking place and the new way of working. Now we have our New Testament and we believe it because God promised it. I haven't had that rushing wind sound, haven't seen the tongues of fire, haven't spoken with other languages. But you know what? I have the promise of God. The word of God and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the message of Christ. So we believe the word that God has given.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for the marvelous event that is marked for us in Acts 2. Lord, what a drastic change has taken place for the nation Israel. Not a change in your purposes and plans, all you have promised to Israel will take place. But Lord now you have chosen to reveal part of your glorious plan that had not been revealed before that salvation will be carried to the uttermost parts of the world, the Gentiles will be gathered in in great numbers as your focus in salvation takes place in non-Jews. Thank you, Lord, for your grace in preserving a remnant down through history of believing Jews to this day. Thank you for the church of Jesus Christ, thank you for the presence of the Spirit in our lives personally and in the church. May we be faithful as your witnesses in the power of the Spirit that you have given us, even in the days of the week before us. We pray in Christ's name, amen.