Acts 2:1-4 –“When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Jesus said, “I will build my church.”
However, Jesus was not present at the inaugural day of the church. Ten days before the inauguration of the church, Jesus was taken up to heaven.
Without a doubt, Jesus was the ideal person to give an inaugural address the day the church was born. Yet, Jesus did not wait till that significant day of church history.
Rather, He entrusted the inaugural address to one of His beloved disciples. Jesus gave that golden opportunity, delivering the first message on the birth day of His church, to His disciple Peter.
For the establishment, expansion, and growth of His church, Jesus did not select the well-educated, highly qualified, or elite. Instead, he chose the lowly, uneducated disciples, most of them fishermen.
When the church started to grow, Jesus did not provide for them a great facility for worship.
When the church started to grow, Jesus did not provide them with sufficient finances for all of the apostles’ expenses including housing or rent for a worship center.
Jesus did not leave them any certificate or credentials to display before government officials to avoid any potential conflicts.
Jesus did not introduce the disciples to any respected and highly esteemed Roman or Jewish officials, for connection, protection, and security in case any conflicts arose as they continued their ministry.
No, instead Jesus said only one thing: “Go and wait for the Holy Spirit, and receive it.”
Jesus knew that this command would provide the answer for the needs mentioned above.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to worry about your disqualifications.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to worry about having a worship facility.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to worry about your finances.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to worry about your security.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to worry about your credentials.
Instead of worrying about these things, the disciples simply obeyed Jesus and waited to receive the Holy Spirit.
Church, what we desperately need more than anything in our lives today is to receive and experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come” – God set apart a specific day. Many times we follow our calendar and our man-made schedules to wait on the Holy Spirit.
“They were all come together” – Unity is of God and division is of the devil. Outward unity is seen by the people.
“They were all in one accord” – However, inward unity is only seen by God.
“They were all in one place” – The church is God’s appointed place for God’s children to come together.
When the disciples obeyed the command of Jesus, when they had done their part, heaven acted on that obedience and did something they never expected.
Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.
It filled the whole house where they were sitting.
There appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire.
The tongues of fire sat upon each of them.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
They all began to speak with other tongues.
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come.”
The Day of Pentecost refers to the day of the feast or festival of Pentecost.
God had ordained seven festivals for the people of Israel (during the first month, the third month, and the seventh month in their calendar) to celebrate.
Seven Holy Festivals of God – Leviticus 23
The Festival (feast) of Passover – Pessaha Perunnal
The Feast of Unleavened Bread – Pulipillatha Appathinte Perunnal
The Feast of First Fruit - Aadyabhala Perunnal
The Feast (festival) of Pentecost – Celebrating the giving of the Law from Mt. Sinai
The Feast of Trumpets – Kahala Perunnal
The Day of Atonement - Maham papaparihara perunnal
The Feast of Tabernacle – Koodara Perunnal
Acts 2:5-6 - “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.”
They were all confused because they heard their own language.
In Genesis 11 – In the story of the Tower of Babel, all the people were confused because they could not understand each other’s language.
At first, they had all spoke one language.
At the tower of Babel, they gathered in rebellion.
On the day of Pentecost, they all gathered in submission and obedience.
At the tower of Babel, they gathered in pride.
On the day of Pentecost, they gathered in humility.
At the tower of Babel, they disobeyed God and built their own kingdom against God.
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples obeyed God and worked together to build God’s kingdom.
At the tower of Babel, they all spoke one language and God come down and confused their language and scattered them into various nations.
On the day of Pentecost, all the scattered nations came back together, and God restored their languages together.
The Day of Pentecost was the blessed reversal of the God’s judgement and curse at the Tower of Babel.
The Day of Pentecost was a festival in remembrance of Moses receiving the law from the Lord at Mt. Sinai.
At the time the law was given, there was a loud noise, the cloud descended, there was fire, God wrote these laws in the tablets of stone.
On that day the law was given, three thousand people died.
On the day of Pentecost, there was loud noise, there was a sound of rushing wind. The cloud means the Holy Spirit descended, and there was a fire of tongues.
On the day of Pentecost, God wrote the law in the hearts of men and three thousand people were saved.
The Day of Pentecost radically changed the disciples’ lives. God transformed simple fisherman into world changers and kingdom shakers. He sent them all over the world to proclaim the gospel. The world thought that after Jesus, Christianity would die with these simple, uneducated, and even cowardly disciples.
But the Holy Spirit shattered their expectations. The church received three thousand people for God’s kingdom that very same day.
Powerful government and religious leaders began to tremble at the power of the Holy Spirit at work.
Over the last two thousand plus years, the work of the Holy Spirit, through the disciples, continued to accelerate with increasing momentum and force.
Dear church, what we desperately need today is the power of the Holy Spirit in lives. It will change our personal agendas, our family matters, our church routines, our communities, and the world.