Tongues of Fire

 Acts 2:1-13

Of all the feasts of the Jewish year, none attracted larger numbers of pilgrims from the distant lands like the feast of Pentecost. The dangers of travel by sea and land in early spring and late autumn prevented them from coming in large numbers to the Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles.  At no other feast would there have been representatives of so many nations.  It was the Feast of the Pentecost that the Apostle Paul kept more than once during his missionary work in Greece and Asia.  As John said in his message a couple of weeks ago, Pentecost gets its name for being 50 days after the Passover. 

Luke says in Acts 1:3-5:

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. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “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 1:3-5

Only ten days elapsed between the Ascension and Pentecost.  The disciples obeyed Jesus’ command to wait, although they did not know how long the wait would be.  The only act recorded by them in the meantime was the election of Matthias to fill Judas’ place.  That one event, the drawing lots to see who would replace Judas Iscariot, was an exception.  The rest of their time, the 120 disciples mainly busied themselves with prayer, supplication and patient waiting, by staying together in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded them.

Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind in John 3:8.  He said:

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. – John 3:8

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. – Acts 2:1

They were probably in the upper room described in Acts 1:13

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. – Acts 2:2

Note: Luke does not say the wind filled the house but the sound like the blowing of a violent wind filled the whole house where they were staying. Much like the sound of my stereo amplifier fills my whole house when the volume is turned way up. 

Then:

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. – Acts 2:3

Remember in Exodus 3:1-3:

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” – Exodus 3:1-3

Note: Here on Pentecost, like there on mount Horeb, it was not a literal fire, but in both cases it looked enough like fire that this was the best description that authors could give their readers.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” – Acts 2:4-11

I always wondered how they knew that everyone was hearing them in their own language. 

Then it occurred to me that because there were so many different nations represented that they must have had interpreters to communicate with each other. 

So the interpreters would repeat what was being said, but the people they were interpreting for would probably tell them, You don’t have to keep repeating that because they are speaking in my native tongue.”  The interpreters would say, “No, they are speaking in my native tongue.”  Of course this made them all bewildered as to how they all heard things being said, and they all understood them in their native tongue without the assistance of the interpreters.

This would be like Roberto translating for me what someone speaking in Italian was saying, and I would say “Roberto, why are you telling me that again? They are speaking in English so I understood them the first time.” and Roberto would say, “No they are speaking in Italian.”  You kind of get the idea.

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” – Acts 2:12

We could have asked a similar question about the tongues that appeared as flames of fire on the 120 believers, “When people get the Holy Spirit now after getting saved, why don’t we see a tongue of fire over their head?”  It sure would make it a lot easier to know if they truly got saved or not, both for them and the people that were involved in the process of leading them to the Lord. 

Well the tongues that appeared like fire that day on the 120 disciples were never recorded happening again in the Bible.  Those people on whom the tongues like a flame of fire appeared that day were probably already saved because they had already believed in Jesus and were obeying Him.

But what about the Holy Spirit enabling them to speak in languages other than their native language.  What did that mean?

Well the answer is that this display of the Holy Spirit enabling them to speak in a language other than their native tongue was a sign.  That is, it was a sign for the Jews so that they may believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  We will see later, it was also a sign for the Jews, not the Gentiles, when the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentile Cornelius and his relatives at Caesarea in Acts 10. 

It was not a sign for the Gentiles in Jerusalem that Pentecost day nor was it a sign for the Gentiles that day at Caesarea, but it was a sign for the Jews that accompanied Peter from Joppa.  This later sign at Caesarea was to show the Jews that salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit was not only going to be given to the Jews, but that it was going to be given to the uncircumcised Gentiles also.

The Jews were constantly asking for signs:

Circumcision was a sign. 

Blood on the doorpost was a sign.

Tassels hanging down from their clothing with the Scriptures written on them was a sign.

Observing the Sabbath was a sign.

Aaron’s staff was a sign.

Curses were signs, and blessings were signs.

Gideon asked for a sign to be sure it was God talking to him.

The death of Eli’s sons on the same day (Hophni and Phinehas) was a sign.

The virgin Mary giving birth to a Son and naming Him Jesus, which means God is Salvation, and Immanuel, which means God with us, was a sign.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees demanded a sign from Jesus.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested Him by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. – Matthew 1:1-4

Speaking in tongues is someone speaking in a language other than their native tongue without taking any lessons in the language that they are speaking.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:22:

Tongues then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. – 1 Corinthians 14:22

Paul is referring here to the speaking in the tongues of a different language, not the Holy Spirit appearing like tongues as of fire as He did on the 120 disciples at Pentecost.  The tongues as of fire was most certainly a sign to the 120 believing disciples in the upper room, and to them only, that the promised gift had come.  But the speaking in different languages was a sign to the Jewish unbelievers outside that room who were not demanding a sign at the time.  It was given to them so that they may transition from being unbelievers to being believers in Jesus.  As we will see in Carl’s message next week, about 3000 of the Jews end up making that transition on that Pentecost day.

Acts 2:13 says:

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” – Acts 2:13

There are two lessons to be learned from this last verse. First, there will always be some who make fun of the believers. Second, we like the disciples, must not let the fact that someone is making fun of us deter us from obeying the command to be witnesses of the hope of our calling, the Good News of the Gospel.

Let’s pray.

Selection in Humility

Acts 1:12-26

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. – Acts 1:12-14

Jesus had appeared to them on numerous occasions after He rose from the dead.  Luke said,

On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “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

They went to the upper room to pray.  This was in obedience to Jesus’ command to “wait.”  Rarely, when God commands someone to wait, does it mean “do nothing”.  They were waiting…expectantly.  What should an expectant heart produce?  One thing is prayer.  Just because God promised something doesn’t mean that we can’t pursue Him about the thing He’s going to give.  Knowing that God is going to give us something doesn’t mean that we should become passive.  We have many promises in the Bible that God has given to us.  He has promised to take care of us.  We can thank God for His promise to take care of us and ask Him to do so because He promised it.  This kind of prayer glorifies God because we verbalize our trust in Him.  We proclaim that He is the provider and that He is compassionate.  And it’s actually good for us.  It reminds us of our dependence on Him. 

Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit.  In this story, we’re about to see this promise fulfilled.  What did Jesus say it would be like when they received the Spirit?  What did Jesus say the Spirit would do in them?  The Apostle John takes us back there:

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.  All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” – John 14:23-26

First, Jesus talks about the most important thing, that the disciples would love Jesus.  Second, He describes what it will look like for them to love Him.  He said that they would obey His teaching.  Third, He said that He desired to make His home with them.  He wanted to dwell in them.  In the context of John 14, He’s talking about them receiving the Holy Spirit.  Fourth, He said that the Holy Spirit will teach them and remind them of what He has spoken to them.  In Acts 1, we’re on the verge of seeing these things happen in the disciples.  The Spirit would come to live in them.  The Spirit would teach them and help them remember what Jesus had taught them.  The Spirit would help them obey Jesus, which, in turn, meant that they loved Him.  This string of events would help them reach the goal.  The goal was the very first thing Jesus talked about in John 14, to love Him.  In Acts, we see the church begin.  The church would love Jesus by obeying the things that He taught them. 

I’d encourage you to write these verse references down if you can.  I think it might help you understand what is about to happen in Acts 2.  The verses are things that Jesus commanded, taught and demonstrated to His disciples.  First of all, He taught them to repent and to preach repentance. Matthew 4:17 is one example: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” (Matthew 4:17).  He taught baptism and demonstrated it by His own baptism, Matthew 3:13-17.  He taught them to honor the Scriptures just as He honored them.  In Matthew 5:19, He commanded them to practice and teach the commands.  He taught them to love one another just as He loved them.  You can find this in John 13:34-35.  He showed them what real fellowship looked like.  He broke bread with His disciples.  He commanded them, “‘This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’” (Luke 22:19)  He taught His disciples to pray on numerous occasions.  The most famous instance is in Luke 11:1-13.  This is known as the Lord’s Prayer in which Jesus prayed, “Our Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come…”  At the very end of this passage, Jesus says something I find to be very peculiar.  I wonder if Jesus said this knowing what was going to happen in Acts 2.  I guess you would have to read Luke 11 and Acts 2 on your own and see what you think.  In Acts 20:35, Paul reminded the church in Ephesus that Jesus taught them, “‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  On numerous occasions, you can read in the gospels how Jesus ate together with his disciples in a home setting (i.e. John 13).  In Matthew 26:30, after breaking bread together, they sang a hymn.  He demonstrated a glad and sincere heart. 

Keep these moments in mind as we go into Acts 2 in the next three weeks, especially verses 36-47.  After the disciples received the Holy Spirit, notice if you see any similarities to the teachings that I just mentioned.  We’ll find out if the disciples and the early church begin to carry out what Jesus started.

In our story in Acts 1, they decided to replace Judas.

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. – Acts 1:15-17

In this list of Apostles, there’s a man who denied Jesus and another man who betrayed Jesus.  Peter took on a leadership role in this group.  He was one of the three disciples that went with Jesus to places the others hadn’t and heard things from Jesus that the others hadn’t.  You would think that he would have been one of the most faithful disciples considering all the special things he saw and heard firsthand.  He ended up denying Jesus three times before He went to the cross.  I probably wouldn’t have felt too confident to take this position if I were him.  I would have felt like the least of the apostles.  Matter of fact, I wouldn’t have felt like an apostle at all. 

There seemed to be other apostles who had a better track record.  John, for example, seemed to be the closest to Jesus out of all the apostles.  John called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” in John 13:23.  I’m not sure that he was actually the one Jesus loved the most.  This was a title that John gave himself, although, somehow inspired by the Holy Spirit.  I wonder if Jesus was the kind of person that made everyone feel like He loved them the most.

Jesus chose Peter.  Peter didn’t choose Jesus.  He said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” (John 15:16a)  This is one of the ways of God. 

He chose Abraham to be a blessing to the nations.  God knew that this would be a man that would be given into fear at times.  He knew that this man would have moments when he would act out of the flesh, not out of faith.  This is the kind of person God chose. 

He chose Moses to lead his people out of captivity.  This is the same guy that would try to free the people of Israel in his own timing but was only able to deliver one Hebrew from immediate slavery.  He became a murderer by killing the Egyptian taskmaster.  He would also try to come up with every excuse in the book as to why he shouldn’t be their leader.  This is the kind of person God chose. 

He chose a bitter coward to preach to the people of Nineveh.  If Jonah had spent the same amount of energy obeying God as he did running from Him then the mission would have been accomplished in very little time.  This is the kind of person God chose.

He chose David to be king.  He would eventually become a murderer and adulterer.  He loved the Lord, he repented and he did what the Lord asked, but only after he did terrible things.  This is the kind of person God chose.

The apostle Paul didn’t have the ideal resume’ either.  He was involved in the violent persecution of Christians.  This is the kind of person God chose. 

There was nothing special about Peter and John.  In Acts 4:13, Luke says,

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. – Acts 4:13

They were “unschooled” and “ordinary”.  Jesus was never aiming for the smartest, extraordinary, best-qualified, or even the boldest disciples.  These are the kind of people God chose. 

He chose these people, then He equipped them.  He wasn’t looking for those who were equipped already.  He chose these people, then He changed them.  He wasn’t looking for people who had great self-control and could change themselves.  He chose these people, then gave them a mission and the power to accomplish that mission. These people didn’t care about that mission before God changed them.  These people didn’t have the power to carry out His will until He gave them the power.  If you have felt unworthy, sinful, unfaithful, bitter, disobedient, unequipped, and unable, then you are in great company.  You have finally reached the place where God wants you to be.  He wants you to recognize that you are all these things and to be humble with Him. 

As Christians, if we go astray from God He will discipline us.  He wants our lives to rise up to the calling He has given to us.  He wants us to be free from sin, to be faithful, to not be bitter, to be obedient, to be equipped and able.  He wants us to be and do these things because we are chosen, not to earn to be chosen.

Peter denied Jesus.  Judas is the one who betrayed Him.  What do you think would be worse, to be filled with demons or to be filled with Satan?  I personally believe it would be worse to be filled with Satan.  Although, both would be bad.  Jesus and his disciples cast demons out of many people.  Some of these people had to be shackled because they were so dangerous.  No one wanted to approach a demon-possessed person.  In John 13:23, referring to Judas, the Scriptures say that “Satan entered into him.”  After this moment, it seemed like Judas was perfectly sane.  If he appeared insane, then I doubt the detachment of Roman soldiers would have followed him to find Jesus in the garden, where he betrayed Him.  I don’t think they would have believed that Judas was a credible person if he was acting crazy.  I’ve heard people ask why we hear about demon possession during the time of Jesus but not much today.  Or they ask why we hear about demon possession in third-world countries more than we hear about it in our culture in America.  I think there are people possessed by demons in our day and even in our country.  Satan and his demons have done a good job of disguising themselves.  Those who are possessed, or at least influenced by them, appear completely sane.  But even worse than that they appear to be walking in the light.  They appear to be outstanding, respectful people who are doing many righteous things.  Paul said,

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Judas was in charge of the money that the disciples used collectively.  He appeared to be a trustworthy person.  He went on many mission trips to share the gospel and see people healed.  He saw Jesus firsthand.  He didn’t need ten reasons to believe that the gospels were trustworthy accounts of Jesus’ life.  He witnessed Jesus’ life himself!  The apostle John gives Jesus the title “The Word.” (John 1:1)  We spend time reading The Word in order to be with The Word, but Judas spent time with The Word face-to-face.  He saw the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the blind see.  Looking back on the warning signs of Judas, John said,

But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. – John 12:4-6

Judas was ahead of the social justice movement.  But he was behind on the love-Jesus movement.  Mary seemed to be wasting expensive perfume to worship Jesus.  I wonder if the Holy Spirit revealed Judas’ theft to John as he was writing the Gospel of John or if some of the disciples already knew about it at the time of the thefts.   

(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms,

         ‘May his place be deserted;

         let there be no one to dwell in it,’

and,

        ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

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 His resurrection.”

So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. – Acts 1:18-26

Why did they need to replace Judas?  The Scripture that Peter shared was the driving influence.  But why were these Scriptures used?  Peter is quoting Psalm 69:25 and 109:8. When these Psalms were written, King David may have had passages like Deuteronomy 19:15-21 in mind. In Deuteronomy 19:15-21, the people of Israel were shown how to deal with someone who was a false witness.  They were to do to the false witness as the false witness wanted to do to the innocent person.  Others caused David to be on the run and caused him to not be able to dwell in his own tent because of their false accusations.  He was praying that God would set a trap for his accuser so that they would experience the same thing.  Just as David was ousted out of his office of king because of false witnesses, he was praying that God would oust these false witnesses out of their offices.  Just as David was betrayed by false witnesses, so was Jesus.  In the Torah, we see the commands for how to deal with false witnesses.  In the Psalms, we see how these commands were dealt with and prayed about in real life.  When Peter quotes these verses, he seems to be saying that Jesus was betrayed just like David.  Judas held an office as one of the twelve.  Jesus said that these twelve would judge the twelve tribes of Israel in His second coming.  Because of being a false witness, the official position Judas held had to be passed on to someone else in order for justice to be done. 

The person who replaced Judas as an apostle needed to have been a witness of Jesus from the time of His baptism until the time of His resurrection.  He needed to have seen first-hand that the Father spoke from heaven after Jesus was baptized.  This is when the Father told everyone there that Jesus was His Son.  He must have seen the miracles Jesus performed.  He also must have witnessed the love that Jesus shared.  As they went about preaching about Jesus they were preaching as witnesses.  If you are a follower of Christ, it’s because of these men’s preaching.  Our faith is based on events that were witnessed by trustworthy men who had been with Jesus. 

The Lord chose Matthias for the position.  Matthias didn’t choose the position.  As we learned earlier, God has certain ways that He does things.  He doesn’t choose people based on their ability, personality or performance.  He would empower Matthias for his chosen task.  I’m not sure how humble Matthias was, but I do know that this new position would probably have humbled him.  Jesus told His disciples that the goal was make disciples of the nations, not just the people in Israel.  This was a daunting task.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like a daunting task just to get out of bed and have a good attitude. There were just 120 people meeting in that upper room.  They were on the verge of getting started.  I know that God didn’t choose Matthias because of his performance.  But, in order for him to be an eyewitness of Jesus’ life from His baptism until His resurrection, he had to make a series of decisions.  These were a series of decisions to stick with Jesus.  Matthias was supposed to tell Jesus’ story from His baptism to His resurrection.  He didn’t have to have a seminary degree.  Although, he did need to have a certain level of understanding about the Messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. According to John 14, Jesus taught them what they needed to know, and He said that the Spirit would bring to mind what He told them.  He did specific training on how to have gospel conversations, but the Spirit would help them at the implementation of the training.

God is still choosing people today.  He’s not choosing people to fill the role of one of the twelve apostles, but He is still choosing people.  In reference to the forgiveness of our sins, Peter said, “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.” (2 Peter 1:10)  The NASB translates the verse as “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you…”  Part of His choosing of us for salvation is the giving of a new identity.  If you are “in Christ”, then we aren’t who we used to be.  Paul told the Corinthians that if any person is “in Christ”, then they are an ambassador as though God were making His appeal through us.  If you and I were chosen by Christ, then we’ve been chosen to be an ambassador.  This is an identity change.  We’re not performing for God.  We didn’t have to be given a command in order to a part of His purposes.  We were brought into His purposes by a change in our identity.

 

When you go home I want to encourage you to discover for yourself why He chose you.  Read Ephesians 1:4-5.  I think reading it in the New Living Translation might help with understanding it better.  The motivation came from something within Him.  Imagine that I’m about to play a pickup game of basketball.  I’m playing with adult men.  I’m one of the captains so I get to choose who is on my team.  Max is there with us.  I choose him to be on my team.  What would motivate me to do that?  I’m not doing it in order to build the most talented team.  Growing up I played a lot of pick-up basketball games.  I would always choose the best players to be on my team…the most skilled, the biggest and the fastest.  I wanted to win.  But Max wouldn’t have anything to offer me.  He would be the smallest, slowest and least skilled out of all of them.  The only reason I would choose him is because I love him and that it would bring me great pleasure by sharing this experience with me.