AN EVENTFUL FORTY DAYS
1. They executed Jesus Christ but he came to life, never to die again. And for forty days, on and off, he appeared to the disciples (Acts 1:3). He ate with them and taught them much concerning the kingdom of God. He opened their minds, Luke tells us (Luke 24:25), so they could understand the Scriptures he was teaching them.
2. They were to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit which the Father had promised (Acts 1:4-5). Given power by the Spirit they were to spread the message of the resurrected Lord from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and then to the whole wide world (Acts 1:8).
3. And then the Lord was taken up from them with the assurance that as surely as he went, he would return just as they saw him go (1:11). They returned to Jerusalem where they, with over a hundred other disciples, met to pray and set some things in order as they waited for the Spirit's arrival (1:14-26).
THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH
4. The birth of the Church took place at the temple! After the ascension, Luke 24:53, says of the apostles: "And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God." That's where we find them in Acts 2. In chapter 1 we were told of a meeting which took place in an upper room but it's clear that Acts 2 takes place in one of the houses of the temple. A great multitude (of at least 3,000 people) couldn't have gotten into an upper room.
5. The birthday of the Church was the day of Pentecost! A feast day of the Jews. Jews who spoke Greek called it Pentecost and it always fell on a Sunday. In the OT it is also called the feast of Firstfruits (Numbers 28:26). It was the beginning of a new season and the people brought the best of their first fruits and offered them to God in thanksgiving. Involved in the Pentecost (Firstfruits) offering was the idea of "there's more to come". God would provide the rest of the harvest and the people would regard that also as having come from the goodness of God.
6. The birth of the Church was signalled by miraculous events! Three things occurred and they all bore witness to the same thing. There was the sound like a stormy wind which came from the sky (Acts 2:2) and filled the whole place where they were. Then there were what looked like tongues of flame (2:3), dividing themselves and resting on each disciple and these men began to speak and magnify God in languages and dialects not known to them (2:4,6,8,11).
7. Again and again and again in Scripture wind signals the presence and work of God! Ezekiel 37:9-10,14 is an especially graphic use of wind to speak of God and his Spirit at work. Nicodemus in John 3:1-9 found a second birth difficult to swallow—after all it was invisible. As surely as the wind is real though invisible, taught the Christ, so a man's birth of the Spirit is real though invisible. The wind in Acts 2 speaks of the presence and work of the Spirit of God.
8. Again and again and again in Scripture fire signals the presence and work of God! Among many texts, Exodus 40:33-38 is helpful. When the Tabernacle was completed God indicated his dwelling there by coming down on it. During the day it was cloud and at night there was a pillar of fire. When Solomon dedicated the temple (see 2 Chornicles 7:1-3) we read: "The glory of the Lord filled the house and all the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord was upon the house." In both cases (the tabernacle and temple) God symbolized his sanctifying presence by fire.
9. In Acts 2 we have a new temple begun. One not made with hands. The Church! In this case the fire divides and rests on each person. We are being told that God wishes not only to dwell in the new Temple as a whole but that he wishes to dwell in each individual. See this distinction in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 where we're told that the Spirit not only dwells in Christians as a body, he dwells in each individual Christian because they are part of the one body.
10. The fire and the wind symbols were supernatural signs of the Spirit's presence and so was the speech these people uttered. It was clearly noted that these men were Galileans (Acts 2:7) but they were speaking foreign languages, many foreign languages. How do you explain such a thing? Neither Luke nor Peter has any doubt. They were doing it because the Spirit had come upon them (2:4,16). And what did the Spirit lead them to do? To glorify the wonderful works of God (2:11). So, in the languages and dialects (both words are used) of many different areas, uneducated Galileans were praising God and in this way were giving a sign to unbelievers that God was present (see 1Corinthians 14:22).
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