Acts

The Holy Spirit had come upon all the apostles, and they were speaking about God's wonderful power in many different languages (Acts 2:4). Their excitement and the gathering crowd attracted still more people to ask what was going on (Acts 2:12).

That Pentecost morning in Jerusalem saw quite a stir for three reasons. Firstly, the Holy Spirit had been given to the apostles and the once-petrified men (John 20:19) were now unafraid of the gathering crowd. Secondly, the apostles spoke in many languages about what God had done through Jesus.

Religious Jews value the Old Testament Scriptures: the Psalms are their hymnbook. Although we do not know any of the original melodies, the words express inner thoughts and emotions of human beings who trust God. Today's verses come after Peter had started to explain that Jesus' crucifixion was not a mistake (Acts 2:22-24).

However great a person may be, everyone has a great weakness: they all die. So we may honour the memory of dead prophets but we cannot have any relationship with them. Great people have another weakness; they cannot see the future; they may guess, but cannot see. David was both a king and a prophet (speaking to the people about what God had said to him) and dead, but in these verses Peter says that David also saw Jesus, His death and resurrection, in the future.

The true church has rarely been admired or loved by the world. Jesus was hated, and promised that His people would be persecuted (John 15:18-20). However, the Bible tells us that He wins in the end, universally honoured as the all-powerful King (Revelation 11:15-18).

The Pentecost crowd had first gathered because of an unusual sound (Acts 2:6). Then the cosmopolitan pilgrims in Jerusalem heard the apostles telling them about God's wonderful power; but each nationality heard in their own language (Acts 2:8).

These verses are Luke's comments, based on eye witness accounts, of Peter's evangelistic talk before the Pentecost crowds. The account we have in Acts 2:14-39 is a summary of the content of his message. It was all about Jesus – the rejected King who was crucified but came back to life and holds the whole world to account. The Holy Spirit empowered the apostle to speak the truth so that the people were convicted of their sin and wanted to get right with God.

On Pentecost Sunday about three thousand people repented and were baptised (Acts 2:41). The church was born. The Holy Spirit had filled the apostles and the new believers. What happened next? Firstly, there was so much to learn about Jesus, what He had done and what He said about the nature of God's kingdom. The apostles were there to tell them.

The Holy Spirit filled the new believers who repented and were baptised at Pentecost, and they became the talk of the city. In just seven weeks since Christ's crucifixion, thousands of people had been transformed from Jesus-haters to Jesus-lovers (Luke 23:21-25). The power of God was present to do the same kind of wonderful actions which Jesus had done (Luke 5:17).

The narrative in these verses speaks for itself. After Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles and then on each believer who repented and trusted Jesus, the church was bold to speak about Jesus. In addition to smaller groups meeting in homes, many believers met together for prayers (three times a day – 9am, 12 noon and 3pm) in the temple.