Rhemalight

Author: Hillary Turyagyenda T.

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Read Acts Chapter 2

Acts 2:

1 And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

7  And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The day of Pentecost was a great day and we are thankful for it. However, it was never intended to be an end in itself. When peter stood up to speak, he said that what happening was a fulfilment of what Joel had foretold. Yet none of them prophesied, at least it does not say that they did. And, none of them saw visions. Was Peter mistaken when he said that ‘this’ was ‘that’?

The Amplified Bible renders this verse, ‘this is the beginning of that which was spoken…’ This means those who undermine speaking with tongues have never began. They are still out here in the superficial. For this is the one and only way into the fullness of God that Ephesians 3:19 talks about. Just like we have to come by the door of salvation to have eternal life, we must come by the door of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to have the fullness of God.

There is the other side to the coin as well. Those who think that speaking in tongues is all there is to being ‘pentecostal’ are also gravely mistaken. For Peter said not that this was the end but the beginning. Even if we did not have the Amplified bible to tell us this, just comparing what Peter said and the prophecy of Joel that He referred to would make the point. If talking in tongues was it then Peter got his references mixed up. Joel never talked about talking in tongues. But if Peter was indeed saying that what Joel said was being fulfilled then it could only make sense that what was taking place was only the beginning of it. A beginning implies an increase.

Gradual Increase

As we survey the Pentecostal experience in the book of Acts we realize much that could be of help to us. First of all we notice that there are five recorded instances of people being baptized with the Holy Spirit in book of Acts. Three of these definitely say they spoke with tongues when filled. The first is that already mentioned above (Acts 2). The second takes place approximately ten years after the day of Pentecost and that is Acts 10 where Cornelius and his household (and near friends) were filled. The third was about twenty years after the day of Pentecost in Acts 19 where twelve Ephesians were filled. This happens to be the last recorded instance of such a phenomenon. There are two others where it does not say they spoke with tongues but a further study shows that they did. In Acts 8 the Samaritans were filled when Peter and John laid hands on them. When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was being given he offered them money for the same power to get people filled. He did not see the Holy Spirit because He is invisible to the natural eye. People who say they are filled with the Spirit but you can’t tell are mistaken. It is obvious that Simon would not have offered money for something like that. He saw a visible sign - we can expect that they were speaking with tongues. Peter said that at Cornelius’ house the Jews that came with him concluded that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles, ‘as on us at the beginning’ for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Notice it had to be as it was at the beginning. And what made it valid was that they spoke with tongues. It would be reasonable to think the same Peter at Samaria would have expected the same sign to be able to conclude one filled with the Spirit. That is the same thing that Simon saw.

Another little note in that case is that Peter answered Simon saying, ‘thy money perish with thee for thou has thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money…thou hast no lot nor part in this matter.’ (Vs. 20, 21). The Greek word for ‘matter’ here is the same word translated ‘utterance’ in Acts 2:4. Simon had no part in that utterance or that speaking with tongues. That they spoke in tongues then at Samaria is without a doubt.

The other experience that normally casts shadows in people’s minds is that of Paul. At that time called Saul, after his conversion on the Damascus road, he was in the house of Judas on straight street in the city, praying. A disciple in the church there, named Ananias, led by the Lord, came and laid hands on him that he be healed and filled with the Spirit. See Acts 9. Though it does not say he spoke with tongues, he admitted of himself, that he spoke with tongues. 1 Cor. 14:18. It follows that he began to speak when he was filled just like all the other groups.

Having laid that ground then we realize that these experience actually represent an increase of the Pentecostal fullness both in influence but also in quality. On the day of Pentecost they did not prophesy as Joel had said but they began the journey; in the last recorded case, that of the Ephesians, when they were filled they did prophesy. At the beginning the experience was just with the Jewish Christians; by chapter 10, in the case of Cornelius, which is the fourth recorded, it was with the Gentiles.

It appears that God was leading different groups into the experience as their hearts would open up to bring them into the fullness of the Spirit. Cornelius was walking in all the light he had. When he knew better he did better. The Ephesians were in the dark but they did know John’s baptism and teachings and were walking in the light of that. When they got more light they were saved and filled. This was twenty years post-pentecost but these fellows could not bypass the beginning. Sometimes we think we can jump the first things but we cannot. If this is the beginning of ‘that’ as Peter said, then we can’t jump it. Nations are changed a person at a time. It may not happen as first as we want but it has to happen that way.

Reproduction for large groups should be preceded by authorization from the author. Sale of this material is prohibited. For further questions, contact the author:

Hillary Turyagyenda T

P.O Box 33224,

Kampala, Uganda

Tel: 0712-121170

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