The Sunday School Lesson

ACTS 2:1 And when the day of Pen'te-cost 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 Ho'ly Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spir'it gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling at Jeru'sa-lem 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 marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Gal-i-lae'ans?

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

9 Par'thi-ans, and Medes, and E'lam-ites, and the dwellers in Mes-opo-ta'mi-a, and in Judae'a, and Cappa-do'ci-a, in Pon'tus, and A'sia,

10 Phrygi-a, and Pam-phyl'i-a, in E'gypt, and in the parts of Lib'y-a about Cy-re'ne, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

11 Cretes and A-ra' bi-ans, 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 Pe'ter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judae'a, and all ye that dwell at Jeru'sa-lem, 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 Jo'el;

17a And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spir'it upon all flesh.

HEART OF THE LESSON

1. The preaching of Spirit-filled men (Acts 2:1-5). The Day of Pentecost came on the fiftieth day after the Feast of Firstfruits, or the Feast of Passover (Lev. 23:15-22). Christ was taken up to heaven ten days before Pentecost.

Pentecost was one of the three great festivals that required attendance. Therefore, Jerusalem was filled with people returned from the dispersion of Jews scattered in various countries.

Since the disciples had been obedient to Jesus' last instructions to remain in Jerusalem until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8), their reward came in a dramatic way.

Luke noted that the disciples were all united in purpose and harmony on the Day of Pentecost, and at that point the Holy Spirit made His presence known like a mighty rushing wind. That is, His presence was overwhelming and undeniable. It bore immediate fruit.

Pentecost provided a large audience for the first presentation of the gospel. The Holy Spirit provided the empowerment and the medium of languages through which the inspired message was presented.

This moment marked the beginning of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the church, which also marked the beginning of the church itself.

2. The response of the crowd (Acts 2:6-13). The sounds of the roaring mighty wind attracted a huge crowd before which the disciples were able to speak. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in the various foreign languages of the gathered people, providing both an evidence of God's involvement in the miracle and the means of communicating the truth to them.

The first response of the multitude was amazement over the fact that all these Galileans were able to communicate in their own various languages.

Initially, the content of the message was praise for God, and the multitude was only responding to the miracle of the diversity of the disciples' language. Their attention had been captured, first by the sound like wind and next by the praises being given in their languages.

The hearers could all agree with the "wonderful works of God" (Acts 2:11) that were being declared. This paved the way for the actual presentation of the gospel that was soon to confront them.

However, as they began to interpret the meaning of the event, there were two reactions. One reaction was simply to question what was happening: "What meaneth this?" (Acts 2:12). This was a genuine question reflecting the sincere thought of many in the crowd.

The second reaction was one of disbelief, reflected in the mocking of some members of the crowd, accusing the disciples of being drunk, It is important to note that no one denied that something out of the ordinary was happening. They simply had different perceptions of it.

3. Peter's identification of the phenomenon (Acts 2:14-17a). Peter took the lead and confronted the doubts that had been expressed first. Once he had properly responded to the critics, he gave the true explanation for what the crowd was witnessing.

God was pouring out the beginning of His end-time work. However, not all that Joel prophesied was fulfilled at that time. The full message given by Peter implied that Israel must first repent before the rest of the prophecy would be fulfilled. That day is yet to come.

QUESTIONS

1. What were some of the physical manifestations that occurred on this Pentecost?

2. What false accusation was made about the apostles?

3. From what prophet did the speaker quote on Pentecost? How was the spirit's ministry going to be different from His work in the Old Testament era?

(Reprinted by permission of The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society and Union Gospel Press, P.O. Box 6059, Cleveland, Ohio, 44101)