The Wonder of Pentecost

An interpretative reading of Acts 2 – The Day of Pentecost!

Bible Insights with  Wayne Conrad
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Transcript

Title:  The Wonder of Pentecost

Date: May 24, 2026

Scripture: Acts 2

AI TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad. God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. 

Today's topic is Pentecost. You know, on the church calendar, those groups which are the majority of Christians that observe some form of the church calendar, which means a yearly remembrance of historical events, related to Christ's redemptive work for us. Today was the Day of Pentecost. I'm not so sure we understand how significant the Day of Pentecost is.

If so, perhaps we would give it more attention in our reading, in our contemplation, in our prayers. There's always two tendencies sometimes. We have a tendency to over-exaggerate things or take some piece of it and make that the main thing, so a minor thing, a sign thing, becoming the major thing. Or we just sort of relegate things to history, something that was done, it's done with, it's over with, let's move on. Yet we cannot do that. with the actions of God in the history of mankind for the redemption of a people for the glory of his name. We must pay attention and remember and recite and teach and celebrate the great deeds of God. It lies at the very heart of Christian worship.

Today, I want to take you to the day of Pentecost is recorded for us by Luke in volume two of his gospel. This is at Jesus ascension. He begins with Jesus, his post-resurrection appearance in Acts chapter one, in which he says, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach. until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he'd chosen. And then when they were gathered together, meaning the disciples, he commanded them, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard me discuss. For John baptized, that John dipped, immersed with water. But in a few days, you will be baptized, immersed with the Holy Spirit.

He didn't say when. He said in a few days. Well, a few days later, or soon thereafter, Jesus ascended into heaven. They came together again, they asked him about the kingdom, and Jesus replied, well, it's not for you to know about the times or seasons the Father's fixed, but here's what you need to know. You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And after he had said this, they watched as he was taken up rises in the air, and a cloud hit him from their sight. He'd gone. He'd returned to the Father. Now, Jesus had promised the Spirit would come, but they truly did not know the reality, all the reality of what that would mean. Jesus on the day of his resurrection, the evening of his resurrection, had breathed on the disciples and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

But now, 50 days after the Passover, comes the Feast of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. Seven weeks later, seven weeks and one day, there is the feast known as Pentecost, the 50th day, as all Pentecost means. But it was a great harvest festival. It's one of the biggest feast days in the Hebrew calendar. So, the multitudes of the Jewish men would come from all over Israel and since the nation had been dispersed during the Babylonian captivity from all over the known Eastern world. Jews would come back to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. So, the 50th day dawn and the disciples being devout men of faith set about doing what you would do on Pentecost, which is worship God by the presentation of offerings in the temple. But this is what happened on that day. I'm reading from Acts chapter two, from the Berean Standard Bible. When the day of Pentecost, think feast day, the Hebrew festival day, when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

And we assume that place was that upper room area, the home maybe of John Mark or John Mark's family. We're not sure. but it was a place large enough to hold at least 120 people. So that means house and courtyard, probably. But they're all together in one place. That's where they were. They had not yet gone to the temple. Now, it's nine o'clock in the morning. We know that from the narrative. And this is what happened.

A sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, came from the sky, and filled the whole house, the whole place where they were sitting. It's a sound. It's not a breeze. It's not a whirlwind that you could feel. It's only the sound. That would be a terrifying, roaring sound. rushing from heaven.

And then they saw tongues like flames of fire. So, they're describing the picture of a flame that sort of resembles a tongue. Perhaps it appeared this way. Perhaps one came and then it began to disperse until all 120 have a flame over their heads. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. The result, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they began to speak in other tongues and other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

That's a brief description of the event itself on this 120. They were not necessarily praying for a particular thing. God told him to wait. Christ Jesus told him of the promise. We're not informed that they were doing any particular thing trying to get the Holy Spirit to come. It just happened suddenly. Luke chooses that word, suddenly a sound. They did not conjure it up.

It came sovereignly from the courtroom of heaven. The sound startled them, got their attention, and the flame suddenly appeared. They hear something, they see something, and they began to speak something. What they began to speak were other tongues, other languages than the one they ordinarily spoke. And this is what happened. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. And when this sound rang out, so they heard the sound too. When this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

So, vision, 120 people, they were in this one place. The sound has come. The fiery emblem of the spirit has come. and from their mouths are coming languages they did not understand and they are bewildered too. They didn't stay in that place, they go out. We know they went out because the people hear them.

Listen, astonished and amazed, they asked, that's this crowd that came together in bewilderment, they asked, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Galileans had a particular accent. They smoked Aramaic and they spoke it with a particular accent. How is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

So, there's pandemonium, you're hearing these people, there's 120. They're probably mixed into the crowd by this time, and they're speaking this language they don't necessarily understand, but other people are beginning to understand what they're saying. As they hear someone speaking their language, they begin to collect around them. So, by the time it's over, we have at least 120. different spots where people gathered, where people are understanding the language that apostle or that early follower of Jesus is speaking.

We're identified what languages they're speaking. It says how... Then does each one of us hear them in his own native language. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and 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, in our own languages. Astonished and perplexed, they ask one another, what does this mean? They're trying to figure it out. But others mock them and said, oh, this is a bunch of drunks. They are drunk on new wine.

Now that's the beginning of the day Pentecost. It's brought about sovereignly by the Almighty God. It is in fulfillment of Jesus' own promise that the Spirit would come. And they know the Spirit has come because the Spirit does something within them.

Not only do they hear and see, but something occurs within them that loosens their vocal cords, and they begin to speak languages they did not understand. But others understood. They're known to languages that the Jews from all the dispersions were able to identify. Why were they doing this? What was the message that they were giving?

The message they were giving in the tongues they were speaking was they were declaring the wonders of God in our own languages. So, they were speaking about the wonders of God. Now, I don't believe they're just general wonders, but surely, they wouldn't be talking about the wonders of God in how he had delivered the Hebrew people out of each of them and formed them into a people of his own possession. The wonders of God, how he had brought a remnant of the people back from Babylon and Persia and reestablished them in the land that allowed them to rebuild the temples. the wonder of the appearance of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, in the midst of Israel, performing great wonders and manifesting the kingdom of God, the wonders of Jesus Christ himself and his own death, burial, and now glorious resurrection from the dead. So, the people were asking, what does this mean?

Now, God had appointed Peter to be the one who spoke on that day. You remember when Jesus said, you're Peter and on this rock, I will build my church. Well, here we have Peter, here we have him standing up with the 11 and he begins to declare the wonderful work of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Peter stood up with the 11, lifted up his voice and addressed the crowd, men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words.

These men, see him motioning to the eleven around him, these men are not drunk as you suppose. It's only the third hour of the day. That's nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. So immediately, Peter anchors what's happening to them in Holy Scripture. He appeals to the prophet Joel and quotes the passage. Listen to what Joel wrote that Peter says, this is the fulfillment of that prophecy.

In the last days, God said. Note that phraseology, in the last days. He's not talking about the end of the world as we sometimes use that term. He is talking about a change in the ages. He's talking about a change that has come in the covenant that will come out as acts rolls along. But in these days, in these last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. And even on my menservants and maidservants, I'll pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

And that's his text. He says, the last days have dawned. The last days are the days that have been prophesied from of old that God would enter into a new covenant, establishing a people in this new covenant. And it would be different from the old covenant in many ways, though there would be some continuity. Notice there is no discrimination between the sexes, men and women, young and old. Jews and proselytes and even the heathen, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Now, Peter's not saying the end of the world is here. He quotes apocalyptic signs.

You can find this phraseology concerning the sun would turn to darkness, the moon to blood many times in the Old Testament. Many times, because it signified a judgment of God or a movement of God in the history of people or in a group of people. Often it signified judgment. It also signified God's intervention. You see, God intervenes to save his people, but in the saving of his people, there's often judgment on those who do not believe.

But Peter's announcement is that in this new situation, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Then he explains his text. Now we just have summaries. Men of Israel, listen to this message. Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know. He's appealing to the ministry of Christ the last four years or more. He was delivered up by God's set plan and foreknowledge and you, by the hands of the lawless, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. So, he points directly to the concluding week of Jesus' Nazareth ministry in Jerusalem, that it happened some eight weeks earlier, eight to nine weeks earlier.

And he says he was delivered up by God's own set plan and his foreknowledge. This is the knowledge of love. It's the knowledge of having set one's affection upon someone. It's not just pre-science. It's a knowledge that's brought about by God's set purpose. You know, what God knows, God knows eternally. And what God knows is not changeable.

He was delivered up by God's set plan and foreknowledge and you, by the hands of the lawless, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. So there, he's directly indicting the Pharisees and Sadducees in the Jewish courts that he wrongly condemned Jesus. Nevertheless, it was by God's own action that this had occurred. But God raised him from the dead, releasing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep him in its grip. Again, he appeals to the word of God. He appeals to the Psalm of David. David says about him, and here he's quoting from Psalm 16. David says about him, I saw the Lord always before me.

Because he's at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will dwell in hope because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You've made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence.

He's saying that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, was raised up by the Father because there was no claim that death could hold him in because he had no sin of his own and because he had paid for the sins of his people. Therefore, death could not hold him. Brothers, I tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. But he was a prophet, and he knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. For seeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his body see decay. God raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. He's talking about himself in the 11. And other believers among the 120 who had seen him alive after he had died. God raised Jesus to life. We are all witnesses. Where is he now?

Well, listen. Exalted then to the right hand of God, he sent from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. and has poured out what you now see and hear." So, this is Peter's answer to the question they were asking in the crowd, what does this mean? What does it mean?

It means that the Lord Jesus Christ, having ascended into heaven, has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and he's poured out on these disciples what they now saw and heard. For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, the Lord says to my Lord, Yahweh says to my Adonai, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Therefore, let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. So, the promise that Jesus gave in Acts 1 was do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you heard me discuss. And why do they need this gift? So that you will be witnesses to me, beginning at Jerusalem.

We see this unfolding here before us. Peter and the 11, with all 120, are witnesses to Christ. and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit was given to them so that they could and did bear witness to the crucified, buried, risen, and now ascended Lord Jesus Christ, the evidence that he is God's Messiah who could handle the problem of sin and relationship to man and God. Now, when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and they asked Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do? So you see the crowd sort of broken up. They began to ask those around them, what shall we do? Peter's message has climaxed and ended. He has called them to believe.

Those whom God has made Israel know with certainty that this Jesus whom you crucified is Lord and Messiah. And now the people convicted by the spirit. See, the Spirit's work was not simply the external work of the apostles speaking the witnessing word of God of the power of the Holy Spirit. It was also the internal working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who hear the message. They heard the message and they were convicted. I, I am a murderer. I, I am also responsible that the Christ would be put to death. What shall we do?

Peter replied, repent, that is change the direction of your life, change your mindset, what you think, go in a different direction and be baptized, be immersed every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The promise belongs to you, to your children, to all who are for all, to all whom the Lord our God will call to himself. Now, Peter is saying the promise belongs to anyone who hears the word and believes the word. The promise belongs to you, to all who are for all. to all whom the Lord our God will call to himself.

We call this theology, the effectual call. God's summoning people powerfully and always with effect to believe in Christ. And that wasn't the end of the message. It says, and with many other words he testified, that is Peter, and he urged them, be saved from this crooked generation.

Those who embraced his message was baptized, were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to the believers that day. Now there are many pools of water in the Jerusalem area, especially concerning the temple because of all the absolutions that the priests and worshipers had to engage in in the worship of God. So, there was no lack of baptismal pools. And 3,000 people were immersed that day. becoming followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now Pentecost, you see, was a great harvest day. You had the Feast of Firstfruits that had occurred seven weeks earlier. But this is the full crop, the big crop on Pentecost. And so, you see earlier, we have the 120 believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who gathered together seeking God's face dwelling together in the afterglow of Jesus's ascension into heaven. But here we have 3,000, hear the message on that day delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they have been convicted, they've repented, they believe, they have been baptized.

Great harvest on the great Pentecost. How fitting that the feast, the festival of the harvest would mark the first great in-gathering of believers, of converts, of those regenerated and converted by God's Holy Spirit through the word of the gospel and were baptized and enlisted in the body of believers. And what did they do? Well, they devoted themselves. These new converts, along with the 120, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. They devoted themselves to the fellowship. They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. And here is a reference. If we go to Acts 20, we know it means the reference of the Lord's Supper. The breaking of bread and to prayers. So, they're engaged in these four activities of the church.

And a series of all came upon everyone and in the power of the Spirit, the apostles performed many wonders and signs. And the believers were together with one accord, meeting daily in the temple courts, sharing fellowship, eating meals together with sincerity of heart, praising God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. That's the day of Pentecost in history. A real day, a real event. But the result of that day continues to this day. And all who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with repentance and faith will be saved. That's the promise.

And they too can receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And they too can be enabled to utter the words of God and testify to the works of God, the wonders of God, and the praise of God. So, Pentecost, God acts sovereignly to fulfill his word. The purpose is there will be a gathering, an ingathering of people into the household of God. They're gathered by the preaching of the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And the result is the invisible work of the spirit in the minds and hearts of those who hear. the invisible work of God's Holy Spirit, convicting them, rebirthing them, converting them, so that they enlist in the school of Christ, becoming part of the body of Christ, the household of God, all to the glory of the name of Jesus Christ. 

This has been Wayne Conrad. with Bible Insights.