PART III
The Arrival of the Holy Spirit
And so they waited and waited, and then the Day of Pentecost arrived and something very special happened, as we can read in Acts 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
These disciples were baptised with the Holy Spirit on that day. There were about 120 of them, as we know from Acts 1:15
In those days Peter stood up among the believers, a group numbering about a hundred and twenty.
And a change came over them, for no longer were they a fearful group of people, as they had been before when they had met together behind locked doors, for fear of the authorities. No, they became a bold people, who no longer were afraid as to what the authorities might do to them. Peter confirmed that sudden boldness by standing up and preaching to the people a most powerful sermon about the Lord Jesus, starting off with a prophecy of the prophet Joel, as we can read in Acts 2:17-21
"In the 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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven 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.”
This is a reference to Joel 2:28-32
And afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women. I will pour out my spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, 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 dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Peter continued by explaining that Jesus had been crucified with God’s foreknowledge, and that He had been raised to life by Him and was now seated at the right hand of the Father. He finished by inviting the people to respond to his message in Acts 2:38
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised, everyone of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Many people became believers that day, as we can read in Acts 2:41
Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.