使徒言行録2:1-13　Acts 2:1-13,

Today’s service is a Pentecost service commemorating the coming of the Holy Spirit from heaven and the birth of the first church in the world. Pentecost means 50 days in Greek. Pentecost, celebrated 50 days after the Passover, was a festival of thanksgiving for the wheat harvest for the Jewish people. In the Christian church today, Pentecost is an important Christian festival alongside Christmas and Easter.

Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus told the apostles not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. The promise of the Father refers to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The disciples believed Jesus’ words and prayed, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and empower them with divine power.

Then “suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. When God’s breath fell on the disciples, they must have heard “a sound like a mighty rushing wind.” The Holy Spirit also works like a fire that burns away and cleanses human sins. So they may have had a vision of a “tongues as of fire.”

What happened to those who received the Holy Spirit? According to verse 4, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This is a very wonderful event. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit sometimes speak in “tongues,” which are not ordinary languages. Later, when the apostles preached Jesus, it happened many times that people who received the Holy Spirit spoke in “tongues.” So it is likely that the words spoken on this day were also “tongues.” And the “tongues” of Pentecost must have been something special that could be heard in many different languages.

The people gathered at the Pentecost were very surprised, for verses 5 and 6 says: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.” The people gathered in Jerusalem that day, who were being led by the Holy Spirit, heard the disciples’ speaking of “the mighty works of God” in the language of the people’s homeland. “The mighty works of God” refers to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

The coming of the Holy Spirit raised up those who spoke of God’s mighty works and those who heard it. And after this, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached God’s words, bringing people to a clear faith in Jesus. Three thousand people were baptised and the first church in the world was born. This is truly a miracle, because the people of Jerusalem used to cry out for Jesus to be crucified. Even today, when we speak the words of God filled with the Holy Spirit, and when we hear the words of God led by the Holy Spirit, miracles happen there. People who did not believe will come to believe, and churches will be born and grow.