The audience on the first Pentecost following the death of Christ was the greatest of its kind ever gathered to hear a Gospel sermon. There were devout men from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5) assembled to observe the Feast of Weeks. They had been drawn to Jerusalem in adherence to the Law of Moses, but on this occasion, they had observed something entirely unique. A sudden sound from heaven drew them to a small group of men.
Astonished and bewildered, these observers commented upon the ability of these apostles to speak in languages that they had never learned. We know implicitly that only the apostles received this miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which enabled them to fluently proclaim God’s Word to these various nationalities. This is evident from simple grammar. “They,” (i.e., which were together is one place, Acts 2:1), is a pronoun. A pronoun has an antecedent (the noun to which the pronoun refers). The antecedent is “apostles” from Acts 1:26. Not only does the position of the words in the sentence make this apparent, but also the agreement of the plural apostles (noun) with plural they (pronoun). Further evidence that the baptism of the Holy Spirit came only upon the apostles and not upon the 120 disciples found in Chapter One is the question, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” (Acts 2:26). Furthermore, Luke records, “But Peter, standing up with the eleven…” (Acts 2:14), forever confirming to us that it was the apostles who preached in languages previously unlearned by the ones speaking. Therefore, it was only the apostles who received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Later, the apostles were the only ones observed working many wonders and signs (Acts 2:43).
Peter intelligently answered the accusation of the critics (i.e., that they were filled with new wine, Acts 2:13) by bringing up the hour of the day (of which most drunken men would be unaware). This would have been a very unusual time to be drunk as it was the time when the pious would be attending temple services. Peter then told them that they were witnessing the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-32). Joel’s prophecy indicated that during the reign of the Messiah, miraculous events would occur. These events occurring in their presence manifested unequivocally that the last days of which Joel spoke were upon them (Acts 2:17).
Peter then expounded to them the philanthropy of God expressed in the person and work of His Son Jesus the Christ. Peter’s recorded sermon stands as a mighty bastion to those who deny the Deity of Christ, the unshakable foundation upon which Christian faith stands. With sagacious brevity, the preacher detailed to them the death, burial, resurrection, ascension and reign of the rejected Son of God. His outline, if he had had such, may have contained the following points: His manner of life (2:22), His means of death (2:23), His miraculous resurrection (2:24-27), His marvelous reign (2:30-35) and the momentous conclusion (2:36). Pricked in their hearts, these Pentecostians interrupted Peter’s sermon with a question any Gospel preacher would happily allow, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (2:37). Peter answered, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2:38). We are not privileged to read his entire sermon, but we are simply told that Peter testified and exhorted them with many words. Gladly receiving the forgiveness granted through obedience to the Gospel, about three thousand were baptized into Christ (2:41). This message is consistent with Jesus’ own words regarding the plan of salvation (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:16). Let us today rejoice that “the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).
