When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” 13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only [e]the third hour of the day. ……………….
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the [k]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
I am amazed at the misunderstandings that many Charismatic and Pentecostal teachers and pastors have regarding what happened in the day of Pentecost. The most frequently heard teaching is that there were 120 male and female disciples in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them as we read in Acts 2.1 and that 3000 people were water baptized so their sins were remitted. However, a careful study of the scriptures shows that none of these so called truths is correct.
Fortunately no major doctrine hinges on these two statements. But they do serve as examples of why we need to study to show ourselves approved before God and having nothing to be ashamed of because we are able to rightly divide, handle and manage the Word of God.
When the Bible mentions that there were “about one hundred and twenty” it is speaking about the approximate number of MALE believers that were present when a replacement for Judas Iscariot was chosen. Today we might call this a church business meeting. This happened a few days before Pentecost, as can be read in Acts 1.15.
Some Bible translations have correctly translated this verse, The Phillips version reads: “And in those days (between the ascension of Christ and Pentecost) Peter stood up among the brothers, there were about a hundred and twenty present at the time and said:”
Just which day this happened it is not clear but when it says on that day it probably refers to right after the Ascension. Some scholars point out that in Jewish tradition required a quorum of one hundred and twenty men to make council decisions.
We believe the Bible to clearly show that there were only the twelve that were initially filled.
- In verse 7 it says, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?
- In verse 13 it says, These men are full of new wine.
- In verse 14 it says, But Peter, standing up with the eleven
- In verse 15 it says, For these men are not drunken, as ye suppose
We are not sure how many Galileans there were among the disciples of Jesus, what we know is that many of the disciples including Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were NOT Galileans. Mary was from Bethlehem and Mary was from Magdala, Martha and her sister Mary were from Bethany. We can say with certainty that the twelve disciples including Mathias who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot who was from Ischcar were all Galileans.
The word for men use in verses 13 and 15 is the Greek word aner which refers to a male individual a man so that eliminates all the women disciples and we will later show the reason.
Also and perhaps definite it says that Peter stood up WITH THE ELEVEN.
That brings us to the second point, Where were they when the Holy Spirit came upon them?
The upper room is mentioned as the place were some of the apostles were living (Acts 1.13). The next verse says: These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. The question is where did they assemble for worship and prayer? In the last verses of the Gospel of Luke (24. 52-53): And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.
In my first trip to Israel, we were taken to the upper room of a dwelling and told, this is the upper room where the apostles dwelt and I said: you mean this is a room similar to the one the disciples stayed. Then I reminded everyone there, that Jerusalem had been totally destroyed by the roman armies in the year 70AD. The dwellings of that time were small dwellings and there would NOT have been ANY, where 120 people could assemble. In addition, it would be unthinkable for single women or widows to be at a place where single men dwelt according to Jewish customs.
We must remember that the disciples were devout Jews; as such they would go to the temple to pray at the 3rd hour, the 6th hour the 9th hour and the 12th hour. So the scripture says they would meet continually in the temple daily. Acts 2.46-47 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
In the next verse (Acts 3.1) we are told of the healing of a lame man when Peter and John went up to the TEMPLE at the hour of prayer, the 9th hour. When the lame man was healed the scripture says that he entered the TEMPLE with them. Verse 11 says that the portion of the temple was called Solomon’s porch.
In Acts 4.4 we read the story of Peter and John preaching to a large multitude of over 5000 in the TEMPLE.
In Acts 5.12 it reads: (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. 13And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)
The use of the words, continued, continually, continuing and one accord, all tie the references to the TEMPLE and to PRAYER.
In Acts 2.1 it says: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. In Acts 2.2 it reads: and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The word house is the Greek word “oikos” which is translated home, household or TEMPLE. It is translated so in Matt. 21.13; 23.38; Lk. 11.51; Acts 7.49, etc. It refers to the house of God. Jesus said: My house shall be called a house of prayer.
It is the term used by Luke the writer of the book Luke 19.46, (Is. 56.7, Mt. 21.13, Mk. 11.17) and the book of Acts.
As devout Jews, the disciples would most certainly be at the TEMPLE along with thousands of Jews and proselytes that had come from “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2.5) AND it also was the 3rd hour of the day which was the hour of prayer.
The Baptism of Acts 2 is NOT John’s baptism of water it is Not water baptism that brings salvation which according to Romans 10.13 which comes by calling on His name. The ONLY way to be saved is stipulated in Romans 10. 9-10. It is called the Baptism in the BLOOD. It is called the WASHING of REGENERATION
He saved us. It wasn’t because of the good things we had done. It was because of his mercy. He saved us by washing away our sins. We were born again. The Holy Spirit gave us new life. Titus 3.5
When Peter spoke about Baptism in this verse, He was not referring to water. If he would have been, then it would be necessary for everyone to be baptized in water in order to receive forgiveness of sins. But as we have previously seen the forgiveness of sins comes through the BLOOD and NOT through water.
“And corresponding to that, Baptism (In the Blood) now saves you (by calling on Jesus name) NOT THE REMOVAL OF DIRT FROM THE FLESH (water baptism) but an APPEAL TO GOD for a good conscience – Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: I Peter 3:21 (See Romans 10:9-10)
The Baptism here referred to is obviously a baptism through the BLOOD of Jesus and not a water baptism. Redemption or salvation comes through the BLOOD and not in any other way.
“In HIM (Jesus) we have (present tense) redemption through HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1:7)
Thus we can see from the following scriptures that the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL SIN and we have the following:
Redemption through the Blood. I Peter 1:18-19
Forgiveness through the Blood. Ephesians 1:17
Justification through the Blood. Romans 5:9
Peace through the Blood. Colossians 1:20
Loosing of Sin through the Blood. Revelation 1:5
Sanctification through the Blood. Hebrews 13:12
Access through the Blood. Hebrews 10:19
Victory through the Blood. Revelation 12:11
Through the Blood of Jesus we are all washed and baptized into the body of Christ.
“For by one Spirit we were (past tense) all (saints) baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:13)
To be baptized in the name of Jesus means to become a part of the body of Christ. The Spirit of God baptizes us all into one body, the Body of Christ. All you need to do is by faith call upon Jesus as your SAVIOR, believing that HE is the Son of God and that He was resurrected and is alive.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were (past tense) BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)
We can all become the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in the cleansing power of the blood. We have been baptized into Christ and have clothed ourselves with Christ.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. ..Hebrews 6.1-2
Three Baptisms:
The Blood which purifies and sanctifies
The Spirit which empowers
The Water which testifies.
We must be like the Bereans; listen to what is taught and then search the scriptures to see if what we hear is correct.
I trust this will be received “as a study”. Surely what happened on the Day of Pentecost is more important and glorious than the details of what really happened on that day.