Peter Preaching to the Crowd at PentecostBible World
2:15Acts 2:15
For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Peter stood with the eleven at Pentecost to answer mockers who charged that the disciples speaking with other tongues were drunk with new wine, insisting they were not drunken for it was only about nine in the morning. That hour was too early for intoxication to explain what the crowd saw, coming before the customary meal with wine during the solemn festival, so more than a hundred persons could not reasonably have become drunk then. What was heard was the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit giving utterance in different languages, heaven's communication that Christ had been received in the heavenly courts and His inauguration was complete. Peter declared it to be that spoken by Joel, that in the last days embracing the whole Christian age God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh with prophecy, visions, dreams, and wonders before the great day of the Lord so that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That outpouring was the early rain, with only the gift of tongues exercised that day, while the fullness of Joel with dreams and visions and the sun darkened and the moon to blood with the latter rain is reserved for the close of the dispensation. The Spirit wrought mightily because they were united with one accord after days of confessing sin and praying in obedience for the Father's promise, a pattern to be studied and entered now by self-denial, Scripture obedience, and watchful expectation when heaven's warnings and explanations of the Word are again given.
Pentecost Setting and Defense
This denial belongs to the Pentecost narrative recorded in Acts 2:1-47. Peter stood up with the eleven to answer mockers who said the Spirit-filled disciples speaking with other tongues were drunk and full of new wine. That speaking with other tongues on the day of Pentecost was the operation of the Holy Spirit, not wine.
The third hour of the day means about nine in the morning. Peter appealed to that early hour as proof they were not drunken as supposed. It was too early for drunkenness to explain what the crowd had witnessed. The hour came before the customary meal at which wine was taken during a solemn religious festival, so it was unreasonable to claim that more than a hundred people had become intoxicated at that hour.
Spirit Manifestation and Prophecy
The charge of intoxication was mistaken, for the strange speech was not the effect of wine but the power and miraculous working of the Holy Spirit giving utterance in different languages. What the crowd heard was a divine manifestation, not drunkenness. The speaking in other tongues was heaven's communication that Christ had been received with angels in the heavenly courts and that His inauguration was complete.
Peter identified the manifestation as that foretold by the prophet Joel, that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh with prophecy, visions, dreams, and wonders in heaven and signs on earth before the great day of the Lord, so that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That outpouring equipped God's servants with power for a special work. The fulfillment was explained from Joel's prophecy.
That outpouring was the early rain in the last days, which embrace the whole Christian age and must embrace the very last day. Believers have enjoyed a measure of the Holy Spirit ever since, but only the gift of tongues was exercised that day. The burden of Joel's prophecy, the pouring out of the Spirit with dreams and visions and the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord, was not all fulfilled then, and its full fulfillment with the latter rain is reserved for the close of the dispensation.
The Lord works in His own unexpected way that those who do not come under the influence of the Holy Spirit do not know, so to that class the disciples seemed like drunken men. The same mocking would happen if such a manifestation came among those on whom the ends of the world are come.
Church Experience and Application
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit worked powerfully through the early church because they were harmoniously united, all with one accord in one place. That unity was the condition for mighty working, with oneness of place and purpose opening the way for power.
After spending several days together confessing sins and praying for the Holy Spirit in obedience to Jesus' command not to depart from Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, the disciples received power to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. God used them at the great religious festival in Jerusalem to give the assembled multitudes the message of the risen Saviour. To be under the moving power of the Spirit so that listeners hear in their own tongue requires getting ready now by denying self as Christ denied Himself, studying the Scriptures with all one's might in order to carry them out, and putting away the self that keeps the church moving backward instead of forward.
After the Spirit came the disciples went forth to proclaim a risen Saviour with one desire for the salvation of souls, tender, thoughtful, self-denying and willing to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake, revealing in word and deed the love Christ had commanded in order to awaken that love in other hearts. Bearing witness of Christ, Peter declared that God had made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ, the hearers were pricked in heart, and he called them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins to receive the promised gift of the Holy Ghost to them and their children and all afar off, to save themselves from an untoward generation. About three thousand gladly received and were baptized and continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and from house to house with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God with favor among the people while the Lord added daily such as should be saved. The great subject that brought three thousand souls to repentance in one day was the Spirit unfolding Jesus and glorifying Him before eyes that before saw no beauty in Him to desire Him, for the sermon was preached in demonstration of the Spirit and with power because Jesus was lifted up, exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. The glorious inner beauties of Christ's work and character are not discerned with natural eyes, for it is the Spirit that quickens, so Jesus must be lifted up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Thousands became converts as the mystery of the cross and other mysteries concerning the Messiah were explained and as the disciples preached the Word.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples publicly bore witness to Christ before a multitude gathered from many places, and their testimony answered false reports about Jesus and carried the message of repentance and forgiveness to people who would take it to their homes. Under the Spirit's influence Peter stood before thousands with holy boldness, and his later testimony about Christ showed that his restoration was complete only when the Holy Spirit transformed him to the depth of his soul. The Jerusalem witness after receiving the Spirit is the pattern for the duty of establishing a strong gospel witness in the nation's capital.
The account is a pattern for later experiences of Spirit-given speech, including speech in a language the speaker did not understand and that hearers recognized, as the apostles spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Its early-church experiences are to be studied for instruction because God's people in later times must pass through similar experiences. Revelations from heaven will be given in warnings and reproofs and explanation of the Word, so that all may understand they have come to the very prophesied period, and every soul is to be on the watchtower expecting them.
Peter stood with the eleven at Pentecost to answer mockers who charged that the disciples speaking with other tongues were drunk with new wine, insisting they were not drunken for it was only about nine in the morning. That hour was too early for intoxication to explain what the crowd saw, coming before the customary meal with wine during the solemn festival, so more than a hundred persons could not reasonably have become drunk then. What was heard was the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit giving utterance in different languages, heaven's communication that Christ had been received in the heavenly courts and His inauguration was complete. Peter declared it to be that spoken by Joel, that in the last days embracing the whole Christian age God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh with prophecy, visions, dreams, and wonders before the great day of the Lord so that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That outpouring was the early rain, with only the gift of tongues exercised that day, while the fullness of Joel with dreams and visions and the sun darkened and the moon to blood with the latter rain is reserved for the close of the dispensation. The Spirit wrought mightily because they were united with one accord after days of confessing sin and praying in obedience for the Father's promise, a pattern to be studied and entered now by self-denial, Scripture obedience, and watchful expectation when heaven's warnings and explanations of the Word are again given.
Pentecost Setting and Defense
This denial belongs to the Pentecost narrative recorded in Acts 2:1-47.
Peter stood up with the eleven to answer mockers who said the Spirit-filled disciples speaking with other tongues were drunk and full of new wine.
That speaking with other tongues on the day of Pentecost was the operation of the Holy Spirit, not wine.
The third hour of the day means about nine in the morning.
Peter appealed to that early hour as proof they were not drunken as supposed.
It was too early for drunkenness to explain what the crowd had witnessed.
The hour came before the customary meal at which wine was taken during a solemn religious festival, so it was unreasonable to claim that more than a hundred people had become intoxicated at that hour.
Spirit Manifestation and Prophecy
The charge of intoxication was mistaken, for the strange speech was not the effect of wine but the power and miraculous working of the Holy Spirit giving utterance in different languages. What the crowd heard was a divine manifestation, not drunkenness. The speaking in other tongues was heaven's communication that Christ had been received with angels in the heavenly courts and that His inauguration was complete.
Peter identified the manifestation as that foretold by the prophet Joel, that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh with prophecy, visions, dreams, and wonders in heaven and signs on earth before the great day of the Lord, so that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That outpouring equipped God's servants with power for a special work. The fulfillment was explained from Joel's prophecy.
That outpouring was the early rain in the last days, which embrace the whole Christian age and must embrace the very last day. Believers have enjoyed a measure of the Holy Spirit ever since, but only the gift of tongues was exercised that day. The burden of Joel's prophecy, the pouring out of the Spirit with dreams and visions and the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord, was not all fulfilled then, and its full fulfillment with the latter rain is reserved for the close of the dispensation.
The Lord works in His own unexpected way that those who do not come under the influence of the Holy Spirit do not know, so to that class the disciples seemed like drunken men. The same mocking would happen if such a manifestation came among those on whom the ends of the world are come.
Church Experience and Application
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit worked powerfully through the early church because they were harmoniously united, all with one accord in one place. That unity was the condition for mighty working, with oneness of place and purpose opening the way for power.
After spending several days together confessing sins and praying for the Holy Spirit in obedience to Jesus' command not to depart from Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, the disciples received power to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. God used them at the great religious festival in Jerusalem to give the assembled multitudes the message of the risen Saviour. To be under the moving power of the Spirit so that listeners hear in their own tongue requires getting ready now by denying self as Christ denied Himself, studying the Scriptures with all one's might in order to carry them out, and putting away the self that keeps the church moving backward instead of forward.
After the Spirit came the disciples went forth to proclaim a risen Saviour with one desire for the salvation of souls, tender, thoughtful, self-denying and willing to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake, revealing in word and deed the love Christ had commanded in order to awaken that love in other hearts. Bearing witness of Christ, Peter declared that God had made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ, the hearers were pricked in heart, and he called them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins to receive the promised gift of the Holy Ghost to them and their children and all afar off, to save themselves from an untoward generation. About three thousand gladly received and were baptized and continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and from house to house with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God with favor among the people while the Lord added daily such as should be saved. The great subject that brought three thousand souls to repentance in one day was the Spirit unfolding Jesus and glorifying Him before eyes that before saw no beauty in Him to desire Him, for the sermon was preached in demonstration of the Spirit and with power because Jesus was lifted up, exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. The glorious inner beauties of Christ's work and character are not discerned with natural eyes, for it is the Spirit that quickens, so Jesus must be lifted up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Thousands became converts as the mystery of the cross and other mysteries concerning the Messiah were explained and as the disciples preached the Word.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples publicly bore witness to Christ before a multitude gathered from many places, and their testimony answered false reports about Jesus and carried the message of repentance and forgiveness to people who would take it to their homes. Under the Spirit's influence Peter stood before thousands with holy boldness, and his later testimony about Christ showed that his restoration was complete only when the Holy Spirit transformed him to the depth of his soul. The Jerusalem witness after receiving the Spirit is the pattern for the duty of establishing a strong gospel witness in the nation's capital.
The account is a pattern for later experiences of Spirit-given speech, including speech in a language the speaker did not understand and that hearers recognized, as the apostles spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Its early-church experiences are to be studied for instruction because God's people in later times must pass through similar experiences. Revelations from heaven will be given in warnings and reproofs and explanation of the Word, so that all may understand they have come to the very prophesied period, and every soul is to be on the watchtower expecting them.