All 120+ Got Him

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:3

All 120+ Got Him

by Robert T. Cooper

In Keith Green’s song on the Matthew 25 passage of the sheep and the goats, he has the person representing the goats to ask whether the Lord was one of those creepy people who came to his door. Then he has the person to say, “Oh, Lord, that just wasn’t my spiritual gift!”

The interesting thing about Acts 2 is that all 120 men in the prayer meeting (plus women and children) received the Holy Spirit. Verse 3 is very specific. The tongues of fire came to rest on each of them. Then verse 4 says that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. So, what was the result?

The result was that all 120+ were part of the evangelistic harvest on that Day of Pentecost. The thing about spiritual gifts is that The Gift is the Holy Spirit. He asks us to do things outside of our comfort zones, things where we will have to depend on Him and not on our own strength. He then empowers us for that ministry and works through us to accomplish His purposes. It is in that working through us that we see in retrospect what spiritual gift the Holy Spirit utilized on that occasion. But it does not limit Him to utilizing the same gift on any future occasion.

So honestly, do we really think that a 20 question or 100 question survey given to all new converts (and in some cases to preschoolers and unbelievers) can limit what God is going to ever ask us to do? Sorry, the excuse of Keith Green’s goat simply doesn’t but it.

It is like saying that because some people have the spiritual gift of giving and I don’t, that I don’t have to worry about giving ever again. It is like saying that because some people have the spiritual gift of evangelism that I never have to worry about witnessing ever again.

What happened on Pentecost? All 120+ participated in the harvest. Should I expect to be a witness at some point or even at many points in my Christian journey? You bet! Because the Holy Spirit indwells me and empowers my witness.

I also need to trust what the Spirit is leading you to do and support you in your ministry efforts. I can expect your trust and support in return. I need to share what the Spirit is saying to me and teaching me. I also need to listen as you share what the Spirit is saying to you and teaching you. When the Holy Spirit indwells all believers, that’s just the way it works.

Tell about a time the Holy Spirit led you to do something outside of your comfort zone. When you look back on that time, what spiritual gift did the Spirit utilize at that time?

A Burning Dove

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:3

A Burning Dove

by Robert T. Cooper

So there was this wind sound that filled the whole house. Now, there were 120 adult men there, not counting the women and under 13’s. So don’t go thinking house. Not even the wealthiest residents of Jerusalem had a personal abode like that. Think meeting hall. But the point of the sound filling the entire structure is to indicate that no person present failed to hear the sound.

So when we get to verse 3, we find that all saw this phenomenon. It seemed to be flickers of flame like one would see burning on the wick of a candle. So we have this additional metaphor going: a sound and a flame.

So everyone hears the sound and everyone sees the flickers which divide in such a way that there is a separate flicker that comes to rest on each one present. The traditional way of visualizing this is to imagine flames like each person was a candle with a wick coming out of the top of each person’s head.

Interestingly, we are not told how long this phenomenon lasted. Surely the image was gone by the time anyone outside the room heard what happened next. (We’ll get to that another time.)

Now, compare this with the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at the Savior’s baptism. In that case, the Spirit descended in a form that gave one an impression of something similar to a dove. The text does not say that an actual bird flew down and sat on Jesus. It says that the Spirit descended like a dove.

If this is the exact same Holy Spirit, why was the image like a dove in one case and like tongues of fire in the other case? One possible answer is that the Holy Spirit was marking Jesus to be Isaiah’s prophecies Prince of Peace, while He was marking the 120+ as being on fire for God.

Remember that Jesus said the Apostles (and others present at that time) would have power when the Holy Spirit came on them. So when the Holy Spirit came to rest on each one, it was in order to fuel the witness of each believer as the Gospel began to be carried to the uttermost part of the world.

Today the Holy Spirit comes to indwell each person who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He is the source of our peace that passes understanding. He is the source of our power to witness to our community and beyond. He is like a burning dove. Let’s make sure we don’t quench the Spirit.

What are some other metaphors for the Holy Spirit? Also, please share with us some times the Holy Spirit gave you peace or empowered your witness.

Sound Like

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:2

Sound Like

by Robert T. Cooper

When playing charades, sometimes one has a syllable that it is easier to act out a rhyming word or syllable than the actual syllable. So the player pulls on the ear lobe to signal “sounds like”, and then proceeds with the substitute.

Some people think that a mighty or violent wind tore through the place where the Pentecost 120 were praying. Yet when one reads the Scripture, that is not what it says. It says there was the sound of a mighty or violent, rushing wind. What does that sound like?

Luke does not give us an explanation of why the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was preceded by such a sound. Perhaps it was because the 120 were so deeply into their prayer the sound was simply an alarm to interrupt them and cause them to pay attention. We will never know this side of glory, and probably it doesn’t really matter, at least to us. Had it mattered, it would have been clarified in the Scriptures.

Of course, the word for wind and the word for Spirit are one and the same. But what is the sound of a mighty, rushing Spirit? Plus we surely would describe the Holy Spirit as mighty. But the word also has the connotation of violence. Would we consider the Holy Spirit to be violent? What about the idea of the Holy Spirit rushing? I think the pursuit of equating wind and Spirit is a dead end, at least for this verse.

The point I would like to make is that when we are engaged in group prayer, we need to all be deeply involved in it. However, when God wants to get our collective attention we need to be prepared to be interrupted and give Him that attention.

Do you think the sound of the mighty, rushing wind was significant? If so, what do you think was its significance?