Language to Which We Were Born

After the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, He spent some time with His apostles and other believers, demonstrating to them His living body, teaching them important truths and preparing them for the huge transition that would take place in them when He had departed into heaven.

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” 

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11

Jesus' disciples didn't understand about the Church. They were still expecting the glorious kingdom, and thrones. Not yet. There is much, much more to be done. More to learn, and they were about to be equipped for that new knowledge. Jesus wouldn't talk timetables with them. Only the Father has that information. "You will receive power" to do the work of evangelizing the world, and here it is again: "you shall be My witnesses." This is not a command. It is a statement of fact. They will be. It is a certain occupation of their immediate and lifetime future. They are changed people. They are about to experience an even more dramatic and permanent change. There is a new and wonderful creation they are part of, and are about to take leadership in. They have become children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and there is no going back.

The transition will begin right here in Jerusalem, the center of all God's dealings with His people. Then it will spread throughout Judea and Samaria, and then into all the earth. Those Galileans standing there were to be the agents of this marvellous work, because of Whose they were.

Then He was taken up, out of their sight, into heaven. They stood there, mesmerized, gazing upward. Two angels stood by and told them to get on about their business. "THIS Jesus," not another, will return someday in just THIS SAME WAY. That is our assurance, when we hear about mysterious men here or there who claim, or whom others claim to be the Messiah. No. When He returns, it will be in this same manner as His disciples saw Him go. And no one knows when that will be, but the Father.

A few weeks passed, and they waited, as the Lord had instructed them to do.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” Acts 2:1-12

Pentecost: Pent means 50. This is the fourth of the annual feasts of the Jews. It comes 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, which is the first Sabbath of Passover. These feasts were important symbolism for the Jews, and intricately timed to commemorate special events in the history of Israel (past and future). The symbolism was heavily Messianic, designed to keep them reminded of the Savior Who was promised of God to His people. Pentecost is an early harvest feast, also called the Feast of Weeks. As we see in this passage, thousands of devout Jews from all parts of the world assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts. God's timing is perfect.

The believers were still gathered and waiting, when it happened! Sound of rushing, mighty wind. Tongues of fire resting on each one. When they opened their mouths to speak, what came out were "other" languages and dialects that these men had not learned. Not language unknown to humanity, but known languages, in common usage, but which these individuals did not, themselves, know. The Spirit was giving them utterance. The Babel phenomenon was reversed.

Isaiah had prophesied of this sign to the Jews in Isaiah 28:11-12. It was a sign that Israel would soon suffer national discipline for their unbelief: Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. "This people:" Israel. "Stammering, foreign tongue:" Gentile languages. Israel, the people of God, the keeper of the Word of God, who took great pride in their beautiful Hebrew language, were to be evangelized in guttural, Gentile languages! Why? Because they had not done their job. Now these uneducated Galileans would do the job, because the Holy Spirit empowered them with abilities they did not naturally have, to distribute His Gospel to Jews from all over the inhabited world.

The Galileans just opened their mouths and spoke the gospel message. The Jews and proselytes assembled there were from at least 16 (count 'em) different nations. Their families had migrated there, and these Jews had grown up speaking the languages of the nations in which they were born. And each was hearing the message in his own language! God, the Holy Spirit was putting His Gospel on the fast track, with as much mass distribution as was possible at that time and place.

The target audience heard it. Most of them were greatly impressed and wanted to know more. Some were skeptical, and as is typical of unbelievers, they made ridiculous accusations of drunkenness; as if being drunk would give an uneducated Galilean the ability to speak fluent Italian.

God's plan is perfect. God's provision is perfect. God's timing is perfect. The Day of Pentecost was the birthday of the Church; an organism who embodies the Spirit of Jesus Christ on the earth until His return in glory to claim His own.

New Testament History – 1 Book

The Gospel books we have recently “walked through” gave us 4 perspectives on the biography of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. They do not contradict one another. They mesh into a complete portrait of God the Son in His human incarnation. In the gospels, Jesus was introducing Himself to Israel as their long anticipated king and introducing the Kingdom of God as God Himself has designed it. His challenge to those who were positive toward Him was “follow me.” Pay attention. Imitate. Learn My ways and serve as my assistants in this mission. Those who believed in Him were born anew and remained with Him through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. That all occurred during the Age of Israel. It had to be accomplished before the Church could come into existence.

Our next category of New Testament book is the only one that gives a historical record of the birth of His Church and her early development as His Body in the world, conceived by the Holy Spirit, nurtured by the Holy Spirit and the Eternal Word, commissioned to continue His work until He calls her home to be His eternal Bride. Since the Day of Pentecost, those who have believed in Jesus are IN HIM. That is the permanent position of the Church. One is not following the body in which one resides. I believe that technical detail makes the difference in how the individual believer relates to Jesus and all things regarding the Kingdom of God. That technical detail will also help us get a good grasp on the importance of the enormous transition which took place in one generation of God’s people after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts is the historical link between the Gospels of Jesus Christ and the Epistles to the Church. The whole title is The Acts of the Apostles. It was written by Luke as part of his report to his friend, Theophilus. The first part of the report is the Gospel of Luke. He shows in his report that the men in the gospels who had left careers and trades to follow Jesus became apostles (messengers) to Israel and then to Jesus’ new creation: the Church.

Acts traces important events in the early history of Christianity from the ascension of Christ to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the rapid progress of the gospel, beginning in Jerusalem and spreading throughout the Roman Empire.

Acts is a pivotal book of transitions: from the Gospels to the Epistles, from Judaism to Christianity, from law to grace, from Jews alone to Jews and Gentiles, and from kingdom to church. 

Key Chapter: Acts 2—Chapter 2 records the earth-changing events of the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came, fulfilling Christ’s promise to wait until the Holy Spirit arrived to empower and direct the witness. The Spirit transformed a small group of fearful men into a thriving, worldwide church that is ever moving forward and fulfilling the Great Commission. 

Nelson, Thomas (2006-04-11). Open Bible, NKJV (Kindle Locations 113708-113711). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Acts contains 28 chapters of dramatic action, beginning immediately after the resurrection of Jesus. He spent forty days with the saints at Jerusalem, teaching them and preparing them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which he commanded them to await together. They had no idea what that would be like, and expected Him to restore the Kingdom to Israel NOW. He told them that times and epochs were not to be their concern right now, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Please notice this is not a command or a request. It is a statement of fact. “you WILL receive power.” “you WILL be my witnesses.” Then they watched as He was taken into heaven. As they stood with their mouths agape, staring into the sky, “behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11). This Jesus, not another. In this same way, just as He went. What could be plainer than that?

These believers, who were recovering from their shock and confusion of having seen their Lord crucified, buried and resurrected, were now about to receive in themselves a miraculous transformation. They stayed together, as Jesus had commanded them, praying and becoming organized under Peter’s leadership. He reminded them of all they had experienced with Jesus and they “elected” Matthias from among their ranks to replace Judas, who had betrayed the Lord and then committed suicide. According to the apostles’ standards for this office, Matthias must have been a fine believer, but nothing more is ever said about him in the scriptures.

Then came the day they had waited for: Pentecost. It means 50, and it occurred 50 days after Passover, when the Lamb of God had been sacrificed for our sins. It is familiar to all students of the New Testament. A mighty rush of wind. Tongues of fire. Languages spoken by these men which they had not learned. Specific languages, not unknown ones.  Real languages, not ecstatic gibberish. The languages were unknown only to those who were speaking them, for there were Jews in the audience that day who spoke those languages and heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in the languages of the Gentile nations from which they came. There were at least 14 national languages listed in Acts 2:9-10. This helped to jump-start the evangelism to those nations as those pilgrims returned home with the amazing sermon they had heard.

For with stammering lips and another (Gentile) tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Isaiah 28:11-12. Another important prophecy to stiffnecked Israel (THIS people) fulfilled.

Now organized and empowered, the Church began her work under hostility from the Jews and oppression from Rome. The persecution served to keep believers in close fellowship with one another as it scattered them into the surrounding communities and nations, carrying the gospel message wherever they went. Thousands of souls were added to the Church in the times and events Luke wrote about in Acts. Those thousands bore testimony to thousands more, and the Church grew.

As the Church Age began, the apostles and other saints were gifted with certain miraculous “sign” gifts, which enabled them to perform healings, resuscitations, and speak in foreign languages as they presented the gospel of Jesus Christ to any who would listen to their message. These gifts certainly attracted the attention of those who witnessed them, and gave credibility to the apostles as representatives of Jesus Christ. As time went on, and the New Testament canon was written, these miraculous “apostolic” gifts diminished, for they were no longer needed. God’s perfect Word is its own witness. Signs and wonders are not needed to validate that which is “alive, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword” – Hebrews 4:12 –it “shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11.

They preached. They traveled. They healed. They shared their worldly goods. They told the world about the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Savior of mankind. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Moving through the infancy of the Church: in Acts chapter 6 the Church appointed deacons to help with the chores of the Church, so the apostles could devote their time to praying, studying and teaching. One of those deacons, Stephen, became the first martyr of the Church age, when the crowd to whom he witnessed stoned him to death (ch. 7).  Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who had stood by and watched with approval the stoning of Stephen, conducted a mission to put a stop to all Christian activity. On the road to Damascus this religious zealot was clobbered and blinded by the risen Christ (ch. 9). He left that traumatic scene a man forever changed, having been saved and commissioned to preach Christ to the Gentiles. From that time, he is called Paul (his Roman name). Peter and Paul were the most prominent apostles throughout the book of Acts, as they worked toward the spread of Christ’s message to the whole world. There were many other apostles and believers at work, too, but those two seemed to project the most authority regarding Christian doctrine.

The Holy Spirit very quickly led Peter and Paul into evangelizing the Gentiles, some of whom were waiting to be taught about Jesus and receive His baptism. J. Vernon McGee lists 3 representative conversions seen in Acts: in chapter 8, the Ethiopian eunuch – Son of Ham; ch. 9, Saul of Tarsus – Son of Shem; ch. 10, Cornelius, Roman centurion – Son of Japheth. Those 3 names represent the sons of Noah, who were the fathers of all the nations on the earth (Genesis 10:1).

The mission of the Church was a huge undertaking, and those early evangelists were equipped by the Holy Spirit to get the job done, no matter the obstacles they faced. They preached in the synagogues, in the streets, on mountaintops and in prisons. They faced opposition and danger almost everywhere they went. They even had some mimicking their message to ridicule and embarrass them. Their attitude was that of grace, as expressed by Paul in Philippians 1:18:

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.