Acts 2:14-21 – Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.” Peter addressed the crowd but they all stood. They were all united in Christ and empowered and emboldened by the Holy Spirit. Before the resurrection that had scattered and run off from the evil that was happening. But that day they stood together, unafraid and itching to proclaim that they are unashamedly the disciples of Christ. They all stood together. They stood, fresh in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, with Him flowing through them and they did not fear mankind. Not this time! Not ever again. Brothers standing together to dare to declare to the world the “wonders of God.” Praise God! It is how Jesus means us to stand, in love, together, a witness to the world that the love of Christ changes everything (John 13:34-35). Lord Jesus, may it be so!
“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! In the crowd were both those who were genuinely intrigued and wondering what was the meaning of this supernatural event, and also there were the scoffers. The first thing that Peter did was address the slander of the scoffers. It is easy to suspect that he addressed the remarks of the scoffers first that he might help the genuine seekers to begin to understand.
Family, some write that this explosion of the Holy Spirit was a very “orderly” event. Does one hundred twenty people talking at the same time in different languages sound orderly as those who stress being orderly would define it? Not likely! It was organized chaos! The crowd could hear their own language, but there was also a roar of disciples loudly speaking out, maybe shouting, likely shouting, the wonders of God in all the languages of those present. Orderly church service? Hardly! Family, think to when you are in the presence of God in the Spirit, when He is filling you with love and healing. When God moves upon us and we, like King David, tend to shout with joy (Psalm 6:14-15)! It is a sure thing that skeptics could have accused them of being drunk! We shout our love and praise to God! We laugh, we dance, we cry, we are overwhelmed when the mighty hand of God touches us. Family, those who teach that when the Holy Spirit explodes on the scene, when He is rushing through our hearts like a mighty roaring river, that we will calmly and politely sit quietly in our seats and in only in our minds or in hushed breaths praise God, well, these teachers have never been overwhelmed by the beautiful, wonderful, loving, joyous and exciting actual touch of God! A smile and a warm heart are awesome, but what happened at Pentecost was at another level. They were baptized by the Holy Spirit, they were immersed, they were soaked by a flood that they could not stop and did not want to stop. They were shouting out the glories of God. King David knew this type of joy. Now some will say that what is being advocated is emotion. That is missing the point. The point is being flooded by the Holy Spirit, overwhelmed by the powerful presence of God. Only those who have never experienced that will object to emotion being clearly on display. Unequivocally let it be stated that no man can experience the presence of God without be overwhelmed (Isaiah 6:5, Job 40:3-5, Revelation 1:17, Leviticus 9:24). Can we be overwhelmed without emotion? Besides, God had ordained this time, this day, this event for men and women to joyously express the wonders of God, the wonders of His love, the wonders of the Gospel to all who would hear. And this was not a one-time event! God has likewise ordained His disciples alive today, us, to experience and do the same. This was the start of the church bringing the Gospel to the world. Family, let us tell the Gospel to all who will listen. Let is do it in joy and exuberance (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 20:5, Psalm 27:6, Psalm 95:1, Luke 10:21, 1 Thessalonians 2:19) . Let us have a Pentecost experience every morning to start our day. Family, every morning and throughout every day, let us seek the presence of God and desire that the power and wonder of the Holy Spirit flow through us to reach a lost world. We owe it to God! We owe it to each other! We owe it to the world! Praise God! Oh yes, praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Psalm 126:1 “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “TheLord has done great things for them.” Praise the name of the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.