Luke the physician wrote about the disciples, “when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them”, and in chapter two and verse four of the book of Acts Luke wrote how, “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” where we read:
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The verse begins, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, ...” Luke began with the words, “and they were all filled” which means “and the one hundred and twenty people in the upper room were each, every, the whole and everyone imbued and supplied” “with the Holy Ghost” or “with the sacred, pure and morally, religiously and ceremonially consecrated third person of the of the triune God, the Holy Spirit who is coequal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son”. Luke shared how each of the people in the upper room was “imbued and supplied” with the “Holy Spirit” of God.
The verse continues, “... and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Luke added the words, “and began to speak” or “and commenced to making utterances, declarations and proclamations” “with other tongues” which means “using different languages or dialects used by a particular people which were distinct from that of other nations”, “as the Spirit” or “according and just as the Holy Spirit” “gave them utterance” which means “granted, bestowed, supplied and furnished to the people in the upper room declarations, pronouncements and elevated discourses”. Luke shared how the people in the upper room started “speaking” in different languages from their own as God's Holy Spirit gave them the ability to do so.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn what the “cloven tongues” meant for the people in the upper room. As they settled upon the people, “the Holy Spirit” of God “filled” the people and they began to speak in languages that were not their own. We shall see the impact this had upon people who were not in the upper room in our next few verses, but for now let us understand this was the beginning of the empowering of the people who started the church. God wants everyone to have a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and when they yield to Him as their “Savior and Lord”, they may seek the miraculous power of the “Holy Spirit” to be His “witnesses” in the world.
Next time Luke shares how, “there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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