2 Acts of the Apostles - The Coming of the Holy Spirit & Many Diverse Tongues

I cannot imagine what would have become of the Gospel of Jesus if the Apostles disobeyed Jesus and went their separate ways straight after hearing His last commandment to stay together and spread the message. It would show a great lack of faith and unbelief and would have rendered the great commission impossible as the Holy Spirit would not have come upon them unless they were together and in one accord.

The emphasis on being in one accord really struck me as I read this chapter. If I had a penny for every time the statement ' and they were in all in one accord' was made i'd be rich. The need to be together and in one accord spoke of the unity and oneness of the workings of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of the need to be at peace and in brotherly/sisterly love with your neighbour. If the Apostles had broke out in a fight and kept grudges amongst themselves, it would have created an environment that was not conducive for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. Instead, the Bible says that on the Day of Pentecost (the day the HolySpirit came upon them), the apostles were in the upper room praying together, it says 'they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication'. The value of the sense of togetherness and strength of numbers was further emphasised when at this time, they urgently chose Matthias to take the place of Judas.

The Bible speaks of divided tongues of fire resting upon each of the apostles and that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (tongues of the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Cappadocians, Libyans, Arabs, etc) as the Spirit gave them utterance. The symbolism of the tongues here shows the power of the Holy Spirit to unite people from different nations, cultures, tribes, languages, socio-political situations and bring them together for one cause - the Glory of the Lord.

The significance of the day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the utterance of many foreign tongues was to establish what Jesus had commanded in Acts Chapter 1: ' But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in the end of the Earth'

Through the speaking of foreign tongues, which the apostles did not understand themselves, were given power to minister to diverse people.

Biola