Acts 2:14-21

As we spoke yesterday, an amazing thing has taken place. The Holy Spirit has arrived on the scene in a spectacular “suddenly” moment, and between the loud sound the city heard and these 120 or so people now speaking in tongues, the city was trying to make heads or tails of it all.

As doubters and critics often do, they tried to dismiss this great happening by saying the Apostles were drunk. Peter steps up and confronts the crowd, correctly explaining that what was happening had been spoken of by the prophet Joel years before:

“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, and your old men will dream dreams. I will pour out My Spirit even on My servants—men and women alike—and they shall prophesy.’”

What a time for these people to be alive! They were standing at the cusp and dawn of the New Covenant, ushering in a new way of living in the Kingdom. The Holy Spirit was now living within believers, transforming them from the inside out—something Old Testament believers had never experienced.

The book of Acts chronicles this transformation in the lives of the Apostles and the budding Church. It also introduces us to one of the most dramatic conversions—Saul of Tarsus, who later becomes the Apostle Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament.

Thank God for Paul. Because of his conversion, much of the Gentile world was exposed to the Gospel. In fact, Peter was considered the Apostle to the Jews, and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Satan thought he had won, but now he was not just dealing with Jesus, but with a whole army of believers—commissioned and empowered by and through the Holy Spirit. This was a serious miscalculation on his part. Not understanding the mystery of the crucifixion, Satan’s supposed victory became the instrument of his defeat, initiating salvation for all mankind.

Consider 1 Corinthians 2:7-8:

“No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.”

It is the Spirit of God who reveals the wonderful things God has freely given to those who believe in Christ. Satan and the rulers of darkness had no part in this revelation, for they did not have the Spirit of God.

I wonder when it finally dawned on him—maybe when the stone was rolled away ?