Lessons from the Day of Pentecost
I think there are a couple lessons that we see in the Day
of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out upon the people. It was only about 10 days since Christ had
ascended for good into heaven, and the Church was in its infancy. So what would happen at this event and others
around the same time would prove to be very foundational for the Church. Devout Jews were gathered there from “every
nation under heaven” at the Jewish feast, and they witnessed an incredible miracle
with the gift of tongues. “They were
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues” and “every
man heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:4-6). Here’s what I see as two important lessons
for the new church that now had to establish itself without the physical
presence of Jesus.
Lesson 1: Unity
Luke in the account was very particular to name all of the
places where people were from. There
were “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and
in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia” (Acts 2:9-11). And yet, despite this incredible diversity of
cultures and languages present, they all became united in this experience. They all heard the same message but in their
own tongue, so for that moment at least they were all unified (at least who
opened their hearts to listen) and brought together through the Spirit. The event seems to be what happened at the
tower of Babel in reverse. In that setting as the people were united in wickedness,
the Lord “confounded the language of the people… and according to the word of the
Lord the people were scattered” (Ether 1:33).
So they were separated by the mixing up of their language; but at the
day of Pentecost they were all brought together through the Spirit despite their
numerous different languages. I think
the message for the church was that as they were to fulfill the charge of the
Savior to “teach all nations” unity among the members would be crucial (Matthew
28:19). Despite cultural, geographical,
and language differences, the church would have to find a way to be unified
among the new Christians. And what would
unify them? The same thing that brought
them together at this day of Pentecost: the witness of the Holy Ghost.
Lesson 2: Individual Revelation
Perhaps a second lesson that was important for the new
church to understand that individuals couls and should receive their own spiritual
witness of Christ and the gospel. I
think it is telling that everyone received the witness personally. The text tells us that “every man” heard in
his own tongue and thus were influenced by the Holy Ghost that brought the words
to them in their own language. Jesus
when He had been with the apostles had promised them the Holy Ghost; what those
apostles saw here was that this promise was to everyone. The Holy Ghost was not just for church
leaders, but God would give revelation to all who would receive it. After Peter preached boldly to them we read
that “they were pricked in their heart” and Peter told them “be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.”
That day “there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts
2:37-38, 41). So again I think we see here
in the account that even though this was in some sense a group event, the
individual was important with each one being baptized and each one being
accounted for. The church’s growth from
here on out would be based on individuals receiving personal witnesses of Jesus
Christ through the Holy Ghost and each individually would choose baptism and be
cared for.
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