Lange Commentary - Acts 2:1

Lange Commentary - Acts 2:1 - 2:4

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Lange Commentary - Acts 2:1 - 2:4

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

SECTION II

THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH, AS THE CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS

Act_2:1-47

A.—THE PENTECOSTAL MIRACLE ITSELF; ITS EXTERNAL FEATURES AND ITS NATURAL OPERATION, BY WHICH THE ASSEMBLED BELIEVERS WERE FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND ENABLED TO SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES

Act_2:1-4

Contents:—On the day of Pentecost, the festival, under the old covenant, of the completion of the harvest, the promise was fulfilled, and the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the assembled disciples; mighty signs accompanied the event; the internal fulness of the Spirit was manifested when the disciples spake with other tongues.

¹And when [while] the day of Pentecost was fully come [was in the course of being fulfilled], they were all with one accord in one place [accord together]. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it [omit it] filled all the house where they were sitting. ³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues [tongues parting (or, distributing) themselves] like as of fire, and it sat [seated itself] upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act_2:1. a. Luke states the time of the occurrence with sufficient exactness by mentioning the day of Pentecost, i.e. when this day was fully come, or, in the course of this day, with which the period of fifty days after the passover closed, the great event occurred. [The fifty days were counted from “the morrow after the (passover) sabbath,” Lev_23:15-16; the Greek ordinal ðåíôçêïóôÞ was ultimately employed as a noun, or proper name (de Wette), equivalent to “the Fiftieth,” so that in the present passage, according to Meyer, and Alford, neither ἡìἑñáò nor ἑïñôῆò is to be supplied.—Tr.]. The words certainly appear to give special prominence to the completion of this particular day, and on this circumstance Meyer lays great stress ( ἐí ôῷ óíìðëçñïí ͂ óèáé ôὴí ἡìÝñáí ôῆò ðåíôçê .); but the expression ðëçñïí ͂ óèáé is invariably employed by Luke (Gospel, Luk_9:51; Act_9:23) in the sense that a certain period of time is now reaching its close, and he obviously employs the word in such a sense in the present passage. The festival of Pentecost was, accordingly, the day during the course of which the effusion of the Spirit occurred. This feast of (seven) weeks ( çַâ ùָּׁáֻòåֹú Exo_34:22) was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the first day of the Passover festival. It consequently occurred, in the year in which Christ died, on the first day of the week, or our Sunday, if we assume that in the same year the first day of the passover occurred on a Friday, and the second, from which the fifty days were counted, on a Saturday. This statement is sustained by the very ancient tradition of the Church that the first Christian pentecostal season occurred on a Sunday. The Mosaic festival of Pentecost, which was one of the three annual or great festivals of Israel, was, as the appropriate passages of the Law show, a harvest festival, or, strictly speaking, the festival of the completion of the harvest; the commencement of the latter coincided with the Passover, and its completion was celebrated by a thank-offering of the first-fruits of the wheat harvest in bread baked of the new grain [Exo_23:16; Deu_16:9.]. That the festival of Pentecost was also intended to commemorate the giving of the law on Sinai, is an opinion which rests merely on the assertions of later rabbinical writers; it derives no support whatever from any passage in the Old or the New Testament, and none, moreover, from the writings of Philo and Josephus. The Church Fathers (Chrysostom, for instance), have, accordingly, regarded only the harvest festival, and not also the Sinaitic giving of the law, as a type in the Old Testament, of the outpouring of the Spirit; and the common practice of tracing a parallel between the Pentecost of the New Testament and the giving of the law on Sinai, is, at least, of very doubtful authority. But, on the other hand, an analogy may be traced with far more confidence between the new Pentecostal and the harvest festival, after the manner of Olshausen, for instance, in so far as “at the Christian feast of Pentecost the entire harvest of the Jewish people may be said to have occurred, when those who had ripened unto true repentance and conversion, were gathered in, and consecrated to God;” so, too, according to Joh_12:24, Christ, viewed as the corn of wheat that fell into the ground and died, on and after that day brought forth much fruit, or, a rich harvest.

b. The description given by Luke does not indicate the place in which the event occurred, as distinctly as the time. The first verse merely states that all the disciples were assembled in one and the same place, and the second adds only that the place of meeting was in a house, without giving any information respecting the class of buildings to which this house belonged. It was, probably, a private dwelling, and, possibly, the one which is mentioned in Act_1:13, as having previously afforded a place of meeting to the disciples. Many interpreters (among the more recent, Olshausen, Baumgarten, Lange) assume that the house in which the disciples sat, belonged to the temple, and was one of the thirty apartments in the buildings attached to the temple, which Josephus [Ant. viii. 3. 2,] has likewise termed ïἵêïíò . But as the language of the text does not even remotely indicate such an interpretation, and as no other sufficient reason can be adduced in support of it, we have no authority for assigning the place to one of the buildings adjoining the temple. For the opinion that on such a day, when a theocratic festival occurred, and at the first hour of prayer, the disciples could have with propriety assembled in no other spot than in the temple, may be plausible, but rests on no solid grounds. They had undoubtedly assembled long before the first hour of prayer; and, as all these occurrences required time, several hours after their first meeting in the morning may have already elapsed at the moment when Peter said: “It is but the third hour of the day,” Act_2:15. It cannot, besides, be supposed that the disciples could have assembled together in any part of the temple in such numbers, and as a united body of men who avoided all admixture with other Jews, without specially attracting public attention. The multitude, moreover, which came together, Act_2:6, does not necessarily imply the proximity of the temple, but simply makes the impression that some spacious spot existed in the neighborhood of the house then occupied by the disciples, which afforded sufficient room for a large collection of persons. The argument, finally, that the whole procedure acquires a much deeper significance, if we assign to it the temple as the place (“the solemn inauguration of the Church in the sanctuary of the old covenant” Olshausen), has the least weight of all; its force is derived only from the imagination.

c. Who are the persons that were assembled, and that received the gift of the Holy Ghost? We are informed, Act_2:1, that they were all with one accord in one place. It is at once obvious that not the apostles alone, but other disciples also, were present, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The correctness of this view is fully proved by Act_2:14, in which the twelve apostles are plainly distinguished from other persons who were also filled with the Spirit and spake with other tongues. Still, even when this fact is admitted, one point remains, on which a difference of opinion exists:—Were only the 120 disciples, mentioned in Act_1:15, present, or was a still larger number of persons assembled, and were all these endowed with the Holy Spirit? The former opinion is generally adopted, but the latter will appear to be better sustained when we consider that the day was a high festival of me old covenant, when those disciples of Jesus who did not reside in Jerusalem, or whom an express command of the Lord had not previously summoned, were, doubtless, also present in the city; it is natural to suppose that they, too, would assemble with the other disciples. Consequently, not only the twelve apostles, but the whole number of the disciples of Jesus who were then present in the city, were assembled together and shared in the effusion of the Spirit.

Act_2:2-3. a. The event which now occurred, took place suddenly ( ὄöíù ), that is, unexpectedly. So far were the disciples from looking for an event so extraordinary and impressive, that they were themselves amazed. Baumgarten (Apgesch. I. 36) supposes, it is true, that the disciples had sufficient grounds for believing that such a crisis was at hand, and were anxiously waiting for it. While, however, we may readily ascribe to them a devout frame of mind, corresponding in fervor to the character of one of the most solemn of the Israelitic festivals, we can find no indication that they expected precisely at that time a fulfilment of the promise which the Lord had given; that fulfilment was entirely unexpected.

b. A sound, etc.—The external manifestations and signs which attended the outpouring of the Spirit, were both a sound and a light, the one appealing to the ear, the other to the eye. The sound which came down to the earth from heaven, was very loud ( ἦ÷ïò ), like that produced by a blast, a gust, or a very strong wind which rushes onward; and it was this loud, penetrating sound which filled all the house in which the disciples were assembled. The text does not speak of an actual gust of wind, and still less of an earthquake, accompanied by a storm of wind, by which, as some have supposed (Neander), the house was shaken. The sound which was heard is, on the contrary, simply compared ( ὤóðåñ ) to that of a vehement wind, for the purpose of giving a general description of it; it was a so-called áַּú ÷åֹì [for which see Herzog: Real-Encyk. I. 719, art. Bath-Kol.—Tr.]. But it appears distinctly from Act_2:6 that the extraordinary sound mentioned in Act_2:2, was audible in the city at a considerable distance from the spot.—In addition to the sound, which appealed to the ear, another manifestation, a luminous sign, appealed to the eye. The disciples saw (appeared unto them, Act_2:3) appearances of tongues of fire which distributed themselves, and alighted upon each individual. It was as little natural fire as the sound already mentioned was that of a natural wind; on the contrary, the appearances which were seen, only resembled flames of fire that assumed the form of tongues; these were luminous, but they neither burned nor singed. It is altogether inadmissible to trace these appearances of flames to ordinary or natural causes. We cannot possibly regard them as only electrical phenomena, such as the gleaming lights which are sometimes seen on the highest points of steeples, or on the masts of vessels, and which have been known to alight even on men (Paulus), since they are here beheld, not in the open air, but in the interior of a house. But none obtrude so many creations of their own imagination, that is, of a self-deluded spirit, on the text, as those writers who here speak of flashes of lightning which, as they assume, darted through the apartment, and in which the excited minds of the apostles saw strange and wonderful images (Heinrichs), or who allege that the apostles were in a trance, and hence only imagined that they saw the fiery tongues (Heumann).—The fact that such a pentecostal festival occurred, is incontrovertibly established by the terms of the text, namely, that a mighty internal revolution was effected in the souls of the disciples, which elevated their whole nature, and endowed them with such strength of faith as believers, and with such power as witnesses, that they were now competent to begin a contest with the world, and conquer it. This great fact is, besides, so wonderful in itself, that the miraculous appearances in the outward world which attended it, cannot justly give offence, except to those who recognize only a spirit-world, that is essentially and absolutely separated from the sensuous world, or, in other words, who are governed by an unscriptural and unreal spiritualism. Both that loud sound and these flames of fire bear only a certain resemblance ( ὤóðåñ , ὡóåß ) to natural appearances, without really belonging to the class of ordinary or natural phenomena; like the main event—the impletion of individuals with the power of the Spirit from on high (Luk_24:49), they are supernatural, divine, and miraculous operations. These audible and visible signs may be regarded as the sensuous garment which the power of the Spirit assumed. They rendered eminent services: like heralds, they announced the coming of the Spirit, and gave an impressive character to the event; they exhibited, as emblems, the power and operations of the Spirit; and they fitted the mind in a still higher degree for receiving the gift of the Spirit. When they are viewed as emblems, the loud, rushing sound itself is the emblem of a certain vast power; its descent from heaven implies that this power is “from on high”—the power of Him who ascended to heaven and is enthroned on high. The fact that this sound filled all the house, was a sign that all who were there assembled, should be filled with the Holy Ghost. The visible flames were an emblem of that holy ardor and of those glowing emotions which, when enkindled from heaven, would break forth like flames from the heart. The form of tongues signified that the tongue, the word, or speech, thoroughly pervaded and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, should communicate and reveal all that is heavenly and holy. The circumstance that such a tongue of light and fire descended and sat upon each individual who was present, was an emblem of that fulness of the Spirit which was designed for, and imparted to, each individual, as a permanent gift.

Act_2:4. a. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.—The central point or main purpose of the whole miraculous event is indicated in the original in only four words, namely, that all the believers were filled with the Holy Ghost. The phrase: ἐðëÞóèçóáí ἄðáíôåò ðí . ἁã . may, and indeed, must here be taken in its precise and full sense:—they were filled with the Holy Ghost, insomuch that the Holy Ghost was not given in part only, or by measure, but in all his fulness (Joh_3:34). A correct view of this impletion with the Spirit can be obtained only by surveying it retrospectively and prospectively, that is, by comparing it with those operations and actual communications of the Spirit which preceded, and with those which followed it. With respect to the earlier manifestations of the Spirit, it was undoubtedly said, already under the old covenant, concerning Bezaleel and other skilful men, and also with respect to Joshua, that God had filled them with “the Spirit of God,” the spirit of wisdom, etc. (Exo_31:3 ff.; comp. Exo_28:3; Exo_35:31 ff.; Deu_34:9). In these cases, however, the connection plainly shows that such language describes only the skill of a particular artist, or the eminent military abilities of a general. And in the case of the prophets of Israel, the influences of the Spirit are always described in such terms only, as convey distinctly the sense that no complete and permanent communication of the Spirit of God, or one which pervaded the whole being of the subject, had yet occurred. When the angel of the Lord promises Zacharias that his son John “shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb” (Luk_1:15), we meet with a case that is so peculiar (comp. ibid. Act_2:41), and, in view of the whole historic relation which the forerunner sustained to the Messiah, of so subordinate a character, that it can scarcely be taken into consideration in discussing the point now before us. The disciples and apostles of Jesus had unquestionably received the Holy Ghost already at an earlier period (Joh_20:22 ff.); but that such communication of the Spirit had been neither of a permanent nor of a fully satisfactory character, appears from the subsequent, repeated promises of Jesus respecting a communication and acceptance of the Holy Ghost and of power, which still belonged to the future (Luk_24:49; Act_1:8). We are, accordingly, conducted to the conclusion that the communication of the Spirit which occurred on the day of Pentecost, when compared with any that preceded it, was final, complete, and permanent in its character. Still, when we examine the subsequent history of the disciples, we cannot but perceive that this outpouring of the Spirit was not of a magical nature, neither did it instantaneously and thoroughly transmute and pervade the whole nature and being of the subject. It required and enabled the individual, on the contrary, to appropriate to himself, by degrees, the holy powers of the Spirit, to grow continually, to be taught, to be put in mind, and to be guided into all truth by the Spirit (Joh_14:26; Joh_16:13)—to be uninterruptedly sanctified, led and drawn (Rom_8:14; Joh_17:17).—The fact that all were filled with the Holy Ghost, also claims attention. Not merely certain individuals among the multitude, for instance, the apostles, but all the believing people who were present, without distinction of office or vocation, of sex or age, were filled with the Holy Ghost. Consequently, females and young men were not excluded (comp. Act_2:17 ff.); indeed, the visible signs of the Spirit, the fiery tongues, had descended upon each individual, Act_2:3.

b. Began to speak with other tongues; such was the effect or immediate result, when all had received the fulness of the Spirit. It was needful that the internal process in the mind and spirit of the individual, should be made manifest externally—not, however, immediately before the world (for the company of believers still sat apart), but in the presence of those who held their views, and were of a like mind, “for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.” Hence, it appears, also, that the words which they uttered, were not simple statements of the Gospel message, which would not have been adapted to that place and that moment; their discourses rather proclaimed the honor and praise of God; it was “a solemnizing [commemorative] discourse”. (Baumgarten; Lange). Such a circumstance, however, would not in itself, have been unusual; the extraordinary and new feature which the case assumed ( ῆñîáíôï ), was the circumstance that the Christians, in consequence of having received the gift of the Spirit, spake with other tongues ( ἑôÝñáéò ãëþóóáéò ). This expression might, possibly, convey no other sense than that “the tongues of the disciples were essentially changed by the operation of the Spirit, and now became the organs of the Holy Ghost, whereas they had formerly been the organs of flesh.” (Baumgarten). But the narrative which immediately follows, Act_2:6-13, does not allow a single doubt to remain in an unprejudiced mind, that we are here already, Act_2:4, to understand a speaking of foreign languages, which were new to the speakers themselves (see below, Act_2:5-13). The last clause of Act_2:4, which by no means implies that any labor or effort to learn, had preceded, distinctly describes the whole as a free gift of the Spirit, and, moreover, intimates that various languages were spoken. Now, as the disciples had hitherto constituted a company which sat apart, this speaking in foreign languages could have had no direct reference to other persons whose ordinary languages were the same; it must therefore have had a special purpose and meaning of its own. When the disciples, filled with the Spirit of the Father and the Son, and elevated in thought and feeling, uttered aloud the praises of God in solemn adoration, and employed for this purpose various foreign languages, they prefigured in their persons the entire sanctified human race of a future and distant age, in which all generations, tongues, and languages will serve and glorify God, and his Anointed, in the Holy Ghost (Bengel, Baumgarten, and others).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The precise times in which the promises will be fulfilled, are not revealed either under the old or the new covenant (comp. Act_1:5; Act_1:7). Even when a reference to the time occurs, it is never so exact that we can previously define with precision the moment in which the fulfilment may be expected; even the prophets searched what point or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them, did signify. 1Pe_1:11. But as surely as the promise is God’s word, so surely will the fulfilment, which is God’s act, occur at the proper time. The promise exercises our faith; the fulfilment strengthens it.

2. The Pentecost of the old covenant was the chosen day on which, under the new covenant, the Spirit was poured out. Thus the day of Pentecost has a twofold significance. The new covenant is founded on the old; the Gospel is the fulfilment of the law. Here, too, with respect to holy days and festivals, Christ did “not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

3. In the revelations of God, the corporeal and the spiritual are always combined; in this respect the most exalted instance—the most intimate union—and the reciprocal interpenetration of the two, will be found in the Person of Christ himself, in so far as the fulness of the Godhead has dwelt, and still dwelleth, in him bodily. Col_2:9. But at all times, all that belongs to the acts and revelations of God, to the means of grace, and to the operations of grace, exhibits the spiritual and the corporeal in combination. Such is the nature of the Word and the Sacraments; in these, that which is corporeal, visible, and audible, is united in the most intimate manner with that which is spiritual and invisible. Such is also the case with the communication of the Holy Ghost; the Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism like a dove (Mat_3:16); the Lord breathed on the Apostles, and thus at first granted to them the Holy Ghost (Joh_20:22). And here, on the day of Pentecost, when the fulness of the Spirit was imparted to the disciples, the event occurred amid visible and audible signs, which, descending from heaven and entering the material world, proclaimed and glorified the gift of the Spirit which they accompanied: these signs evidently possess an emblematical character, and refer to the promise that the disciples shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

4. The day of Pentecost coincides in time with the effusion of the Spirit. All the former operations, influences and communications of the Spirit of God, were only by measure, or in part; they were preliminary and transient in their character. The outpouring of the Spirit, in the true and only sense, could not occur until the present period had arrived; the Spirit could not be given until the Redeemer had previously finished his work on earth, and had been glorified and exalted; Joh_7:39. For it was then only, on the one hand, that the exalted Lord could send the Spirit from the Father (Joh_15:26), and pray to the Father for the Comforter ( ðáñÜêëçôïò ) in behalf of his disciples, or that the Father could send the Spirit in the name of Jesus (Joh_14:16; Joh_14:26); and then only, on the other hand, were the disciples fully prepared to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; for, now that Jesus had ascended, and that his visible presence had been withdrawn, they looked forward with all the strength of their souls, with eagerness and haste (2Pe_3:12) toward the fulfilment of his most glorious promise. The peculiar features of the Pentecostal gift, as contradistinguished from other communications of the Holy Ghost, are, first, the fulness of the Spirit, in all the riches of his power and gifts: and, secondly, the permanent union of the Holy Ghost with human beings, that is to say, with the human race.

5. Not only the apostles, but all the other disciples also, were filled with the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost was not at that time, and is not now, an exclusive privilege of a particular office (not even of the highest in the Church—that of the Apostles), nor of any rank or either sex, but is the gracious gift of the Lord, bestowed on all who believe in him. There is a common priesthood of all believers, and the Holy Spirit is the anointing by which we are fitted for, and consecrated to, this priesthood. (1Jn_2:27.)

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act_2:1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come.—The Pentecostal gift furnished new evidence on the part of the Lord that he came to fulfil [Mat_5:17]. The age of promise, it is true, preceded, and the people of God waited long; but then the fulfilment occurred suddenly. (C. H. Rieger).—The feast of Passover of the old covenant is succeeded by the Christian festival of Easter, and that of Pentecost by the Christian pentecostal season [Whitsuntide]; to the former, the death and resurrection of Christ, and to the latter, the outpouring of the Spirit, respectively, assign a higher character as antitypes, than the ancient festivals possessed. The people of Israel observed on the day of Pentecost the festival of the first harvest of the year [Exo_23:16], but here we behold, in the outpouring of the Spirit, the source of the first great harvest on that field, white already to harvest, to which the Lord, as he sat at Jacob’s well, directed the attention of his disciples; on that one day about three thousand souls were gathered, as sheaves of the first fruits of the harvest, into the garner of the Lord. If the people of Israel commemorated on their day of Pentecost the giving of the law on Sinai, we behold here, in the outpouring of the Spirit, the giving of the law under the new covenant; but the will of God is now written with a pen of fire, not on tables of stone, but, as a law of the Spirit, on the hearts of men.—They were all with one accord in one place.—The Holy Spirit is given, not to the contentious and ungodly, but to those who dwell together in unity, and continue in supplications and prayers. (Starke).—Let him who desires to receive the Holy Spirit, not forsake the assembling together of believers [Heb_10:25]. (ib.).—Perseverance in prayer, in place of being a burden, becomes our delight, when our faith fully relies on the fulfilment of the divine promises, and when we, in addition, obtain a richer experience of God’s fidelity in keeping his promises. (Ap. Past.).—United prayers, when they are perseveringly offered, are specially acceptable and effectual; the common experience of many believers that God answers prayer, in a special manner strengthens our faith. (ib.).—The intimate connection between God’s deeds of old, and his deeds in our day: I. He does not cease to work [Joh_5:17], but continually does new things [Isa_43:19]. II. He does not reject nor destroy that which is old, but establishes that which is new upon it. (Lechler).—The significance of the Christian festivals: they commemorate, I. The glorious deeds and the mercies of God; II. The truth and the faithfulness of God [“in so far as the Pentecost and the other prominent festivals refer to the fulfilment of the divine promises, and to the actual execution of the original divine plan of salvation.” (From the first edition).—Tr.] (ib.).—The holy and glorious connection between the divine promises and their fulfilment: I. The promises become more precious to us in proportion as we see them fulfilled; II. The fulfilment becomes the more adorable and glorious in our eyes, inasmuch as it was promised. (ib.).—What position shall the believing Christian assume, in reference to the promises of God? I. Let him wait (with patience); II. Let him haste (with eager desire); comp. 2Pe_3:12.—“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness” (Pro_10:28); when it, I. Is founded on God’s word and promise alone; II. Is united with humility; and, III. Manifests itself in persevering prayer. (Lechler).—Unexpected blessings. The disciples scarcely expected the outpouring of the Spirit on that particular day; but when the appointed hour arrives, our help comes suddenly from the Lord, and puts our doubts to shame. (Besser).—The Pentecostal season of the new covenant, the glorious consummation of the day of Pentecost of the old covenant: I. Viewed as the festival of the giving of the law; II. And as a harvest festival.

Act_2:2-3. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, etc.—God ordinarily manifests his influence through his word; but that influence, particularly in its more striking forms, is often experienced suddenly and unexpectedly, by those, in particular, whom the Spirit of grace had previously taught to wait with faith, and whose hearts had thus been opened. [Act_16:14]. The prayer which the apostles offered with one accord, was graciously received in heaven, and this sound from heaven was the cheering answer, so that this ἦ÷ïò was in truth an echo. The faithfulness of God to his children and servants is still the same; their cry reaches unto heaven, and enters his heart, and, as the devout Godwin expresses it, such a prayer returns to them without fail from heaven. (Ap. Past.).—The gifts of the Holy Ghost: they are from above, Jam_1:17; Jam_3:17; they are perceived in our Christian experience, 2Co_4:13; they exercise a controlling influence, Rom_8:14; they fill the whole soul. (Starke).—It was as if a mighty wind were rushing onward, when the Holy Spirit took possession of the hearts of the disciples; we have here a very beautiful illustration of the power which he exercises over the soul, when he urges willing hearts onward, even as a vessel is impelled when its sails are filled by such a gracious wind. So, too, he rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces the rocks, when he produces a godly sorrow and contrition in the heart. Happy is that teacher on whose “garden” or heart this holy wind of God has blown (Son_4:16), and like the “north wind,” has, amid holy alarms, awakened a salutary fear, dispersed the vapors of a false security, cast down every high thing that exalted itself in its own righteousness, and then conducted that heart to Christ! Happy is he, again, when that wind, like the “south wind,” carrying warmth and quickening power with it, fills his heart with all the blessed influences of the Gospel, so “that the spices thereof may flow out,” flowing, too, freely on others, insomuch that through him, as a messenger of God who “has an unction from the Holy One” [1Jn_2:20], the savour of the knowledge of Christ may be made manifest in every place! (2Co_2:14-15). (Ap. Past.).—A rushing mighty wind, and flames of fire, are only the harbingers and emblems of the Holy Ghost: he himself entered the hearts of the disciples in an invisible manner. “Even nature herself is called into action, and required to render services in the holy place. God maketh his ministers a flame of fire [Heb_1:7]. The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God [Rom_8:21], and therefore utters praise in pealing anthems at all the great Christian festivals.” (Ahlfeld).—Tongues, like as of fire; this was the baptism with fire which John had promised (Mat_3:11)—the fire on earth which the Lord himself longed to see kindled (Luk_12:49). The Holy Ghost is a divine fire, purifying the heart, consuming all that is sinful in it, elevating it to God, and sanctifying it. (Quesnel).—Sat upon each of them.—Whenever the Spirit of the Lord has taken full possession of an abode, he dwells therein permanently; he rests upon those whom he has anointed, guides them, and governs them, in whatever manner they may be employed. 1Pe_4:14. (Ap. Past.).—The signs in inanimate nature which accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Ghost: they are, I. Evidences that the kingdom of power and of grace is governed by one God; II. Emblems of the Spirit and his power. (Lechler).—A rushing mighty wind and flames of fire, instructive emblems of the nature and operations of the Holy Spirit: I. The wind an emblem of them, in its (a) mysterious approach [Joh_3:8], (b) force, (c) purifying power, (d) refreshing influence. II. The tire an emblem, in its (a) brightness, (b) animating warmth, (c) power to consume, (d) rapid diffusion.

Act_2:4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.—The human heart is never empty; in the same proportion in which it is delivered from the love of self, of the creature, and of sin, it is filled with the Holy Spirit, O blessed fulness—the fulness of the Holy Spirit! It does not burden, but rather lifts up the soul, and impels it to adore God. (Quesnel).—The same measure and the same gifts of the Spirit were not bestowed alike on all; nevertheless, each one was filled, receiving the measure of the Spirit which corresponded to his capacity, and to the work in which God designed to employ him. The Lord still proceeds in this manner, bestowing on each a fitting gift according to his own holy will and purposes, so that in truth the heart of every one is filled. (Ap. Past.).—The words recorded in 1Ki_19:11 ff. (“The Lord passed by Elijah, etc.”), naturally suggest themselves in this connection. Here, too, the Lord himself truly came, not in the great and strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice, when he entered into the hearts of his disciples, and spake by their mouth. (Williger).—And began to speak with other tongues.—A new tongue and effective eloquence in the sphere of religion, are gifts, not of nature, but of the Spirit. (Ap. Past.).—The Holy Ghost is never inactive, but always worketh, wherever he dwells; one of his principal instruments is the tongue. Eph_4:29; Eph_5:19 ff. (Starke).—When the Holy Ghost fills and enlightens the heart, we begin to speak with another tongue. 2Co_4:13. (ib).—We cannot properly proclaim the works of God, unless we acquire another and a new tongue, and, consequently, obtain, above all, a converted and renewed heart. Psa_51:12-15. (ib.).—Even as the tongue, when it is set on fire of hell (Jam_3:6,) setteth all on fire by the offence which it gives, so, too, when the tongue is enkindled by Heaven, it becomes a torch, which may enkindle a divine fire in many souls. (ib.)—Not swords nor arrows, but tongues, are designed to conduct men to the obedience of Christ, 2Co_10:4 ff. (ib.).—The disciples could not repress the joyful emotions awakened by the power of that, divine life which was poured into their souls, and all began to speak. But listen! They now speak with other tongues! They received new tongues, enkindled, not from below, but from above by heavenly fire, and with these they gave praise to God and proclaimed the great miracle by which all things were made new. Their tongues were new with respect to language also, as well as with respect to the thoughts; their cloven tongues enabled them to speak the languages of foreign and distant nations, as a sign that the testimony which they now began to bear, was intended for every creature (Mar_16:17), and that it was the office of the Holy Ghost to restore the unity of language, and substitute for the confusion of tongues which began in Babel, one holy and harmonious Zion of all nations. Anticipating the Hallelujah sung in heaven, they proclaimed the praises of God, whose glorious plan of salvation they now could comprehend. (Stier).—This family of God, when thus declaring the praises of God in the languages of the whole world, presents us with an image of that future age in which the whole world shall praise God in all its various tongues. (Bengel).—The confusion of tongues occasioned the dispersion of men, Gen. Acts 11; the gift of tongues re-united them as one people. (H. Grotius).—On this day, the new festival of Pentecost, (the joyful, happy and blessed kingdom of Christ, which is full of gladness, courage and security,) was founded. We now hear another language, which does not fill the heart with terror, like the voice heard on Mount Sinai; it neither alarms nor slays us, but rather inspires us with courage and joy; indeed, Christ had promised his disciples that he would send to them the Holy Ghost, who should not be a Spirit of fear, but a Comforter, imparting to them boldness, and power to overcome every fear. For as soon as the Holy Ghost descended from heaven on that day, each one of the apostles, whom none could previously comfort, stood forth boldly, as if he intended to subdue the whole world. When Christ first rose from the dead, the apostles resembled the trembling and scattered brood of the hen; all his exhortations and comforting assurances failed to encourage and strengthen them. But on this day, when the Holy Ghost comes with a loud sound, and breathes upon them, their hearts are so abundantly filled with joy and gladness, and their tongues become so fiery, that each one arises and begins to preach publicly. No one looks first at another; each one is inspired with such courage of his own, that he is willing to confront the whole world. Such words and such preaching are, therefore, very different from those which proceeded from Moses. (Luther).

The Pentecostal gift, the richest gift of God: on account of, I. Its source—the merits of Christ, his humiliation and exaltation; II. Its own nature—a union of the Spirit of God with men; III. Its influences and results—a new creation of the heart and of the world.—The permanence of the union of the Holy Ghost with men: viewed as, I. A continued indwelling, illumination, and sanctification; II. Not, however, as an external possession, (for thou canst grieve and lose him, Eph_4:30), but as a higher power that is exercised over the soul.—“Be filled with the Spirit!” (Eph_5:18). I. Such a spiritual state is necessary, if we desire to be saved; II. The means for attaining it: (a) humble self-knowledge, (b) earnestness in following holiness [Heb_12:14], (c) fidelity in applying the gifts that have been imparted, (d) perseverance in prayer. (Lechler).

The new tongue which is given to us also, by the Pentecostal Spirit: I. What is its nature? It is not a miraculous gift of tongues, nor a mechanical repetition of devout phrases, but rather the gift of a heart and a tongue which are always ready to proclaim the praises of divine grace with gratitude, and to confess the Lord with holy joy. II. From what source does it proceed? Not from any natural abilities, nor from art and science, but from above, from the Spirit of God, who touches the heart and lips with heavenly fire. III. For what purpose is it given? Not to gratify personal vanity, nor to secure carnal enjoyments, but to proclaim the praises of God, and convey the tidings of salvation to the world.—(See also the Hom. and Pract. remarks on subsequent parts of this chapter).

Footnotes:

Act_2:1.— ἅðáíôåò ὁìïèõìáäüí [of text. rec. with C. (sec. cor.) E.] is preferable to ðÜíôåò ὁìïῦ of Lachmann [and Tischendorf], which latter reading is found in A. B. and other manuscripts [also C (orig.); Meyer also adopts the latter, while Alford retains the reading of text. rec.—Cod. Sin. omits both ðÜíô . and ἅðáíô ., and exhibits simply ὁìïῦ , but a later hand (C) inserted ðÜíôåò .—Tr.]

Act_2:2.— êáèåæüìåíïé [found in C. D., and adopted by Lach., Tisch., Born., and Alf.] is more accurate than êáèÞìåíïé [of text. rec. with A. (B. e sil) E. and Cod. Sin.—Meyer prefers the former as the less usual form.—Tr.]