Sunday, June 15, 2025

The Coming of the Holy Spirit (aka The Tongues of Fire story)

Today, I’m writing about the time that the Holy Spirit came on the disciples by placing flames of fire on their heads, allowing them to speak in other languages. Crazy, right? But two weeks ago, I shared the Great Commission, where Jesus told His disciples to go out and spread His word to all peoples in all lands. Challenging to do when you don’t speak the language.

It's a long passage, so I took a few verses out.

(from Acts chapter 2, verses 1-12, 14, 22-24, 32-33, 36-40 in the New Century Version)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw something like flames of fire that were separated and stood over each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages (or tongues) by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them.

There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages? We are from different places: Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” They were all amazed and confused, asking each other, “What does this mean?”

          But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say.

“People of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you by the miracles, wonders, and signs he did through Jesus. You all know this, because it happened right here among you. Jesus was given to you, and with the help of those who don’t know the law, you put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But this was God’s plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen. God raised Jesus from the dead and set him free from the pain of death, because death could not hold him.

“So Jesus is the One whom God raised from the dead. And we are all witnesses to this. Jesus was lifted up to heaven and is now at God’s right side. The Father has given the Holy Spirit to Jesus as he promised. So Jesus has poured out that Spirit, and this is what you now see and hear.

“So, all the people of Israel should know this truly: God has made Jesus—the man you nailed to the cross—both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they felt guilty and asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do?”

Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Peter warned them with many other words. He begged them, “Save yourselves from the evil of today’s people!”

Thankfully, our missionaries who go out in the world today have the opportunity to learn the languages of the people they are teaching. Or at least have been educated in how to learn a new language directly from native speakers. I give them all credit; I’ve tried learning other languages, but somedays plain regular English is enough of a challenge.

(The picture is from a Christmas Eve candlelight service at my church. No flames above anyone’s head; just flames from our candles.)

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