When Heaven Came Down

There is a bit of a misconception here because we read verse 2 and apply wind to the coming of the Holy Spirit. Read verse 2 again and see what it says. This might surprise you but there was no wind present in the Upper Room that day.

The evidence was the sound of a violent wind and that sound filled the place where they had gathered. I thought that this might have just been my translation but out of the 16 translations I checked, all of them agreed that this was the sound of a mighty wind. There was no wind but rather it was the deafening sound of a mighty wind. This would have been a shocking event to have witnessed.

During hurricane season last year Abigail and I stayed up late to watch coverage of one of the lesser hurricanes. one of the things we noticed was that there was such a roar to the wind that the reporter could no longer be heard. this is the kind of roaring that filled the Upper Room that day.

Why did God choose to do this?

1.) The disciples would have been startled - this would have been an attention grabber for sure.

2.) The sound symbolized the Holy Spirit’s power

3.) The sound drew the attention of others - When the Spirit moves within a church, people will notice. There will be no hiding it and no denying it.

The second evidence was the tongues of fire that fell from heaven. Read verse 3 again with me. Tongues like fire fell upon the disciples. All 16 translations also agree in thsi regard as well. This again was not a literal fire but rather the revelation of the Holy Spirit’s presence. This was a visual appearance not the actual physical presence or attributes of fire.

Here is what seems to be happening in these verses. There was most definitely a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and it was one that was both in sound and sight. The roaring sound came first and prepared them for the filling of the Holy Spirit. The sound was an awakening and the fire was an arrival.

God was often shown in fire

* Moses saw God in the burning bush

* God led Israel with a pillar of fire

* God was present at Mt. Sinai in fire

* When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal, God answered in fire

* The lighting of the first altar of burnt offering

* The coming of the Holy Spirit

Notice what happened when the Holy Spirit came down, each person was touched individually. The Spirit came upon both male and female, leaders and laymen and they all recieved the same Spirit. Each and every one was touched.

Q - Have you been touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit?

II. There was a divine display - The Holy Spirit Communicates (5-13)

Two major happenings

1. There was a filling

The church and each individual were filled. When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost a dual work was completed. both the church as a whole and the believers as individuals were filled with the Spirit. Both were completed at the same time.

Have any of you ever been driving a car that ran out of gas? I remember one time when I was in college I ran out of gas on my way back to the school. my plan was to get to the school and then go buy gas before I went back home. I never made it to the school. I ran out of gas about a mile from the college. I was stuck and going nowhere without gas. I called AAA and a tow truck brought me enough gas to get me to the station and I was back on my way.