They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language.                                   Acts 2:4-6 (WEB)
Those who were in that fellowship on the first Pentecost were filled with the Holy Spirit. ALL were anointed with the power that Jesus promised in Acts 1. No one was left out. All were anointed because all were together in that room. The room did not have a ‘red’ group or a ‘blue’ group. They did not sit ‘traditionalists’ on the right and ‘charismatics’ on the left! They did not have separate prayer meetings because one group wanted to use the Torah and the other wanted ‘new words’. The fellowship was united!!! This was key.
Change was not coming – it was here! One minute they were – the fellowship. The next some hurricane-force wind that deposited flames of fire on each one. It was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit: the Beginning. THEN they were changed further. The members of this fellowship found they could speak in languages they had not learned in Hebrew School!
I am going to give you a personal testimony. You can believe it or not. One night, we had visitors at our service from Germany. Some of them spoke English, many did not. They just “dropped inâ€. We did not know they were coming. The wife of one of German visitors was from France. She did not speak or understand English. Not a bit. The husband asked me to pray for his wife. Now, I did not know how to speak French except for “Merci†and “Bon jourâ€. But I did feel I was to pray for her. And I did. I spoke a 2-3 minute prayer and she began to cry. I took her hand and said, “May God give you the strength and grace to forgive your father.†The woman fell to her knees, grabbed me, and began to speak in French. Her husband told me later that she was speaking words of forgiveness to her father. God had translated what I had said directly into her heart and told her the desire of His heart that she be healed through this forgiveness. She left the church that night full of joy and knowing the assurance of how much the Father loved her. God was not constrained by my lack of languages! To this day, I do not fully understand what happened but I know that God blessed us all by His manifested love!
For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.                            Ephesians 3:14-21 (WEB)
