THE DAY OF PENTECOST:

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

This chapter will be very brief, considering much relating to this event has already been discussed.

Let us first consider the order in which these things happened:

1st: A sound came from heaven as of a rushing might wind.

2nd: The sound filled all the room where they were sitting.

3rd: There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.

4th: The cloven tongues sat upon each of them.

5th: They were filled with the Holy Ghost.

6th: They spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now we must figure out how these things relate to baptism or immersion. The sound was as a mighty rushing wind. The scripture does not say that it was a wind, but as a wind.

The sound filled all the room where they were sitting. In other words, they were totally immersed in the sound, or were baptized. After conversion, there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire. The scripture does not say the tongues were fire, but like fire. These tongues sat upon each of them: It would be safe to say that the tongues sat upon their heads, but that is a moot point.

According to Thayer's Greek Lixicon, page 118, these tongues are described as tongue-like flames symbolizing the gifts of foreign tongues. This is reasonable since they began to speak in foreign tongues. Lastly, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in these tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Tongue speaking in foreign languages was not the same as the tongues spoken of in 1 Corinthians, the fourteenth chapter.

Tongue speaking was not a prerequisite to conversion, with the only exception being the conversion of Cornelius. The apostle Paul asked twelve men if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed; they said we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Since they knew only the baptism of John, Paul then baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus. Afterwards he laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost and spoke with tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:1-7).

Incidentally, the laying on of hands was centuries old. Moses laid his hands on Joshua and imparted unto him the spirit of wisdom before he departed (Deut. 34:9).

The bible teaches that there are things that one must do before conversion or immersion. We believe the scriptures teach first, that one must hear the word, repent of his sins, and confess with the mouth before men that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

This is not an issue nor probably ever will be, but I will address it anyway. There is no doubt in my mind that the apostles heard the word of the Lord, they had faith in God and Christ, they repented of their sins, and confessed with their mouth openly before men during the ministry of Christ, that he was the Son of the Living God. However, Peter did make the confession of Christ in a manner that we do today: "Thou are the Christ, the son of the Living God" (Matt.16:16).

We must go back to an earlier discussion in this book concerning the belief that the apostles were saved before the cross and added to a church that did not exist. Quoting from the book of Luke, the Lord told Peter:

Luke 22:32 "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

The conversion that the Lord had reference to is this:

Col.1:13 "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son"

Neither Peter nor any of the other apostles were converted or translated into the kingdom of Christ until the day of Pentecost!