Acts 2:4

The Galilean Peter or Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John and the other apostles spoke all the tongues of various nations, for the thronging of multitudes of strangers from all parts is not something new in Jerusalem, but this was true in apostolic times. What teacher can be found so proficient as to teach people in a moment what they have not learned? So many years are required through grammar and other arts merely to speak Greek well; and all do not speak it equally well. The rhetorician may succeed in speaking it well, the grammarian sometimes less well; and one who is skilled in grammar is ignorant of philosophical studies. But the Spirit taught them at once many languages, which they do not know in a whole lifetime. This is truly lofty wisdom. This is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance in the past and this sudden, comprehensive, varied and unaccustomed use of languages. The multitude of those listening was confounded; it was a second confusion, in contrast to the first evil confusion at Babylon. In that former confusion of tongues there was a division of purpose, for the intention was impious. Here there was a restoration and union of minds, since the object of their zeal was righteous. Through what occasioned the fall came the recovery.

For that same manifest bestowal of the Holy Spirit the Lord made, not once, but on two separate occasions. For close on the back of His resurrection from the dead He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." And because He then gave [the Spirit], did He on that account fail in afterwards sending Him according to His promise? Or was it not the very same Spirit who was both then breathed upon them by Himself, and afterwards sent by Him from heaven? And so, why that same giving on His part which took place publicly, also took place twice, is another question: for it may be that this twofold bestowal of His in a public way took place because of the two Commandments of love, that is, to our neighbor and to God, in order that love might be impressively intimated as pertaining to the Holy Spirit. And if any other reason is to be sought for, we cannot at present allow our discourse to be improperly prolonged by such an inquiry: provided, however, it be admitted that, without the Holy Spirit, we can neither love Christ nor keep His commandments; while the less experience we have of His presence, the less also can we do so; and the fuller our experience, so much the greater our ability. Accordingly, the promise is no vain one, either to him who has not [the Holy Spirit], or to him who has. For it is made to him who has not, in order that he may have; and to him who has, that he may have more abundantly. For were it not that He was possessed by some in smaller measure than by others, St. Elisha would not have said to St. Elijah, "Let the spirit that is in thee be in a twofold measure in me."

Now, amidst this admirable correspondence, there is at least this very considerable diversity in the cases, in that the people in the earlier instance were deterred by a horrible dread from approaching the place where the law was given; whereas in the other case the Holy Ghost came upon them who were gathered together in expectation of His promised gift. There it was on tables of stone that the finger of God operated; here it was on the hearts of men. There the law was given outwardly, so that the unrighteous might be terrified; here it was given inwardly, so that they might be justified. For this, "Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment,"—such, of course, as was written on those tables,—"it is briefly comprehended," says he, "in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Now this was not written on the tables of stone, but "is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." God's law, therefore, is love. "To it the carnal mind is not subject, neither indeed can be;" but when the works of love are written on tables to alarm the carnal mind, there arises the law of works and "the letter which killeth" the transgressor; but when love itself is shed abroad in the hearts of believers, then we have the law of faith, and the spirit which gives life to him that loves.

For you have heard that the Holy Spirit appeared upon the disciples in tongues of fire and gave them knowledge of all languages. What indeed was signified by this miracle, except that the holy Church, filled with the same Spirit, would speak with the voice of all nations? Those who attempted to build a tower against God lost the communion of one language, but in these who humbly feared God all languages were united. Here therefore humility merited virtue; there pride earned confusion.

And they began to speak with various tongues. The unity of tongues that the pride of Babel had dispersed, the humility of the Church gathers together again. Spiritually, however, the variety of tongues signifies the gifts of various graces. But it is not inconsiderate to …

And they began to speak in various tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak. But there were in Jerusalem Jews dwelling, religious men from every nation, etc. In Greek it does not say at this place "in various tongues," but "in other tongues." …

The grace of God was pleased to ordain from the beginning that the word of the apostles should be effective; for what use are preachers if there are no listeners? And since the firstfruits from among the Gentiles were to become partakers in the faith …

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,.... With the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they had received the Spirit before, as a Spirit of grace, and were endowed with great gifts; but now they had great plenty of them, a large abundance; they were like vessels filled to the brim; they were as it were covered with them; there was an overflow of them upon them; and now it was, that they were baptized with him; See Gill on Act 1:

And this family praising God together, with the tongues of all the world, was an earnest that the whole world should in due time praise God in their various tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance - Moses, the type of the law, was of a slow tongue; but the Gospel speaks with a fiery and flaming one.

(2.) A very proper, needful, and serviceable miracle. The language the disciples spoke was Syriac, a dialect of the Hebrew; so that it was necessary that they should be endued with the gift, for the understanding both of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, in which it was written, and of the original Greek of the New Testament, in which it was to be written.

To speak with other tongues - At the building of Babel the language of the people was confounded; and, in consequence of this, they became scattered over the face of the earth: at this foundation of the Christian Church, the gift of various languages was given to the apostles, that the scattered nations might be gathered; and united under one shepherd and superintendent (επισκοπος) of all souls. As the Spirit gave them utterance - The word αποφθεγγεσθαι seems to imply such utterance as proceeded from immediate inspiration, and included oracular communications.

FROM the descent of the Holy Spirit at the beginning we may learn something concerning His operations at the present time. Remember at the outset that whatever the Holy Spirit was at the first, He is that now, for as God, He remains forever the same—whatever He did then He is able to do still, for His power is by no means diminished. As says the Prophet Micah, "O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?"

when the day of Pentecost was fully come--The fiftieth from the morrow after the first Passover sabbath (Le 23:15, 16). with one accord--the solemnity of the day, perhaps, unconsciously raising their expectations.

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they . . . began to speak with . . . tongues, &c.--real, living languages, as is plain from what follows. The thing uttered, probably the same by all, was "the wonderful works of God," perhaps in the inspired words of the Old Testament evangelical hymns; though it is next to certain that the speakers themselves understood nothing of what they uttered (see on 1Co 14:1-25).

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How absolutely necessary is the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit! It is not possible for us to promote the glory of God, or to bless the souls of men, unless the Holy Spirit shall be in us and with us. Those who were assembled on that memorable day of Pentecost were all men of prayer and faith. But even these precious gifts are only available when the celestial fire sets them on a blaze. They were all men of experience—most of them had been preachers of the Word, and workers of miracles.

How absolutely necessary is the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit! It is not possible for us to promote the glory of God, or to bless the souls of men, unless the Holy Spirit shall be in us and with us. Those who were assembled on that memorable day of Pentecost were all men of prayer and faith. But even these precious gifts are only available when the celestial fire sets them on a blaze. They were all men of experience—most of them had been preachers of the Word, and workers of miracles. They had endured trials and troubles in company with their Lord, and had been with Him in His temptation. Yet even experienced Christians, without the Spirit of God, are weak as water. Among them were the Apostles and the seventy evangelists. And with them were those honored women in whose houses the Lord had often been entertained, and who had ministered to Him of their substance. Yet even these favored and honored saints can do nothing without the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. Apostles and Evangelists dare not even attempt anything alone. They must tarry at Jerusalem till power is given them from on High. It was not a want of education. They had been for three years in the college of Christ, with perfect Wisdom as their Tutor, matchless eloquence as their Instructor, and immaculate Perfection as their example. Yet they must not venture to open their mouths to testify of the mystery of Jesus until the anointing Spirit has come with blessed unction from above! Surely, my Brothers and Sisters, if it was so with them, much more must it be the case with us. Let us beware of trusting to our well-adjusted machineries of committees and schemes. Let us be jealous of all reliance upon our own mental faculties or religious vigor.

FROM the descent of the Holy Spirit at the beginning we may learn something concerning His operations at the present time. Remember at the outset that whatever the Holy Spirit was at the first, He is that now, for as God, He remains forever the same—whatever He did then He is able to do still, for His power is by no means diminished. As says the Prophet Micah, "O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?" We would greatly grieve the Holy Spirit if we supposed that His might was less, today, than in the beginning. Although we may not expect and need not desire the miracles which came with the gift of the Holy Spirit, so far as they were physical, yet we may both desire and expect that which was intended and symbolized by them—and we may reckon to see the same spiritual wonders performed among us at this day. Pentecost, according to the belief of the Jews, was the time of the giving of the Law, and if when the Law was given there was a marvelous display of power on Sinai, it was to be expected that when the Gospel was given, whose ministration is far more glorious, there should be some special unveiling of the Divine Presence. If at the commencement of the Gospel we behold the Holy Spirit working great signs and wonders, may we not expect a continuance—no, if anything, an increased display of His power as the ages roll on? The Law vanished away, but the Gospel will never vanish. It shines more and more to the perfect millennial day and, therefore, I reckon that with the sole exception of physical miracles, whatever was worked by the Holy Spirit at the first, we may look to be worked continually while the dispensation lasts. It ought not to be forgotten that Pentecost was the feast of first fruits—it was the time when the first ears of ripe corn were offered unto God.

Were all filled with the Holy Ghost - Were entirely under his sacred influence and power. See the notes on Luk 1:41, Luk 1:67. To be filled with anything is a phrase denoting that all the faculties are pervaded by it, engaged in it, or under its influence, Act 3:10, “Were filled with wonder and amazement”; Act 5:17, “Filled with indignation”; Act 13:45, “Filled with envy”; Act 2:4, “Filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Began to speak with other tongues - In other languages than their native tongue. The languages which they spoke are specified in Act 2:9-11. As the Spirit gave them utterance - As the Holy Spirit gave them power to speak. This language implies plainly that they were now endued with a faculty of speaking languages which they had not before learned. Their native tongue was that of Galilee, a somewhat barbarous dialect of the common language used in Judea - the Syro-Chaldaic. It is possible that some of them might have been partially acquainted with the Greek and Latin, as each of those languages was spoken among the Jews to some extent; but there is not the slightest evidence that they were acquainted with the languages of the different nations afterward specified. Various attempts have been made to account for this remarkable phenomenon without supposing it to be a miracle. But the natural and obvious meaning of the passage is, that they were endowed by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit with ability to speak foreign languages, and languages to them before unknown. It does not appear that each one had the power of speaking all the languages which are specified Act 2:9-11, but that this ability was among them, and that together they could speak these languages, probably some one and some another. […]

This event, known as the Day of Pentecost, is the first explicit instance where speaking in tongues is directly linked to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The significance of this passage cannot be overstated.