Pentecost was not primarily an emotional event, but an Evangelistic one. Tongues were spoken not for those speaking but that lost persons from fifteen countries could hear God’s truth. The apostles spoke in the native languages of all these nations so they would understand the gospel. The apostles were unlearned Galileans and could not have possibly known these languages, but the Holy Spirit miraculously gave them this ability. Why? To demonstrate that the gospel is for the whole wide world. God wants to speak to every person on the planet in his or her own native tongue that they might hear the only saving message under heaven – that salvation is through Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Thus the emphasis in the book of Acts is world-wide evangelism “to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). In Paul’s day Spain was considered to be the “uttermost part of the earth,” and the apostle resolved to go there (Romans 15:24,28). The Bible does not tell us whether Paul went or not, but Clement of Rome, a highly respected chronicler, says he did. I believe he did because he had to in order to obey the Great Commission to the fullest. The great missionary, Henry Martyn, said, “The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we must become.” Had you ever thought – God had only one Son, and He made Him a foreign missionary.
Before Pentecost the Holy Spirit was with the disciples, but at Pentecost the Holy Spirit took up His residence in them permanently. He came to stay (John 14:16). Today believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit the moment we are saved, but to be filled we must internalize the Word, spend time in meditation and prayer, and live in obedience to God’s Word. If the filling of the Holy Spirit were automatically guaranteed today, we would not be commanded to be filled. “All of you be being filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephes. 5:18).
FINAL WORD: WHY DID GOD SEND THE HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST? Not to make us happy primarily or to experience the mysterious, but to motivate and empower us to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we can, everywhere, all our lives.