And so, because the disciples were in the temple at the time, we see that all the Jews in close proximity to the disciples on that day, would have witnessed the whole incident of the saints being filled with the Holy Spirit as it unfolded. We can see from this account that the saints were filled with the Holy Spirit directly from heaven, for no one laid hands on them in this instance. On this occasion there were a number of physical manifestations that people could see and hear that accompanied this baptism. The first manifestation was the sound of a rushing mighty wind. This particular manifestation was audible not only to the disciples, but also to the Jews that were around them in the temple, for if you read the account in context, it was this sound which drew thousands of people to their location to find out what was the cause. When the sound of the rushing wind stopped, the second manifestation then occurred, which were the tongues of fire that appeared on each one of the saints. This particular manifestation was only visible to the saints however, and was not seen by the Jews that had gathered around them. We know this to be the case, because the scripture says, “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire”, the “them” in this passage is referring to the saints only. Further evidence that point to the fact that the Jews did not see this manifestation, is the fact that they made no comment about this particular phenomenon, even though it was extremely spectacular. That is consistent with scripture, because there are numerous accounts in scripture where God allowed His saints to see in the spirit realm, while at the same time unbelievers that were with them saw nothing, e.g. Daniel and his colleagues (Daniel 10:7) and Saul and his companions (Acts 9:7). There can be no doubt however, that the saints themselves would have shouted out in the natural what they were seeing taking place in the spirit, even as Stephen did when the Lord opened his eyes to see into the spirit realm, when he was standing before the Jewish council on the day he was martyred (Acts 7:55-56). It would have been at this point that the saints would have begun to feel the tangible power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, as each of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
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