I Appeal To Caesar!

To gain just a tiny indication of the scene, recall the Olympic Games: multiplied thousands jam the arena, filling every seat. The great crowd in unison stand and cheer as the grand parade of athletes from every nation marches into the stadium, each group with its national flag leading, carried by one of that nation’s outstanding athletes. Every resident of Heaven is aware of how “The Church Age” or “the Age of the Holy Spirit” began. To fulfill Joel 2:28ff and initiate the period of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all the waiting disciples. A cloud of fire swept into the Temple and promptly broke up into smaller flames of fire which then settled on each of the one hundred and twenty followers of Jesus. The fire was accompanied by “the sound of a rushing mighty wind.” “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues [foreign languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Each disciple was like a flaming torch—for a visible “tongue” of fire settled on each disciple’s head. As the Jewish pilgrims stared in amazement, God’s servants then began speaking in the various languages represented by the pilgrims present. The words spoken were a personal sign or evidence to the disciples, but the words also told the pilgrims—in their own languages—the wonderful works of God!

Clement of Rome in about A.D. 96, wrote:

“Paul, on account of jealousy and strife, showed the way to the prize of endurance: seven times he wore fetters, he was exiled, he was stoned, he was herald both in the East and in the West, he gained the noble renown of his faith, he taught righteousness throughout the whole world and, having reached the limit of the West, he bore testimony before the rulers, and so departed from the world and was taken up into the holy place— the greatest example of endurance.” -- 1 Clement 5:5-7