What grace did the Holy Spirit give to the followers of Jesus who gathered in the upper room?

Answer 1

A:

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

Under the power of the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to speak in other languages and everyone understood them. This should be read with caution, since the dramatic sound of rushing wind and the cloven tongues of fire seem more intended to impress the reader than actually necessary to provide divine inspiration to the disciples. The ability to speak in other tongues seems to have been only temporary, as the early Christians seem not to have expected the disciples to speak in other languages at any other time, nor to have been given the ability to write. When attributing one of the gospels to Mark, acting as the interpreter and secretary for Peter, Papias took it as a matter of course that Peter needed a literate scribe.

Answer 2

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus who had gathered in a locked upper room, hiding out in fear of persecution. Suddenly the Holy Spirit made Himself known by appearing as tongues of fire above the heads of each disciple gathered there. The disciples were filled with confidence in themselves and the Lord, and left the locked room to set about preaching with no fear of persecution. When they began preaching, however, the group they began speaking to, which was comprised of people from many different places, heard each of them speaking in the language they knew. The Holy Spirit graced the disciples with the ability to speak in tongues so that all might hear their message and come follow Jesus.