Acts 11:15

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning.

A number of the most important facts are revealed in this short sentence.

(1) As I began to speak ... The baptism of the Holy Spirit which occurred so early, before Peter could deliver his soul-saving message, shows that the purpose of this Spirit baptism was unrelated to the salvation of Cornelius, being intended rather as a sign to Peter and his companions that God had called the Gentiles through the gospel.

(2) As on us at the beginning ... These words clearly designate Pentecost as "the beginning," this being the prime authority for accepting that date as the beginning of the church of Christ. There were in fact many beginnings on that day in Jerusalem. See in my Commentary on Luke under Luke 24:46,47.

(3) Peter's linking the event in Cornelius' house with that of Pentecost also justifies the conclusion pointed out by Campbell:

It is a logical inference from these words, that from the day of Pentecost to the calling of the Gentiles, no similar display of the Spirit had been given, else they would not have gone so far back. The interval between Pentecost and this event was (at least) seven or eight years.[13]

Thus, the clearly miraculous event of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is restricted to these two occasions, when upon the Jews at Pentecost and upon the Gentiles here, the whole of mankind was symbolically included. Therefore, it is undoubtedly true that, in the public manifestations of supernatural gifts, the Holy Spirit "descended only twice."[14] These outpourings were visible and were followed by miraculous demonstrations; and these two instances of such a thing are the "only scenes called in the Holy Scriptures, the baptism, or immersion in the Holy Spirit."[15] No phenomenon like that has been observed since.

[13] Alexander Campbell, op. cit., p. 78.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.