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What is Pentecost
Pentecost means "fifty days," referring to the number of days from the
offering of the barley sheaf at the beginning of the Passover. The 50th day
was the Feast of Pentecost. The time elapsed was 7 weeks and so it is also
called the "feast of weeks" (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10). It is also called,
"feast of harvest," and "day of first fruits" (Ex. 23:16; Num. 28:26).
Pentecost was also regarded by the Jews as the anniversary of the law-giving
at Sinai. As with most things started in the Old Testament this feast of
Pentecost was a real life model or example of something to come in Christ's
spiritual kingdom.
Jesus Christ was crucified and buried on the Passover. Exactly 50 days after
Christ's death, He returned to his followers and filled them with His Holy
Spirit (Acts 2). We find 120 men and women who became the first fruit in
Christ's new kingdom (James 1:18-19). This was not a one time deal. The
apostle Peter announced that this "Pentecostal" experience was for their
families and to an indefinite number of succeeding generations of people
(Acts 2:39). Today Christian churches celebrate "Pentecost Sunday" or "Whit
Sunday" on the seventh Sunday after Easter. Here at Jesus Name Pentecostal
Church we celebrate Pentecost every time we gather together.
Exactly what happened on that first Pentecost? For almost a week Jesus'
disciples along with about 120 of His family and followers had been hold up
in a second story room. They had been praying and waiting for the promise of
His Spirit.
Don't forget that this was a spectacular time of feasting and celebration in
Jerusalem. Jews from all over the civilized world had come to observe this
celebration. When the day of Pentecost had gotten into full swing, and the
people were going about their business God came like a powerful wind and
filled this upper room where His followers had been waiting for Him.
Immediately they were filled with the promise of God's Spirit and instantly
burst into praising God in foreign languages.
Now this was no small feat. Jesus' followers were not well educated.
Thousands of these rich vacationers ran to see what all of the commotion and
noise was about. They were all amazed to hear this unlearned group of poor
folk praising the Most High God in all of their complicated foreign
languages. It was at this time that the apostle Peter stood up and preached
his famous, world changing sermon. In this sermon Peter gave us the steps to
salvation! Acts 2:37-42
Now what?! Do churches still experience the same spiritual phenomena the
believers did on that first Pentecost? You better believe it! When we are at
church or one another's homes or even out in public places God's Spirit
still moves on us like He did back then.
Our church services are often a mixture of waiting on God and rejoicing as
the wind of His Spirit blows across our congregation and across our hearts.
We play musical instruments and sing psalms to the LORD. We pray for the
sick to recover and bring all of our needs to Him. God's spiritual gifts
still operate in our gatherings. There is a consistent, solid teaching of
the Word. Everyone is encouraged to pray through to their own full,
personal experience of Pentecost.
Some commentators say that Pentecost was JUST a one time historical
happening and that it is not for us today. Those same commentators take the
one time historical event of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and
base all of their religious teaching on it. Commentators should be careful
as to which pieces of history they choose to keep and those they choose to
discard. This paradigm shift is critical to understanding the apostles
teachings not only on the Cross of Christ, but also on the gift of His Holy
Spirit.
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