Celebrate Pentecost June 11, 2016

Celebrate Pentecost                                                    June 11, 2016

 

We are going to celebrate Pentecost tomorrow and what comes to your mind about Pentecost? 

There are many different things comes to mind and it is all good.   

We are celebrating a birthday, the birthday of the Church which is the Feast of Pentecost, also known as Feast of Shavuot, or Feast of Harvest or Feast of Weeks. 

The Holy Spirit Descends 

Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  (2)  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  (3)  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  (4)  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

Notice they were in a house at when the Day of Pentecost had fully come when the Holy Spirit was given. 

The Holy Spirit was given to New Testament saints and this symbolized the end of the Old Testament system of worship and the beginning of the Church of our Lord Jesus. It also pointed to the fact that God’s greatest provision for a Christian’s daily living is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Church is born. 

Colossians 1:18   And He (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

On Feast of Pentecost 

Before the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was with men and women and gave great skills for them to serve God. (for example, the constructing of the Tabernacle) But He did not permanently indwell all believers. 

Psalms 51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 

In the Upper Room, Jesus had told the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. He added, “You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you” 

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  (17)  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

Thus on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. 

Acts 1:5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 

The Prophecy of Joel 

Act 2:16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 

Peter covers this in his sermon.   

Joel 2:28-32  "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.  (29)  And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.  (30)  "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  (31)  The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  (32)  And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. 

Pour my Spirit” -  Happened (began) at Pentecost, and is yet to happen to Israel.  There is no ending: Peter indicates that it has begun, and it will be characteristic of the end times. We can see it happening today.  China, Africa, and other places but not really in the United States.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 

The word pour is an interesting word, means to pour out. 

This is what Joel meant in his prophecy—there is a day coming when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, not just some. The Spirit was poured out upon very few on the Day of Pentecost.  All Peter said on that day was, “Don’t ridicule us and say we are drunk. This is like what Joel said is going to happen in the last days.” The Spirit has come upon a few, and today God is calling out a people for His name. 

But notice that Peter does not say, “Joel’s prophecy is fulfilled.” Rather, he says, “This is that which was spoken (16) .” In other words, “This is that same Holy Spirit that Joel spoke about.” 

The full prophecy of Joel, with its dramatic signs in the heavens, will not be fulfilled until the last days.  What happened at Pentecost was but the beginning of God’s blessing on His Body and Israel. 

Joel is telling us that during the last days of Israel’s history, during the Tribulation period, the Spirit of God will work in mighty power in the saving of both Jews and Gentiles, and there will be mighty wonders and signs in the heavens. We read about those in the Book of Revelation. 

Pentecost was a fulfillment in miniature: Joel saw the end point of the whole process; Peter focused on the beginning of the Church age. This is a guarantee that He would complete the entirety; an inauguration; firstfruits.

The Holy Spirit was not free to indwell the Believers until after Jesus was glorified. The arrival of the Holy Spirit was the proof. 

John 7:39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

The Holy Spirit did not come until the Day of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit on that day assures us that Jesus had arrived back at the Father’s throne. 

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  (17)  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

John 14:20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 

“in you”: We covered the  Holy Spirit was here on earth before Pentecost, but on the Day of Pentecost He came to indwell believers. This is a unique fact of this age in which we are living. That was the thing which was new. 

“...you in me, and I in you”: The most profound statement in the Gospel of John or in the whole Bible.  They are easy words so that a little child can understand them.  They were meant for us, His Body, His Church.