4 DAYS TO PENTECOST

4 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  ACTS 2:1-16

¹ And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting.

³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

⁶ Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

⁷ And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

⁸ And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

⁹ Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

¹¹ Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

¹² And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

¹³ Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

¹⁵ For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

¹⁶ But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

KEY TEXT: Acts 2:16 “…This is that…”

REFLECTION: 

Fifty days after the first Passover, God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai.  There He wrote His Law on tablets of stone.  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…”  That was the first Pentecost (literally “fiftieth day.”)  For centuries the Jews remembered Pentecost as the day God gave them His law.

Fifty days after our Lord’s last Passover (remember Jesus died on the eve of the Jewish Passover), the disciples were together praying in Jerusalem when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  It happened suddenly and in a moment. They heard a sound like a rushing mighty wind, flames appeared over their heads, and the disciples began to preach and teach in at least 15 different languages. 

Peter stood to preach to the thousands of Jews that came running from all across Jerusalem to see what was happening.  Many had come from around the world to celebrate the Jewish Pentecost—the giving of the Law. When some accused the disciples of being drunk, Peter declared, “These are not drunk, it is only 9 o’clock in the morning.”  Turning the congregation’s attention to the Scriptures, Peter explained, “This is that which was spoken of by the Prophet.” 

The prophesies of Pentecost, faithfully recorded in the Old Testament were specific.  Joel saw the day when “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” “upon my servants and my handmaidens will I pour out of my Spirit,” and “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2:28-32). 

The Lord showed Ezekiel that the day would come that His people would have a new heart and a new spirit.  “ ²⁵ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. ²⁶ A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. ²⁸ And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”  (Ezekiel 36:25-28)

But it is the prophecy of Jeremiah that captures our spirit.  Writing centuries before the Christian Pentecost, he forsees a time when God would write His law in the hearts of His people. “³³ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.³⁴ And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

We thrill at the sights and sounds of the first Christian Pentecost, but it is the profound and radical spiritual dimension of Pentecost that is most amazing.  On the first Pentecost the law of God was written by God on tablets of stone.  On the first Christian Pentecost, the law of God was written by the Spirit of God on the hearts of God’s people. 

The writer to the Hebrews affirms that the New Covenant—delivered and sealed by the Holy Spirit-- was in fact a fulfillment Jeremiah’s prophecy!  (Hebrews 8:10,11). 

How wonderful.  How marvelous.  The Law of God is now written in our hearts so that we serve Him in holiness and righteousness, not out of servile fear, but with hearts that are filled with love for God and the knowledge of His “good, acceptable, and perfect” will. 

That man is truly free who knows the will of God, desires to do the will of God, and without resistance or hesitance freely and willingly obeys the will of God. They who are born of the Spirit, who are filled with the Spirit, and who walk in the Spirit are truly free!  We serve God because we love Him.  “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5)

If your heart craves the love and joy and peace of the Spirit-filled:

                         

“Pentecost can be repeated, for the Lord is just the same,

Yesterday, today, forever, Glory to His precious name!

Saint’s of God can be victorious, over sin and death and hell,

Have a full salvation, and the blessed story tell!”

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, We read in thy Word, “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever!”  The fact that your holy character never changes, your holy love never subsides, and your Holy Spirit never fails, brings great comfort and courage to our hearts today.  We pray that the Spirit of Pentecost would fall fresh upon us.  We pray that the Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead would warm our cold hearts and revive our feeble souls. May that Spirit so fill us with the sense of God’s blessing that there would remain none of sin’s cursing.  Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on us!  In Jesus name, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”