And So It Begins (3)
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A new era
A new era
When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We read in the books of Acts the fulfilment of the words of Christ that He would deliver the “promise of the Father” to the disciples so that they would be empowered to complete the mission given by their Lord and Savior
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We read in the book of John
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!
Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ”
(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
So what is going on here?
Pentecost is not a New Testament phenomenon or a Charismatic church invention!
Pentecost was a long-standing Jewish harvest celebration.
Pentecost did not exist in isolation but was connected with a number of other symbolic feast days all which began with the Passover.
It was celebrated at twilight on the 14t day of the month. It was then followed on the 15th begining the 7 day Feast of Unleavened bread. On the 16th, the first fruits of the barley harvest should be brought before the Lord.
7 weeks and one day later the Feast of Weeks (Sakout) was celebrated. That fact that it was 50 days later gave rise to the Greek term Pentecost.
Passover reminded the people of God’s protection from judgement by passing-over the blood stained mantels of the doors. This led to the people being released from the bondage of Pharos and being led into the promised land!
The bringing of the 1st of the harvest was a sign of trust in God’s ability to deliver the remaining, maturing harvest!
50 days later near the end of harvest another offering was required in recognition to the fact that God had not only delivered his people from certain death in their bondage but that He had also provided nourishment in the land of promise empowering them to celebrate the “new life” God had given them!
This new life then enabled them to live in Holy Service to God and pursue Him!
Fast-forward the the of Pentecost in the book of Acts
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Christ fulfilled the foretelling of the Passover lamb and setting us free from the dominion of the evil one
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
3 days later he rose from the grave, the “First-fruit” of the new harvest!
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
So we see the fulfilment of the first offering following passover indicating that not only has God delivered us from judgement but has given us new life!
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.
We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
We see then that as promised, in one accord, Jesus releases the Holy Spirit having delivered His people from the bondage to a new work of salvation and new life!
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
After the death of the Passover lamb, the people were disheartened and huddled in fear behind closed doors, but now the Spirit of God gave them new power and boldness!
It is interesting to note that God presented Himself to Moses through a symbolic fire and the call to “take of your sandals for the ground you are standing is holy” implying that is was like a temple.
On Mount Sinai, a fire blazes on that mountain along with wind thunder and lightning signifying Hie presence marking the mountain as the dwelling place or “temple” of God and the first covenant is given
Later when the tabernacle is completed a column of fire and wind signals the presence of God marking it as His dwelling place
This tangible sign followed the presence of God so what a more significant signs to give the Jews who totally understood the implication!
We are now marked by God’s Spirit as His holy dwelling place
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Christ, the Passover Lamb now lives through us to continue His work
Remember that the temple veil was wrent in two signifying the seperation between man and God was bridged
This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
The three thousand that day were only the begining! The harvest continues as bring the fruits of our labor before the King of Kings
The evidence of this new life is demonstrated by yielding to the power of the Holy Spirt and manifesting the glory of God’s transformational work in our lives!
It is no wonder Jesus likened the mission field as “Ripe unto harvest”
When the Spirit was given, the Spirit was “poured out.” This suggests an overflowing abundance, and unprecedented deluge. This is also in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah
For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.
They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the answer for unfulfillable longing of the flesh and is available to you today if you would but surrender you life to Christ!
The indwelling Spirit places Christians in the company of a triumphant multitude
of people who, though they may suffer now, know that the victory has been won. The future is with them! Put differently, Pentecost ushered in the last age, the last days, and so the only promised redemptive act of God still needing fulfillment is the return of our Saviour and the coming of the new heaven and earth.