Church Series-The Baptism of the Spirit and the Day of Pentecost
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 25, 2016
The Church Series: The Baptism of the Spirit and the Day of Pentecost
Lesson # 7
The baptism of the Spirit first took place among Jewish believers on the day of Pentecost in approximately June of 33 A.D. and was a fulfillment of the prophecies made by John the Baptist and our Lord.
It also took place among the Gentiles as recorded by Luke in Acts 10:34-38, 19:1-7, thus making it universal in scope in the church age (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
It unites Jewish believers with Gentile believers making them a new humanity under the headship of Jesus Christ who is the head of the new creation.
There was no church before the baptism of the Spirit.
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (NASB95)
Pentecost is one of the seven great feasts of Israel: (1) Passover: Leviticus 23:4-5; 1 Corinthians 5:7. (2) Unleavened Bread: Leviticus 23:6-8; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. (3) First Fruits: Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:23. (4) Pentecost: Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-4. (5) Trumpets: Leviticus 23:23-25; 1 Corinthians 15:52. (6) Day of Atonement: Leviticus 23:26-32; 1 John 2:2. (7) Tabernacles: Leviticus 23:33-44; John 7:2.
Pentecost was looked upon in Judaism as one of the three great pilgrim festivals in Judaism along with Passover preceding it and Tabernacles some four months later.
Because it was a great festival in Israel, there were many pilgrims from around the Roman Empire in Jerusalem at this time who spoke many different languages.
Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. (NASB95)
Luke states that the tongues were like fire, which would be of great significance to Jew in the first century.
Fire in the Old Testament was a symbol of God’s presence in Israel.
The Lord spoke to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-5), the pillar of fire guided Israel by night through the wilderness (Exodus 13:21), the consuming fire on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:17) and the fire that hovered over the wilderness Tabernacle (Exodus 40:38).
Luke states the baptism of the Spirit was like tongues of fire, or as tongues of fire, which denotes the fact that it wasn’t fire or tongues or some ecstatic experience.
The word translated “as” in the New American Standard is the comparative particle hosei, which means “as,” or “like.”
The sign of the fire was for the benefit of the disciples to give them the confidence that the Lord was indeed present among them and gave them confidence to speak the gospel boldly.
Acts 2:5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” 14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; 18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT’ And they shall prophesy. 19 ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. 21 AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ 22 Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. 25 For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 26 THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; 27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 28 YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’ 29 Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 And so, because he was a prophet and knew that ‘GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,’ 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that ‘HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.’ 32 This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.’ 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ -- this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’ 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” (NASB95)
The initial outpouring came on the day of Pentecost, and there were other outpourings in the books of Acts which came to those who had been baptized in water, and some came to those who had not yet been baptized in water (Acts 8:15-17; 10:44-48; 11:15-16; 19:1-6).
Now the book of Acts documents the difficult transition from the dispensation of Israel to the dispensation of the church age.
In the book of Acts, God the Holy Spirit is the most prominent member of the Trinity.
God the Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity that actively guides the early Jewish believers in the church in this transition from the Law to Grace…from the dispensation in which they previously lived to a new dispensation with a new modus operandi.
The apostle Peter of course was a Jew who lived his entire life attempting to live in accordance with the mandates of the Mosaic Law and did not understand that God has begun a new dispensation called the church age.
In Acts 10 and 11 we find God instructing Peter regarding this transition from the Law to Grace.
God teaches Peter that he no longer makes any racial distinctions between Jew and Gentiles by instructing Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles so that they too might receive the baptism of the Spirit.
The fact that the Gentile believers like the Jewish believers could receive the baptism of the Spirit as a result of faith alone in Christ alone was a shocking, revolutionary thing for Jewish believers such as Peter during the first century.
The apostle Peter’s obedience to God’s directives resulted in Cornelius and his family getting saved and receiving the baptism of the Spirit.
Peter’s presentation of the gospel to the Gentiles set an example for other Jewish believers to follow.
God had gotten his message across to Peter regarding the new dispensation that began among only Jewish believers initially on the day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem in June of 33 A.D. that there would be no racial distinctions in the church age.
Those of Gentile origin and those of Jewish racial descent would all be under the federal headship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul teaches that God the Holy Spirit is building a spiritual temple, which is the church and it is composed of both Jew and Gentile races.
Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands, 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you (Gentiles) who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 “AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR” 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (NASB95)