A few weeks ago it was Pentecost Sunday and I thought it was worth sharing a few thoughts about Pentecost as it’s an important time in the church calendar.
We know that Pentecost was the time when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers (Acts 2). But if we dig a little deeper, we find that Pentecost is one of the absolute gems in the bible that shows that there is nothing haphazard about our God!
What happened in Acts chapter 2:1 was a pre determined event in the mind of God and the Holy Spirit wasn’t poured out just because the disciples were holding a prayer meeting! At bible study before this lockdown we had recently gone through the book of Leviticus and in chapter 3:15-16 we read about the feast of Pentecost which was to take place fifty days after the Passover feast. Our Lord ascended into heaven forty days after his resurrection and the ten days after that came the day of Pentecost.
In Acts 2:13-17 we see that Pentecost was the first fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy which had been made some 850 years before (Joel 2:28-32) Jerusalem was absolutely packed with people, many of them had come to present the first fruits of the harvest for the year. They came from many different places. Jesus had finished his earthly ministry on the cross of Calvery, he rose from the dead on the third day and before he ascended back to his father he gave a command and a promise to the disciples. They were to wait in Jerusalem for the ‘helper’, in obedience, they met and waited and after ten days they saw the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise, the inner filling and the outward expression of speaking in tongues. The crowds who were there all hearing the gospel in their own language.
What does this all mean for us today?
Verse 4 of Acts chapter 2 says that they were all filled, young and old, men and women, rich and poor. This is God’s plan for everyone of his children. The Holy Spirit made such a difference, He turned frightened men into bold evangelists. Men who had been scattered and had gone into hiding became men who willingly risked their lives to reach as many as they could with the gospel. The Holy Spirit is not just for apostles, he’s not just for evangelists and he wasn’t just for that period of time. He was promised for every child of God.
Imagine this - All of the resources of heaven are available to you and me. This is all clearly written in scripture and we have probably never needed to hear it as much as we do right now in the middle of this pandemic of Coronavirus. Have we ever seen such a time as this? Back in Acts chapter 2 verse 12 they asked ‘ what does this mean ‘ we can ask ourselves, what does this mean for us today?