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And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Churches or individuals who have experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues are called Pentecostal because it was on the day of Pentecost that this miraculous event first occurred.
What was the day of Pentecost?
Well to explain it in context, let’s have a look at the three feasts that Israel were commanded to keep each year. Remember that the things of the Old Testament were a type or shadow of things to come…
Exodus 23:14-16
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: And the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
When you have a full appreciation of these feast days and their New Testament reality you will be amazed at the awesome planning and precision timing of our Mighty God.…
Ø The Feast Of Unleaven Bread also known as the Passover
Ø The Feast Of Harvest also known as Pentecost
Ø The Feast Of Ingathering
Christ Our Passover is Sacrificed for Us…
1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
When we read the account of the passover in Exodus chapter 12 and it is absolutely mind blowing how accurately it foreshadowed in type the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Refer to our passover booklet for more details. However for now it is enough for us to know that Jesus was sacrificed as our passover lamb so that we could be…
ü Delivered out of bondage
ü Have a new beginning
ü Death passed over us (eternal life)
Pentecost Is The Feast Of The Firstfruits Of The Harvest
Exodus 23:19-21
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name [is] in him.
This is very interesting. The firstfruits are to be gathered into the house of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body
Ephesians 1:22-23
And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
The firstfruits are to be gathered into the house of the Lord, which is the body of Christ – the church. And we get into the house of the Lord by being baptized in the spirit.
James 1:18
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We are told in the scriptures that we are new creatures in Christ Jesus…
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…
1 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Remember the day of pentecost is… Exodus 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field:
Matthew 13:3-9
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:18-23
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [it] not, then cometh the wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
We will cover another parable later which clearly shows the field is the world… but for now from the above we can see the fact that…
Once again we see the answer to the question… What was pentecost?
It was the day that saw the firstfruits of Jesus labour. All of his ministry, all of his sufferings, all of his sowing and planting of the seed – the precious word of God had finally come to fruition and the the firstfruits of his harvest was now ready.
In further explaining the Feast of harvest – pentecost. We read the following scripture.
Exodus 34:22 ….of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.
It is even further refined here to the firstfruits of the wheat harvest…
Matthew 3:11-12
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire: Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
The day of pentecost so clearly demonstrates the day that Jesus was gathering HIS wheat into THE garner (the church) that the word of God is nothing short of amazing in it’s fulfillment and accuracy.
How great is the design of our heavenly creator… But just as we stand amazed at his incredible word – it even gets better.
Pentecost was the 50th day after passover…
And it was also the 50th day after passover that Israel entered into the old testament covenant with God when Moses received the law. It is not by coincidence that the outpouring of the Spirit also happened for the first time on the very same day…
Hebrews 10:15-17
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more
We won’t dwell too much on this feast in this book however it is good to know the last of the feasts clearly points to the return of our Lord Jesus when he will gather his elect from the four corners of the earth…
Matthew 13:24-30
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13:37-43
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
When we see how wonderful the plan of God is and how everything so neatly ties together in his wonderful word it so disappointing when the children of the wicked one try to spoil such an easy to follow gospel.
Why do people today say that speaking in tongues is of the devil? Why do people today belittle this experience? When we have already clearly seen from all of what we have covered so far that receiving the Holy Spirit AND speaking in tongues is the direct result of the seed planted by Jesus – it is the beginning of his harvest.
Matthew 24:30-31
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Let’s summarise what we have learned so far…
v Churches or individuals who have experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues are called Pentecostal because it was on the day of Pentecost that this miraculous event first occurred.
v Jesus was sacrificed as our passover lamb so that we could be… Delivered out of bondage. Have a new beginning. Death passover us (eternal life).
v The firstfruits are to be gathered into the house of the Lord which is the body of Christ – the church. And we get into the house of the Lord by being baptized in the spirit.
v The sower is Jesus and the seed he is sowing is the word of God and when we put it all together we discover that the day of pentecost gave him the firstfruits of his labours .
v The day of pentecost so clearly demonstrates the day that Jesus was gathering HIS wheat into THE garner (the church) that the word of God is nothing short of amazing in it’s fulfillment and accuracy.
v And it was also the 50th day after passover that Israel entered into the old testament covenant with God when Moses received the law. It is not by coincidence that the outpouring of the Spirit also happened for the first time on the very same day…
v Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more
v The feast of ingathering clearly points to the return of our Lord Jesus when he will gather his elect from the four corners of the earth…
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