Pentecost-it's not just a day it's life

In the world we live in, churches and other religious organizations love to have events they can utilize to draw in the crowds.  Huge productions or special services for Christmas and Easter, special nights of worship with certain well known singers coming in to draw a crowd and the like. The most recent was in honor of Pentecost Sunday, the day that the Holy Ghost was first made manifest among those gathered in the upper room. It is a day that occurs roughly 40-50 days after Easter. This is where Jesus had spoken to the disciples and those who were gathered together to watch His ascension where He spoke the words of Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

That day, He made the declaration to tarry together for the coming promise to a crowd of about 500 people. But when we get to Acts 2, we find that the number had dwindled down to only the disciples with about 120 others, including Jesus' mother, Mary, and His brothers. We read in verses 1-4 "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." 

As these people began to speak with other tongues, a sound emerged from that upper room and filled the streets. This sound brought a crowd that day. People from all across the city came to the place where the sound was heard: no advertisement of a special event, no flyers or brochures mailed to homes saying come to see. It was the sound that drew them. Pastor was preaching about this today and made a statement along the lines of  "the Holy Ghost to blow the roof off the building to allow the sound to emerge in our community".  When he said that, I envisioned the church building with no roof with a large angel standing over it. From the angel came the amplified sound of the saints as they prayed and worshipped within the building. The sound was amplified but the angel shown a great light as a beacon to draw all men to that place to hear the truth of the gospel.

The message of Pentecost is the gospel message. It has not changed from the words which Peter spoke that day to the ones who gathered.  What was this message? It is the one that is found in Acts 2:14-41, "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:For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Let me back up and reiterate a few verses here, Acts 2:38-39, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For this promise is unto you, your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." This is the premise of the Apostolic Pentecostal faith. We live this life, not because it is a religious preference but because it is the foundation of our faith. When Peter had the revelation of who Jesus was, when He declared that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus made the declaration to him in Matthew 16:17-19, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

On this day of Pentecost, Peter stood as the Rock and laid the foundation that had been shown to himself and the other disciples over the three years they had spent with Jesus. Why do I say that Jesus had given them this doctrine? I believe it can be taken from the very words which were spoken in Matthew 28:19-20. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Many denominations will use this as their baptismal formula and will baptize with the very words found in verses 18 and choose to ignore the words of Peter in Acts 2:38 of baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ. But if you look at what is spoken in verse 19 where it says "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," I truly believe that is the key to this verse. We have the gospels as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, of that we can all agree.  But each of these men shared different aspects of Jesus, His life and ministry. Even the accounts of the crucifixion varies to a degree.  These accounts were never meant to be all inclusive of every teaching of Jesus Christ. Some were private moments where these 12 men were able to sit at the feet of the Master and learn. They had to be taught ministry for when their Teacher was no longer available to teach them, as the saying goes "the student becomes the teacher".

When Peter stood and laid the foundation of our faith that day of Pentecost, it was the student becoming the teacher.   Peter began to teach these people that had gathered those things which Jesus had taught them in private.  The years of Him speaking to them of the Comforter which would come and the power they would receive when He came.  This is the same commission we have today.  From Acts 2:38-39 and following Matthew 28:19-20, we live as Apostolic Pentacostals. Not because it is a lifestyle but is who He has called us to be. 

As Paul asked the disciples of John in Acts 19, have ye received the Holy Ghost since you believed? If not, whats stopping you? For this gift is for you. It is for today.