Seven Things You Should Know About Pentecost

Acts 2:1-4 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

What does it mean, ‘Pentecost was fully come?’

1. Pentecost is a celebration of a Jewish holy day. They celebrate to observe God giving them a harvest and to commemorate the giving of the law.

Lev 23:15-17 “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.”

Pentecost is about harvest. 50 days after Passover (and the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt), this was celebrated. For Passover, they don’t allow themselves to have yeast in the bread. The bread was flat. Pentecost is a little different.

Pentecost means ’50’. Christians borrowed this word from the Greek. This holiday was known as a festival of weeks. Shavot is the Feast of Weeks. This was the second great feast in Israel’s yearly feasts. They celebrated the first covenant, the law coming on stone to them (Moses receiving the law on Mt. Sinai). The gathering became the church at Pentecost.

Pentecost was on a Sunday. We know this because it was seven sabbaths plus one day—Sunday.

Leven is allowed in the bread on Pentecost.

Leven was symbolic with sin. Yet, here, leven was part of the ceremony. If it does represent sin, the way to deal with it is still blood and water. However, maybe leven can also be symbolic of God’s Spirit spreading out through the whole bread. If it does represent sin, it’s saying, ‘Sinners come. You are welcome to experience Pentecost.’

2. Pentecost is the birthday of the church, the 2nd covenant.

Eze 11:19-20 “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

Eze 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

Nothing was mobilized before Pentecost. Jesus had died for us and rose again, but the church wasn’t born yet. No one understood. Peter went fishing.

Jer 31:31-32 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:”

God was ‘an husband to them’ and they still broke His covenant.

Jer 31:33-34 “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This was a prophecy of Pentecost. We will know Him because His Spirit is in us. This is what Pentecost is all about, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity…’

Heb 8:10-13 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Heb 12:24 “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

Jesus sealed this new covenant.

Exo 32:26-28 “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.”

So, on that day, 3000 souls were lost.

Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

3000 souls were added.

Exo 24:17 “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.”

3. Pentecost is the outpouring of God’s power for obedient believers.

You’ve got to learn to get ahold of it and flow in it.

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.”

There is so much racial tension today. The problem is sin. The solution is Jesus Christ, His love.

The power has been poured out! When you have love, passion that high and a love that great, racism disappears.

We’ve been given power and deliverance and healing in the name of Jesus. It’s here, but we need to tap into it.

We can do bold things because of Jesus.

Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

This is different from the authority that Jesus already had given His disciples. This is miraculous ability. It’s like being clothed. ‘Go to Jerusalem and I will clothe you with miraculous ability.’

This is the power to have morality and excellence of soul. This dunamis power is the same that heals and performs miraculous acts.

Some things can’t be done without the power of God’s Spirit. Some things can’t be removed from your life without God’s Spirit.

Zech 4:6 “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Peter was given the power to raise the dead through the power of the Spirit. Paul and Silas shook a prison loose through God’s Spirit. It’s joy unspeakable that can only come through the Spirit.

The power of God’s Spirit changes lives.

4. Pentecost is the voice of the church, the teacher.

Joel said, your sons and your daughters will prophecy. Jesus said we would be witnesses unto Him.

Mat 10:20 “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”

Pentecost is the voice of the church today. Do you have the voice of the church that needs to be spoken today. It is the power to witness. This is the voice in the wilderness crying, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord!’

5. Pentecost is restoration of the relationship that Adam had in the garden. It’s a relationship, not a list of rules.

God didn’t speak man into existence. He formed man, touching and molding him. Then, He breathed life into Adam and he became a living soul. Something in the breath of God has the power of life. That gives us that relationship with Him.

John 20:22 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:”

When Jesus breathed on His disciples, something happened. This was all about the restoration of the relationship with God, without the boundaries of language.

Rom 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Rom 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Pentecost gives us the love of God causing us to love the way He loves.

6. Pentecost is the giving of gifts for the church to minister with.

Before you have the gifts of the Spirit, you’ve got to receive the Spirit.

You can’t just receive only and never give. The Spirit and knowledge is meant to be released to bless others and fulfill you. You’re not meant to be filled only, but to overflow, bubbling over.

7. Pentecost is the experience needed for the New Birth Salvation.

You’ve got to be born of the Spirit. You can’t even hear the call of God until you have entered into the realm of the Spirit.

You can’t enter into the kingdom of God without being ‘born again.’ You need the water and the spirit.

John 3:3, 5 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Let that power fall again. Hear His voice crying out. You hear His voice saying, ‘Come!’ Let that Spirit out.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem. This city became the epicenter of that first Pentecost.

More Questions for Personal or Group Study:

What really stuck out at you in this sermon?
How does this change in relationship with Jesus change the way you think about yourself and others?
Read Acts 2:38-39. Who is the Holy Ghost for? Now that we have it, what do we do in our day to day lives?
The Holy Ghost was given so we can minister to others. How can you minister every day?

Excerpted from a sermon preached by Pastor Anthony LoCascio.

For the full YouTube audio/video, click here.