Power From On High
It is amazing to me all the different stances on Pentecost and what different denominations believe about it. Some believe that Pentecost is like any other religious day. Others recognize the day but believe that the events of Pentecost in the Bible were limited to first century believers. What if we did that with the Crucifixion and Resurrection? Good Friday is not about having a religious holiday. Easter Sunday is not about bunnies or a big meal. Those days are about praising God for what we RECEIVED through the EVENTS of those days. The day itself is not what is so special. It is the events of the day and how they changed our lives. Is Pentecost any different?
As I talk with believers, many are uncertain what Pentecost is about. Pentecost did not originate in the New Testament. It was instituted with the Old Testament and the Jewish people. In the OT, the Jews were commanded by God to observe 3 main festivals a year. For each of these festivals the Jews were required to go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. The first festival was called Passover where the lambs were slain for the forgiveness of sins. The second festival was called Pentecost or the Feast of Harvest. Here the Jews were commanded to celebrate the WHEAT HARVEST. (Leviticus 23:15-21) Now we must remember how to interpret the Old Testament. We can only understand the OT fully by interpreting it with the NT. Hebrews 10:1 says, “For the LAW having a shadow of things to come…” That means what happened in the OT was a symbol, foreshadowing, or representation of what would happen in the NT. Colossians 2:17 tells us the same thing.
For example, on Passover when the Jews would sacrifice the perfect lamb for the forgiveness of sins, what did that represent? It was a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Lamb of God, shedding His blood for us. Do you see how that works? Now think about Pentecost in that light. What does celebrating the Wheat harvest represent? Well, what harvest is God most interested in? Yes! The Harvest of Souls!
Pentecost is not about just the 50th day after Passover. The events of that day were to empower God’s people to bring in the harvest! The Lord Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the Earth.” Did the original Apostles ever get to all the Earth? No. So who is included in this verse? We are! That is what happened in Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come…and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” So many people get tripped up on the tongues without ever considering what this experience is for: It is for POWER to win souls! What happened after Peter preached that day? 3000 souls were saved!
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti, NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
