PENTECOST
Keith Bailey Split Sermon
Pentecost was the birth of the New Testament church, BUT, do we realize what Pentecost was really all about? There are those who claim to be "Pentecostal" based on Acts chapter 2 and they stress speaking in tongues, but there is much more to this miraculous Pentecost than that...it was a type of a very important future event spoken of in Joel where God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh.
Acts 2:2 says, "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.
As we can see, they were all gathered together in one accord to keep the day of Pentecost, as the Jews had observed for thousands of years previously. Yet, this was the only time that such a miracle had happened on Pentecost. The disciples spoke in unknown tongues. They certainly were "unknown" to the men who were speaking them! And all the people heard them in their own language! This was an important evangelistic tool which God gave the early church! Some of the people in the crowd were amazed by hearing all this and others just thought they were drunk! But Peter explained!15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that 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:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: (*there are two different "day of the Lord" occurrences in the Bible
. One is right before Christ comes down to the earth, and one other one is right before the Father comes down to the earth.)
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
There is a major flaw in Protestant thinking...and it is this....the belief that God is trying to save the whole world right now...never mind that the Bible teaches that God makes the decision to call who He wants to. This attitude that God is trying to save everyone right now, in effect, makes God a murderer, because what if He doesn't decide to call you??? Satan is the one who wants us to think that we must all be saved right now. But that has never been the commission of the church to save the whole world right now.
Peter was just trying to explain to the crowd that what they had just seen was a TYPE of what is going to come to this earth in the future. God was showing that He would someday pour out His Spirit on all flesh, but not now. If it is now, God has done a terrible job of saving even the Jews, much less the world! No, ultimately, this great pouring out of the Holy Spirit will come to pass in the future at the Great White Throne Judgment. (As well as the millennium.) How is it the churches job to save the world when God is the one who draws a person to Him. God is the one who makes the decision to pour out His Spirit on someone and call them. The churches commission has never been to save this whole world right now. The commission He gave to the church was to call the FIRST FRUITS.
We need to stick together, to help one another, to lean on each other, and to get ourselves ready for God's purposes...because, when God does pour out His Spirit on all flesh---that's when our real job begins. God has a plan. He will call Israel first and then the rest of the world. Salvation to Israel and then to the world.
And, all people are saved the same way. The people in the Great White Throne Judgment will be saved the very same way that we are. The "books" (Bible
) will be opened to them...in other words they will understand the truth. The books have been opened to us through the power of His Holy Spirit. The first time we understood the truth, the books were opened to us. People say "The Bible is too hard to understand." So they don't try to understand, in fact all any of us cared about before we knew the truth was that we avoid hell fire some way. But, the book of Joel is not about that...it is about the future restoration of Israel and the world. God says that He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. That will also happen during the millennium. But, for now, God's Spirit is only poured out on the first fruits.It is a GREAT CALLING that God has given us to be the first fruits in His plan. Eventually God's Spirit will be poured out on everyone and they will have their opportunity for salvation. The book of Joel says "Then whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." But the First Fruits will have the preeminence because we have the toughest road to walk. The people of the millennium will not have to deal with Satan...and the people of the Great White Throne Judgment will not have to deal with Satan.
If we make it, we will have done it the hardest way and we will be on the ground floor of something really big!! This is a day of salvation for us...but it is not the only day of salvation for mankind. In the end, salvation will come out of Zion...I wonder how many church goers would resent having to go up to Jerusalem (Zion) when the time comes for such things.
But we have to remember...that just because He has called us, it does not mean that we are going to make it. Take these things seriously, and don't be asleep because we are going to be part of something really big if we make it.
Keith Bailey