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Table of Contents
Pentecost —
A New Empowerment for Witness and Ministry
By James K. Bridges
INTRODUCTION
The Book of Acts records the first Pentecostal sermon preached by Peter. He preached to a multitude of Jews from all over the world who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. Those gathered observed 120 Galilean Jews speaking clearly in the languages of their fellow Jews who had come to Jerusalem from more than 15 countries to attend this feast.
This crowd wanted to know: "What does this mean?" (Acts 2:12, NIV). Some claimed these 120 were drunk. But Peter reminded them of the time of day. Besides, have you ever seen a drunken person who could speak his own language fluently, much less speak a language he did not know?
Peter then began to speak under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:14). Beginning with Joel 2:28-32, Peter proclaimed the meaning of Pentecost. His message elicited another question from the audience: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).
Because of the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these last days, these two questions are still being asked. It is important for everyone to know what the coming of the Holy Spirit means to the Church and what each believer must do to receive the precious gift of the Spirit.
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW ERA OF REALITY FOR THE CHURCH
Peter began his explanation by pointing to the fulfillment of prophecy (Acts 2:16,17). After Pentecost, we no longer live in the typology of the Old Testament; we live in the reality and fulfillment of the New Testament. We no longer live in the shadows, but in the substance.
Our Passover is no longer a feast, but a Person-Christ is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7). Our Pentecost is no longer a festival; the Holy Spirit is our Pentecost. Acts 6:7 states, "A great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." Can you imagine the joy those whose previous ministry had been to sacrifice animals experienced when they entered into the reality of ministry in Christ who "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26)?
The Day of Pentecost had fully come. The One whom the Feast of Pentecost prefigured had come. This Feast was different from all those before, for on this day the promised Spirit was given, the promised Comforter had come. The reality is here. We no longer serve God in ritual and ceremony, but in Spirit and in truth.
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Peter explained that what was happening was evidence that something had happened in heaven (Acts 2:33). Jesus' followers had not seen or heard from Him since He had ascended into heaven some 10 days earlier (Acts 1:9). This marvelous outpouring of the Holy Spirit was an assurance that Jesus had arrived in heaven and had kept His promise to send His church another Comforter, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16; 15:26). Jesus is alive and He is the Head of the Church. He guides, protects, edifies, and empowers His body through the Holy Spirit. Everytime a believer receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit, it is a sign that our resurrected Lord has fulfilled His ministry to His church from His heavenly throne.
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW EXPERIENCE OF FULLNESS
It is obvious from Joel's prophecy that this outpouring of the Spirit of God was to be generous and abundant. Also, it was to be shared with young and old, with men and women, with bond and free. And this outpouring would create an overflow from which all believers were to live and minister (Acts 2:17,18).
The Book of Acts is a book of fullness (Acts 2:4). Luke characterized the individuals in his history of the Early Church as people who were either full of indignation, envy, fear, amazement, anger, and Satan, or full of faith, love, wisdom, power, joy, good works, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
Everybody is full of something, and we determine what we will be filled with-either the good or the bad. But the Lord's purpose for us is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and all the fruits and gifts God has for us. The meaning of Pentecost is to live out of the overflow of the Spirit-filled life. To live off the dregs of a carnal life is a terrible waste when the Lord has so much more for us. So, "be not drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW EXPRESSION OF THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN AND THROUGH THE BELIEVER
Luke, by inspiration of the Spirit, gave us a valuable model for the baptism in the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4. This is to be a pattern for the Church because it was the standard by which the Gentile baptism was measured (Acts 11:15).
Some who question Acts 2:4 as a model for the baptism in the Holy Spirit think this verse requires wind and fire to be present each time a believer is baptized. Such thinking fails to take into account that the wind and fire were symbols of the Holy Spirit heralding the fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost. We no longer celebrate the Day or the Feast; we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is not a symbol, but the evidence and expression of the Person of the Holy Spirit. We no longer need the symbols, but we will always need the sign of the Spirit-speaking in other tongues-the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
"They were all filled…and they began to speak"-that is the pattern. The compound predicate indicates that, upon the infilling with the Person of the Holy Spirit, the 120 began to speak with other tongues-not by themselves-but as the Spirit enabled them by using their tongues and vocal cords with the language He gave them.
The Holy Spirit is not muted. He is a speaking Spirit because He is a Person. He is not some influence or force; He is the Third Person of the Godhead. It is unthinkable that He would infill (Acts 2:4), baptize (1:5), fall on (8:16), be poured upon (2:33)-and would not express himself in a manner common to His personhood.
Our Lord Jesus promised that one of the signs that would follow believers was: "they shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17). And of the five signs Jesus mentioned, He chose tongues to be the initial physical sign or evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence in Baptism.
It is most unlikely that the speaking Spirit would infill a believer and choose to be inconsistent in the manner in which He manifests himself. Peter mentioned two characteristics of the Baptism when he stated that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is something for us to "see and hear" (Acts 2:33). In each case of the Spirit's outpouring in Acts where Luke provides a description of what happened, there is something to "see and hear." Since the believer finds edification and many more benefits through speaking in tongues, it is incongruous with the nature of the Holy Spirit to delay expressing himself through the believer who has been baptized. Also, the Holy Spirit is anxious to give each believer a personal Baptism whereby he or she can communicate with God through the Spirit for edification and empowerment on a regular basis.
There should be no question in the believer's mind concerning the immediate expression of tongues when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit according to the pattern of Acts 2:4. When you are filled (baptized), you will speak.
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW EMPOWERMENT FOR WITNESS AND MINISTRY
Like our Lord, we must exercise our witness and our ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 3 has taught us that Jesus did not begin His ministry until He had been empowered with the Holy Spirit. Our source of strength is also from the Spirit (Acts 1:8).
Our Lord, who was the bearer of the Holy Spirit during His earthly ministry, has now become the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16). The same Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus, and who infilled the apostles, is still superintending the Word of God in the earth today. This is true apostolic succession-the passing of the mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit to believers in each succeeding generation, empowering them to witness to a lost world and carry out Jesus' ministry in His Spirit.
Those who wish to diminish the importance of speaking in tongues as evidence of the Spirit's infilling refer to being empowered by the Spirit for missionary service as the major sign of the Spirit's infilling. This puts tongues and empowerment in competition with each other. But the same Person who gives evidence of His presence through speaking in tongues is the same Person who empowers the baptized believer to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Without the empowerment of the baptism in the Holy Spirit (with the initial physical evidence), the Church is unprepared to demonstrate the sign of evangelism and go into all the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15). Jesus instructed His disciples not to even think of doing His work until they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
The revival in the earth today is a Pentecostal revival being proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit by those who have allowed the Lord Jesus to "baptize them with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). This Baptism is the "promise of the Father" (1:4), which is the "same gift" (11:17) He gave to the Jews and the Gentiles as described by Luke in the Book of Acts.
PENTECOST MEANS A NEW ENTRUSTMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY ON EACH GENERATION TO PERPETUATE THE PROMISE
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not only available to all believers, but it is the responsibility of the Church to see that this vital truth is perpetuated to each generation. In response to the question, "What shall we do?" Peter urged repentance, baptism, and reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:39).
It is important that all believers understand the importance of Spirit baptism and seek to lead their children into their Pentecostal heritage. Isaiah 44:3 is a Pentecostal prophecy that is incumbent on all believers to claim for their families. Let's keep the fire burning on the altar and keep Pentecost alive in our hearts and in our churches.
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