The True Meaning of Pentecost for the New Covenant Christians

Pentecost Key Issues :

Outline: I. SHOULD Pentecost and all the other Holy Days be kept?

If God had wanted to do away with the Old Testament Holy Days as mainstream doctrine declares, then why was the church, in such a spectacular fashion, empowered on an Old Testament Holy Day?   See Acts 1:3-4. Jesus was with his disciples, altogether in Jerusalem, for forty days.   Why tell them to wait until the Feast of First Fruits to receive the power. Jesus could have given them the power then and disregarded the upcoming Old Testament Holy Day.  It is obvious Christ was reinforcing the true meaning of the Holy Days and making them MORE relevant for New Covenant Christians and not cancelling them. Unlike mainstream doctrinal thinking, Christ did not consider the Holy Days to be discarded relics of legalism.

1. Paul, the one who wrote most of the New Testament, actually put forth a lot of effort to attend Pentecost services. We know that what a person does and how he lives explains what he believes much more effectively than taking his letters out of context and misapplying a few words. See Acts 18:21, 20:16. Paul passed up travel to desirable church stops so he could, if at all possible, attend the big Pentecost in Jerusalem.
2. In Colossians, Paul wrote the brethren to not allow people to judge them or criticize them for keeping Holy Days and the Hebrew calendar (New Moons). They were no doubt also being criticized by the pagan society they lived in for keeping Holy Days and for food selection as we are today. Those decisions he said should be guided by the body of Christ, the church, because they are guides to the future which are important doctrinally. See Col 2:8, 16-17.
3. The Ten Commandments were given to the children of God on Pentecost at Mt. Sinai. These Ten Laws are the testimony of God and a key to unlocking true Godly behavior. The Ten tell us how to love God and how to love our fellow man. The First Covenant with God was conducted on first Pentecost. (Exodus 34:22, Deut. 16:10)   The New Covenant began and was empowered on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection. This cannot be by chance!

II. PENTECOST IS TIED TO THE SPRING HARVEST.

1. Pentecost, unlike other Holy Days, must be calculated by counting.  It is the Feast of First Fruits.  A ceremony following the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week known as the WAVE SHEAF OFFERING IS DAY ONE.  Then seven weeks follow until one reaches a count of 50.  This means, also in Greek ‘count fifty’.  Jesus was the first of the first fruits.  He is the wave sheath offering.  Jesus was the first human to be born into God’s family, the first to be harvested.  See John 20:17.  The first of the harvest was presented to the High Priest the day after the Sabbath between the Days of Unleavened Bread. So Pentecost is tied to the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus was resurrected at the end of the Sabbath.
2. We New Covenant Christians are the smaller first harvest in God’s plan as represented by Pentecost.  The spring harvest is the much smaller harvest.  During the Days of Unleavened Bread, the High Priest conducted a special ceremony which signaled the beginning of the spring harvest.  He accepted the small sheaf of grain as a sign that it was OK to start the harvest of the spring crop.  See Lev 23:15-17.  God’s festivals revolve around the harvest seasons.  James says we are a kind of first fruits of God’s spiritual creation.  See James 1:18.  We should rejoice that we are learning the true meaning of Pentecost.
3. The entire planet is awaiting the birth or harvesting of the sons of God.  We are the first fruits and Paul celebrates this in his epistle to the Romans.  See Romans 8:14-17.  Those led by the spirit are the true sons of God.  The church first received immersion in the power of the spirit on Pentecost 31 A.D.   Paul says we first fruits are groaning awaiting our adoption and birth into God’s family.  See Romans 8: 19-23.

III. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN ON PENTECOST EMPOWERING THE START OF THE CHURCH OF GOD

1.  The Holy Spirit was given powerfully to change hearts and open minds.  God underscored the birth of His church with mighty miracles and special effects, sound effects and tongues of what looked like fire. See Acts 2.  The 120 believers were empowered by miraculous signs on the Day of Pentecost.  They spilled out into a larger area                of the city and thousands were amazed at the special miracles and sight and sound effects.  The disciples had amazing understanding unlike their former selves.  Even their opponents the Scribes and Pharisees were amazed.  See Acts 4:13.  They were impressed with their courage and Biblical insights.  Leaders became afraid of them like they were of Jesus.  Thousands were converted.  They rocked the entire city with their messages and miracles.
2. The Spirit was given to the church as a personal comforter and advocate.  We could use the gardening analogy of a super fertilizer to help the first fruits to grow at an astounding rate.  Note John 14:16-18. Christ told them that He would send a Comforter, after His resurrection and return to heaven. John 15:26-27 tells how they would better understand Him when the Spirit was sent from heaven.  It was sent on Pentecost to teach and lead the Church of God born on Feast of First Fruits or Pentecost.  Further see John 16: 7-8, 13.  The Spirit will help us thru our birth pangs as the first set of sons to God, see John 16:21.
3. The Holy Spirit would guide God Church.  The Spirit is the arm and mind and power of God.  It would guide the apostles.  It also protected the apostles while they turned the pagan world upside down with their message.  See Acts 17:6.  Paul was led by the Spirit to Europe.  See Acts 16:6-11.  This leading of the Holy Spirit is something we all need to think about.  How can we today follow the Spirit and not our own imagination?  One can look back over a five to ten year period and then see the leading of the Spirit.  How can we improve our following of God’s Spirit?  See Acts 10: 34, 44-48 for examples of the Spirit leading them with regard to raw gentiles being brought into His Church.
4. Will God thru the Holy Spirit again do something spectacular at the start of the AGE OF THE TWO WITNESSES?  They will have the power to do miracles like Elijah and Moses but carte blanche as often as they will.  Wow! See Rev 11:3-7.  This is speculation.
5. Another speculation came about based on a conversation.  Could God disseminate crucial information to His Church members in the future at the Feast of Pentecost?  It is believed that the church in Jerusalem in 69 A.D. were all together in the temple maybe at a Holy Day like Pentecost when they got the warning to leave Jerusalem.  The siege ended and the Jews thought they won. Christians escaped at once to the mountains.  The Jew suffered one of the worst sieges in history.  They and city were destroyed.  Those who survived, went into captivity and slavery. But the Christians lived out their lives in places of safety in the mountains. Might those not attending a Hoy Day might miss out on a future crucial warning?  This is only speculation.   However, see Rev 3:10-11, 12:13-16.  Many in the church are protected.