When we talk about Christ and His sacrifice, we talk about His death, burial, and resurrection.
But when we talk about the church, we can not help but talk about Pentecost.
Because it was on the day of Pentecost, that the church was established.
But why the day of Pentecost? What makes that day so special?
Mk 9:1 "And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
The scripture here pointing to Pentecost—a day when something grand was going to happen.
Remember that the last supper as recorded in Mk 14:12-25 took place on Passover.
Passover was first initiated in Ex 12; to celebrate their release from Egyptian bondage, and the PASSING OVER of the death angel--as long as they had sprinkled the blood of a lamb on the door lintel.
So, Passover was the most sacred of all feasts or sacrifices or special days.
It took place in the first month of the Hebrew calendar—corresponding to our last of March, first of April.
On the 10th day of the month—Abib---the head of each Israelite household selected a male lamb a year old.
Four nights later, the lamb was killed, and the blood was sprinkled on the door post and lintel, just as it had been done in Egypt.
Then they roasted the lamb, and ate it as a celebration of God’s protection.
Later Passover became known as the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.
50 days after the Passover Sabbath, was the day of Pentecost, which also fell on Sunday, which also is the day that Christ was raised from the grave.
Ac 1;1-9
Now we see that Jesus, after His resurrection, spends more time with His disciples – teaching them—preparing them for a glorious day soon to come.
Vs 4b & 8 ---"but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Now let’s jump over to Ac 2:1-4
Remember in ch1:4—"wait for the promise”
And in vs 8—"ye shall receive the power”
Now in 2:1, we see—"here is the promise”
And in 2:2—"here is the power”
Now we have a fulfillment of that which had been promised.
The day of Pentecost is a day of promise, a day of power, a day that Christ was raised from the dead, and now a day that would mark the beginning of His kingdom here on earth.
---the 1st day that man would be told what he needed to do to be saved.
Now for the 1st time, man would be made aware of what had been promised to him for 2000 years, since the time of Abraham in Gen 12:1-3.
And that is what makes Acts 2 a dynamic chapter.
We look at various chapters in the Bible as extremely significant because of their content.
Jn 14:1-6 dealing w/ the preparation of Heaven for us.
Ps 23 dealing w/ the protection afforded us by God and the peace of mind that goes along with it.
I Cor 15 dealing w/ the resurrection of Christ and the future resurrection of the faithful, and the faith we put in these 2 resurrections.
Eph 4 how to keep unity w/out compromise.
Rev 2&3 dealing w/ the 7 churches of Asia, and how they were rated as to their obedience or disobedience.
Heb 11-- a definition of faith, along w/ examples of those individuals in O T times who were counted as righteous, because of their active faith.
---just a few of the more significant chapters in the Bible.
Acts 2 has many times been termed THE HUB OF THE BIBLE, and rightfully so.
All of the work of Christ comes to fruit on the day of Pentecost—the climax of all His teaching, and yet the beginning of a new age—the christian dispensation.
The Old Covenant is now replaced with a New Covenant. We are now bound by the new law—not just because the old Law was just done away with, but because this new Law was a fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
This New Covenant has been brought about as a result of 4000 years of the Unfolding Plan of God taking place—step by step—culminating right here on the day of Pentecost in Ac. 2.
In Ex 32:28, 3000 people were slain after Moses came down from the mount with the tablets of the 10 commandments.
There were slain because of their unbelief—because they had left the protection of God and had instead put their trust in a god they had formed out of gold.
Now, in Ac 2—3000 people were baptized under this new covenant—on the first day of its existence.
The old Pentecost was part of their rejoicing; celebrating their deliverance from bondage from Egyptian slavery.
On the new Pentecost—the 1st Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ—mankind received the opportunity to be freed from the bondage of sin.
We see 2 baptisms in Ac. 2
The baptism of the Holy Spirit from the power on high, was given in order to install fully the authority of the apostles in their mission of setting the church in order.
And also, the baptism of water—available to all mankind—necessary to provide the means whereby man’s sins could be taken away permanently.
This baptism of the H S was temporary—for the purpose of confirming the word until the word could become known in written form.
The baptism of water, on the other hand, remains as long as the earth remains.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit brought about miracles, among other things.
The baptism of water was no miracle, but rather, required obedience thru a proper attitude.
The gospel that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, was a fulfillment of prophecy in Joel, Zechariah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.
The coming power of the HS was the fulfillment of O T prophecy.
The establishment of the church in Ac 2 was the fulfillment of O T prophecy.
The presence of peace and contentment was the fulfillment of O T prophecy in Isaiah—not that everyone would be at peace—but rather that everyone following Christ and submitting themselves to Christ, will live at peace with each other.
In Daniel, there was prophecy of the things to come to pass on the day of Pentecost.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and could not interpret it. It was about a great image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet were part iron and part clay.
Daniel told him that this statue represented different nations and that they would all be destroyed.
The nations represented were the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.
Dan 2:44 AND IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS SHALL THE GOD OF HEAVEN SET UP A KINGDOM, WHICH SHALL NEVER BE DESTROYED, AND THE KINGDOM SHALL NOT BE LEFT TO OTHER PEOPLE, BUT IT SHALL BREAK IN PIECES AND CONSUME ALL THESE KINGDOMS, AND IT SHALL STAND FOR EVER.
This kingdom which would last forever is the one set up on the day of Pentecost—and that is the church.
Joel was another prophet who prophesied of the things that would happen on the day of Pentecost.
Ac 2:16 BUT THIS IS THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL----
But the N T also gives prophecies concerning Pentecost.
Matt 3:1-3
Jesus also told the disciples that He would build His church and that Peter was given the keys of the kingdom.
Matt 16:18,19
On the day of Pentecost in Ac 2, we find Peter delivering the 1st gospel sermon to both Jews and Gentiles.
The time was revealed in the N T. Mark 9:1
"some of them”—remember, Judas died before Pentecost.
The PLACE was also revealed in the N T. Luke 24:47-49
The PURPOSE was revealed in the N T. John 3:3-5, Mk 16:16
This was realized in Ac 2:38
During his travels, Jesus promised to build His church.
As a result, I believe that the church that I am a part of, was established on the day of Pentecost—not during the restoration movement in the early 1800’s.
The restoration movement help bring a new awareness to the term Christianity, which had seemed non-existent for centuries.
And I stress—SEEMED NON-EXISTENT.
The church has been in existence since 33Ad .
If we put our Bible up on the shelf, and do not look at it for years—that does not mean that that Bible has ceased to exist.
It only means that it has not been used.
The church of Christ was designed and purposed from eternity.
Eph 3:10,11
It was prophesied in the O T.
It was prepared for in the gospels.
It was purchased on the cross. Ac 20:28
It became a reality in Ac 2 on the day of Pentecost.
And it will last for an eternity in heaven, after the Judgment Day.
Any church that began at any time other than on the day of Pentecost—AD 33, can not be the true church.
Jesus said, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
Churches built by men can not save man from their sins.
Matt 15:9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Salvation comes only thru Christ and His church.
Jesus gave great attention to the Passover and Pentecost.
But man had no comprehension of how the Passover and Pentecost were created in order to bring to fulfillment---The Unfolding Plan of God—the establishment of the kingdom of Christ—the church—bought by the blood of Christ—bringing salvation to all who would believe, repent, confess, and be baptized.
---and then continue to grow in the faith.
And so, among the passages in the Bible that gives us comfort and encouragement—Ac 2—the events of the day of Pentecost---
ad 33—should be right up there at the top of our list—the day of the establishment of the church.
