For ten days, the disciples had been without the Lord Jesus since His Ascension into heaven, following His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection from the dead. It had only happened about fifty days earlier, but those three days from Passover to the Feast of Firstfruits, would be forever etched in the hearts and minds of all of Christ's followers.
During those exciting weeks that followed, Jesus presented Himself alive to read more...
There are some astonishing mysteries to discover and some wonderful truths to explore about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, in the lives of all believers. The book of Acts gives us some great insights into the ministry of the Spirit within the corporate Body of Christ, as well as the lives of believers, individually. While the focus of the Gospels is the Lord Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit Who is the central character in the book of Acts.
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It must have been a sight to behold, that first day of Pentecost when the Church was born and the Holy Spirit came to take up residence within the bodies of these first Church-age believers - for the very first time.
Just before He ascended into heaven the Lord Jesus Christ's instructed His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised.. when they would all be baptised with the Holy read more...
It must have been wonderful to be all together in one place on that first day of Pentecost, when the Church was born. Believers were baptised into the Body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and all received the gift of tongues. But how the joy they expressed was misunderstood, for we read that the people were perplexed and some misinterpreted their rejoicing about the wonderful works of God for drunkenness. But Peter was led by the Spirit to apply a prophecy read more...
On the day of Pentecost, when faithful believers were united together in one place, filled with the Spirit, baptised into the Body of Christ, and started proclaiming the wonderful works of God in many languages, Jews and Jewish proselytes from around the world were amazed to hear the gospel in their own tongue, and were perplexed. They wondered what had happened and some even mockingly suggested that the believers were drunk!
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It was the prophet Joel in his famous passage about the end times, which was partially quoted by Peter on that first day of Pentecost.. which announced: and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.. The verse in Joel continues.. for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape - as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
This read more...
Christ's ministry in the gospel of Luke, began with His Baptism by the Spirit in the Jordan, when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a Dove, descended and rested on Christ. Similarly, it is the Baptism of the Spirit in the book of Acts that marks the start of the Christian Church at Pentecost, when the 120 souls were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them.
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The book of Acts in general is a history book that bridges the pre-Cross Scriptures of the Old Testament and Gospels (when the gospel of the kingdom was the main focus of teaching), and the post-Cross period when God's full revelation to man had been given through Christ Jesus (when the gospel of the grace of God became the main focus of God's good news to all men).
The book of Acts in general is a history book with minimal read more...
What a thrilling message Peter had for the men of Israel on that wonderful Day of Pentecost when the Church was born, and all those present were baptised into the Body of Christ - filled with the Spirit, Who took up permanent residence in their bodies and received the gift of languages. As Jews and Jewish proselytes from around the world witnessed the amazing happenings, Peter stood up and delivered a sermon to which thousands responded on that day... and millions, read more...
What an incredible spectacle must have taken place on the day of Pentecost, when believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. What an amazing scene it must have been when Christ's followers began to proclaim the wonderful works of God in a multitude of languages, and Peter was empowered to deliver his great sermon, calling the people of Israel to faith in their promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
How appropriate that he read more...
The birth of the Church at Pentecost, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, began a new dispensation in God's administration. Before the Cross, the only way to approach God was through Israel and their sacrificial system, as laid down in the Mosaic Law. Following Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, where Jesus voluntarily took upon Himself the sin of the world, God changed the way He met with humanity. While His plan of redemption never altered, God began dealings with read more...
When the Christian Church was birthed at Pentecost, Peter stood up and addressed the men of Israel and Jewish converts. He told them that Jesus of Nazareth, Whom they all witnessed performing many mighty miracles through the power of God, was the promised descendent of king David, and that He was to sit on the throne of His father, forever. But what was the significance of Paul's confident statement read more...
Having been baptised into the Body of Christ, filled with the Spirit, and indwelt by His holy Presence, Peter was empowered by God to deliver his message to the men of Israel, following that unique day of Pentecost. Peter used the Hebrew Scriptures to attest to the truth that Jesus is God's Messiah and cited His glorious Resurrection as biblical proof, for it was impossible for Christ to be held captive by death, because death is inconsistent with deity, for within read more...
People living at the time of the Cross experienced both pre-Cross and post-Cross teachings and had to go through the painful transition from Law to grace, as they moved from a dispensation based on the Mosaic Law to living in the post-Cross Church age.
The day of Pentecost was the beautiful birthday of the Church when the Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus had promised to send only a short time earlier,, was poured out on all the believers read more...
The everlasting story of redemption began to be implemented in the garden with the fall of man. The wonderful story of redemption is picked up by Peter following the death, burial, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Lord Jesus.
The promised Holy Spirit had been sent from heaven to indwell and empower all who believe. The same cowardly men who had fled from Gethsemane and denied their Lord only 50 days earlier were suddenly read more...
Over three years before he stood up on the day of Pentecost and cried out to the men of Israel: "Repent, each one of you and be baptised," Peter had witnessed John the Baptist delivering the same message of repentance to the same lost sheep of the same house of Israel: "Proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
For centuries, many prophets had been calling the erring read more...
Throughout the ministry of John the Baptist, and for the three and a half years of Christ's earthly ministry to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, ISRAEL was being called to repent of their sins once again. They were warned to turn from their evil ways and return to God because their Messiah was in their midst. Indeed, for many hundreds of years, the cry of Jewish prophets had been 'repent'. The people of Israel were to change their outlook, to change their read more...
As members of Christ's Body, we are living in a season of history that both angels and the prophets desired to look into; a season when God's revelation to the Church is speedily hastening towards its close. We are living in an age when the Lord Jesus Himself is shortly going to return in the clouds to take us to be with Himself, forever. We are also fast approaching the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will finally return to earth with all His saints and set His read more...