The Message of Pentecost

Today, the Church marks its birthday, Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent to the Disciples of Jesus Christ. Whenever Christians begin to talk about the Holy Spirit, you can sense some uneasiness. There has been much bad teaching on the Holy Spirit which must be corrected. But when I think of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, the thing that comes to my mind is expressed in Jesus’ own words in John 15:26: “When the Helper [the Holy Spirit] comes…He will testify about Me.”

When we read about the birth of the Church in Acts 2, some wonderfully miraculous things happen. The Disciples are gathered together waiting for the Promised Holy Spirit. The text tells us that the Spirit comes upon them and as the Disciples are preaching and speaking, the people from different languages “were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.”

It would be easy to let our focus remain on this miraculous event. But what follows is a description of what the role of the Holy Spirit is all about—testifying about Jesus.

Peter, filled with the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, stands up to preach to the people. That first sermon is found in Acts 2:14-36. What we find in this sermon is a succinct description of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter tells his hearers about the life and ministry of Jesus (vs. 22); about the Crucifixion of Christ and how His death was God’s plan (not a mistake) to take away the ‘agony’ and ‘power’ of death (vss. 23-28).

Peter’s sermon continues to testify about the Resurrection of Jesus from a true and literal death (vss. 29-32); and the Ascension of the Resurrected Christ to the right hand of God in order to (among other things) send the Holy Spirit as was promised in John 15.

And this brings us back to where we began. The Holy Spirit has come into the world, not to bring glory to Himself, but to testify about Jesus Christ who has come to take away the sins of the whole world. But Jesus does not end there. He continues in John 15:27: “And you will testify [about Me] also.”

The result of Peter’s sermon is tremendous. The people in attendance cried out, “What shall we do?!” Peter responded, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” This promise then, is for us who are far off—almost 2,000 years later, and hundreds, if not thousands of miles from that great city of Jerusalem. We too, can have the Holy Spirit if we repent and believe in Jesus Christ. When we do, we will be empowered to testify about Jesus and His most wonderful work for us all.

Thank you oh my Father,
for giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit,
till the work on Earth is done.