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The Great Christian Pentecost - Acts 2
There are several episodes of Pentecost in the
Bible, and the essence of each Pentecost is the same as the first one in the New
Testament, in Luke 1: The Holy Spirit comes upon a person and brings Jesus Christ into him
or her.
And the consequence is double: A life of joy, praising the glories of the Lord,
and to serve the neighbor, because my neighbor is Jesus Christ (Mt.25:31-46).
The Great Pentecost of Acts 2 was essential for the
firsts Christians; they did not had Jesus in person with them anymore, but in Pentecost
they realized and lived the glorious fact that now Jesus was inside each one of them, a
much better deal, and the greatest difference between Christianity and any other religion.
Pentecost - Acts 2
 In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles who
were with the 120 brothers and the Mother of Jesus (Act.1:5, 8, 12-15).
This Christian Pentecost of Acts 2 marks
the official beginning of the Church of Christ, the beginning of the last times, the
Gospel Era, the Era of the Holy Spirit, inaugurated in a Mighty Miraculous Manifestation
of the Holy Spirit, with sounds as a roaring wind, with visible tongues of fire upon each
of the Apostles, transforming them from selfish and timid men into giants of courage and
faith, and with the great miracle of the Galilean Apostles being understood by the people
of 17 different nations each one hearing them speak in their own language (Acts 2).
So, Pentecost marks the official birth-day of the Church,
essentially missionary in its very foundation, with the birth of the ministries
and evangelization with power, love, and enthusiasm... the Church, though, was
born at Calvary, and, like any other birth, among pains and blood.
There are 7 Wonders in the Pentecost of Acts 2:
-
The strong violent wind (2:2): A symbol of the
power of the Holy Spirit, able to fill us with the love joy and peace of Jesus in our
hearts. It came suddenly, but was at the height immediately… The word
"Spirit", both in Hebrew and Greek, can also mean "Wind"… a Wind
that is always with us, to sanctify us, to guide us, to console us, to love us...
-
The Tongues of Fire upon each disciple (2:3): A
symbol of the evangelization made with power and love and enthusiasm... this Fire burns
our sins and makes our soul ready to receive Jesus.
-
The disciples were "filled with the Holy Spirit" (2:4):
This was the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in the
previous chapter: "You will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit" (Act.1:5).... so the "baptism with the Spirit" is
the same as "filled with the Holy Spirit". The Spirit always
comes for three things: To reprove us of sin, to convince us
that Jesus is the righteousness of God to make us saints,
and to convict us of the judgment of Satan and of those who
refuse God's offer of eternal life (Jn.16:7-11).
-
The great miracle of speaking in another
languages (in 4 verses, 2:4,6,8,11): The Holy Spirit always brings the joy and love and
peace of Jesus, the languages that anybody can understand.
-
The onlookers astounded and amazed by this great
miracle and by the noisy joy of the Christians (2:7)… though there were some who
criticized them saying, "these people are drunk" (2:13). Acts mentions 17
nations with different languages, representing "every nation under heaven", the
Universality or Catholicism of the officially newborn Church, and signaling the worldwide
proclamation of the gospel of grace to every nation and race (2:5, 9-11).
-
Peter's first use of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, of Mt.16:19, with his first sermon (2:14-41): He started answering the critics,
saying that "this men are not drunk of wine, but drunk of the Holy Spirit",
emphasizing, all along his sermon, the Resurrection of Jesus who now wants to live in
their hearts.
-
The repentance and baptizing of 3000 persons
(2:41): The bottom line of any Evangelization is the Holy Spirit, the person most
important in our lives right now, as stated in 1Pet.1:2: God the Father already created
us, God the Son already redeemed us, and God the Holy Spirit is the person who is now
helping us to appropriate the merits of the redemption of Christ for the glory of the
Father, for the good of his Church, and for our own good…
We are right now living in the Era of the Holy Spirit… we
can not acknowledge God as Abba-Father unless moved by the Spirit, and without the Holy
Spirit no one can even say "Jesus is the Lord" (1Cor.12:3, Rom.8:15).
Public domain text. May be distributed freely. No rights reserved.
Special thanks and credit to: J_Dominguez
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