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Pentecost from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

We have recently covered the events of Holy Week and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What happened next? After Jesus was crucified, laid to rest in a tomb, and resurrected early Sunday morning, He remained on Earth for another forty days and appeared to many (Acts 1:3). Here is a brief summary:

* Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, conquering sin and death. In the Bible, days begin at sundown and end at sundown, so it was sometime after what we call Saturday evening (Genesis 1:5). Women discover the empty tomb, and angels announce His resurrection.

Biblical References: (Matthew 28:1-10); (Mark 16:1-8); (Luke 24:1-12); (John 20:1-10).

* Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene, other women, and individually to Peter.

Biblical References: (Mark 16:9-11); Mary Magdalene: (John 20:11-18); Other Women: (Matthew 28:8-10); (Luke 24:34); Peter: (1 Corinthians 15:5).

* Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, explaining the Scriptures. One is named Cleophas. Their hearts burn within them as He speaks, and they recognize Him when He breaks bread with them.

Biblical Reference: (Luke 24:13-35).

* Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room, showing them His wounds. He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Thomas was not there and doubted it was actually Jesus. Then, eight days later, Jesus appeared again with the Apostle Thomas present, who believed upon seeing Him.

Biblical References: (Luke 24:36-49); (John 20:19-29).

* Jesus appears to seven disciples while they are fishing, miraculously giving them a catch of 153 large fish. During this encounter, he also restores Peter and tells him, "Feed My sheep."

Biblical Reference: (John 21:1-25).

* Jesus appeared to over 500 believers at once and to His brother James, who became the leader of the Jerusalem church.

Biblical References: 500+ Believers: (1 Corinthians 15:6); James: (1 Corinthians 15:7).

* On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus commissions His disciples to make disciples of all nations.

Biblical References: (Matthew 28:16-20); (Mark 16:15-18).

* Jesus continued to appear for forty days, teaching about the kingdom of God and providing proof of His resurrection.

Biblical Reference: (Acts 1:3).

* Jesus ascends to heaven from the Mount of Olives near Bethany. He promises the Holy Spirit's coming, and angels promise His return.

Biblical References: (Mark 16:19-20); (Luke 24:50-53); (Acts 1:6-11).

* The disciples return to Jerusalem, gather in prayer, choose Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth Apostle, and prepare to wait for the promised Holy Spirit.

Biblical Reference: (Acts 1:12-26).

Jesus instructed the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with "power from on high." He gave them no details. This was a "You will know it when you see it happen" moment.

(Luke 24:49-53 NKJV) "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

This was forty days after Holy Week, and Jesus ascended to heaven, with His work on Earth complete. He had told the disciples that it was to their advantage that He left them so the Holy Spirit would come:

(John 14:25-26 NKJV) "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

(John 16:7 NKJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, who would soon be coming to endow them with power from on high, would guide them into all truth. He would tell them things Jesus could not tell them now and even tell them of things to come.

(John 16:12-15 NKJV) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

So, in Acts chapter 2, on the day of "Pentecost," the "Power from on high" descended on the disciples gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem. You will hear the word "Pentecost" a lot going forward so we should clarify what that is.

Pentecost means fifty, and the feast of Pentecost comes 50 days after the Passover feast. The Jewish name for this feast is Shavuot. It began as a wheat harvest festival (Numbers 28:26), so it is also known as the "Day of First fruits," but now also commemorates the giving of the law of Moses. To sum up, the day of Pentecost comes 50 days after Passover (Easter), seven weeks, a week of weeks. It will always be on the seventh Sunday after Easter. In 2025, the day of Pentecost will be Sunday, June 8th.

Acts chapter 1 ends with 120 disciples gathered together in the upper room in Jerusalem. The apostles were there, as well as Jesus's mother and many others, including Mary and Martha. They were all waiting for the "power from on high" that Jesus promised was coming. Ten more days passed, but they continued waiting, believing what Jesus had told them. They did not know how long they would have to wait or when the Holy Spirit would come. On the day of Pentecost, they were all gathered together, waiting expectantly when it happened.

(Acts 2:1-3 NKJV) When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind that came from the sky. This was the Holy Spirit, the breath of God Almighty. They had waited for ten days, but once it began, it happened suddenly. In (Genesis 1:2) the Spirit of God breathed over the waters. In (Genesis 2:7), God breathed life into Adam. In (Ezekiel 37:2), He blew on the dry bones, and they came to life, and in Acts chapter 2, He came to the disciples who were waiting in the upper room. This was the Holy Spirit, the breath of God literally coming to earth that Jesus had told them about. Jesus ascended to heaven, and ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven.

In (Matthew 3:11), John said that he baptized with water but prophesied that Jesus the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire usually represents purification, as a refiner uses fire to make pure gold. Fire can burn away what is temporary, leaving only what will last. So, the filling of the Holy Spirit is not just for power but also to purify you.

I picture tongues of fire as flaming strips of fire, much like in this photo taken in Mozambique, Africa, in 2005 during a mission trip by James Goll. While they were ministering, tongues of fire showed up and settled on the people. A member of the mission team took this photo, and they say it is authentic. I believe this is probably what it looked like in the upper room that day. During the revival at Azusa Street Mission, firetrucks sometimes showed up because flames could be seen coming out of the top of the building, but it was the fire of God.

(Acts 2:4 NKJV) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is what is known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. All of those in the upper room that day were filled with the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, and they began to speak in other languages as He gave them the ability. Please note that "they" were speaking, not the Holy Spirit. He gave them the words; they chose to speak them.

The Apostle Paul in (1 Corinthians 12:28) mentions a "variety of tongues" and not just one type. So, I will try and explain a couple of them that I have experienced:

There is a prayer language that every believer baptized in the Holy Spirit has access to. Each person that I have heard using it has had a different sounding language, and it is given to you by God, usually when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit. It may start as one small word, like "Abba," but as you speak, it will soon grow into a fluent language. The more that you pray with it, the easier it will become. Also, I have had mine change before and spoke in a different language for a time, then reverted to my normal one afterward.

It happens as the Holy Spirit gives us utterance; the words come from Him, but we do the speaking. Many have been baptized in the Spirit and suppressed the gift of tongues. The Holy Spirit does not "take over" your body and force you to speak, so if you wait for that to happen, you are gonna wait a long, long time. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control, not the loss of it. We work together in everything and we simply speak the words as He gives them to us.

As far as I know, everyone can have this gift, and it is a language from somewhere here on Earth. Some missionaries once told us that when they were in Africa praying for people to receive the Holy Spirit, one of them started praying in English. To the Africans, it was an unknown tongue, and it will be a language unknown to you. Praying in tongues is so that your spirit can communicate directly with God without your mind interfering. Your spirit will pray about things that you would never tell Him about, as well as for others, your enemies, and for needs that you don't even know about yet.

There is also another gift of tongues, which is like prophecy and works along with the gift of interpretation. One person speaks in an unknown tongue, and another gets the interpretation of it. According to (1 Corinthians 14:27–28), when tongues are spoken in church, there should always be an interpretation so the people are edified. As a general rule, unless you are praying for someone, you probably should not be using your private prayer language in public. It is nauseating when people call attention to their "spirituality," like showing us your underwear.

(Matthew 6:5-6 NKJV) "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

I am going to step on some religious toes here and state that water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are not the same thing but completely separate events. I have experienced both of them, and so has my wife Sylvia, and in reverse order. I was first baptized in water, then a few years later, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and received the gift of tongues. Sylvia was first baptized in the Spirit, spoke in tongues, and then later she was baptized in water. I want to make this point very clear because too many people are teaching they are the one and the same, and that is wrong. Though it is possible you could get both at the same time.

When Peter came to Cornelius' house in Acts chapter 10, he began preaching, and the Holy Spirit fell on them all, and they began to speak in other tongues. Then Peter said, "Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized in water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us." Peter saw them speaking in tongues, knew they had received the Holy Spirit, and then they baptized them in water after they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:46–48).

Some will say that the Apostle Peter was in the upper room and that this "special" gift died with him, but later, the Apostle Paul baptized other believers into the Spirit, and Paul was not one of those present in the upper room. The Apostle Paul was baptized into the Holy Spirit by a disciple named Ananias in Damascus years after Jesus' resurrection (Acts 9:17), and then Paul went on to baptize other believers into the Spirit wherever he found them. For instance, in (Acts 19:1-7) Paul came to Ephesus and baptized twelve men there in the Holy Spirit who had never heard there was one, and they spoke in tongues.

I have had people tell me, "I got everything I needed when I went to that altar!" That sounds good in a religious sense, but the disciples at Ephesus thought they had to, though they had never heard of the Holy Spirit. So don't take pride in ignorance. You don't know what you don't know yet. The Book of Acts is as relevant today as it was when it was written. To those who believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit passed away with the Apostles, I ask, where did you read that?

People used to "tarry" or wait for the Holy Spirit to come as the Apostles did in the upper room. I know a wonderful couple who did. The husband fasted and prayed for ten days, and he finally received the gift of tongues. Meanwhile, his wife became interested, went into the bedroom, prayed for fifteen minutes, and received it.

I am going to wrap this up as it is already pretty long, and if there is interest, we will continue next week in what happened after that exciting day in the upper room. I will leave you with this. Please notice the "abide with you forever" part, meaning the Holy Spirit has never left Earth and is still here:

(John 14:15-18 NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

If you want to know more, I have an hour-long teaching here on Acts chapter 2, verse by verse:

https://www.refreshinghope.org/blogs/1/4330/bible-study:-luke,-chapter-two

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for another day! Please help me see the truth in Your Word and not be misled by "teachings of men." Make what is important to You important to me, and open my mind to understand Your Scriptures. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!