Acts 2:1-4 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.… But why was the gift of the Spirit delayed until the day of Pentecost was fully come? No man must irreverently pry into the purposes of Deity. I. PENTECOST WAS THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS; THEREFORE SYMBOLICAL OF THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Leviticus 23:15, 17; Deuteronomy 16:9). The first sheaf of the Christian harvest, the first fruit of the Christian reaping was there ingathered. II. PENTECOST WAS ASSOCIATED IN THE JEWISH WORSHIP WITH THE GIVING OF THE LAW FROM SINAI. Fifty days after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites received the law from Sinai. To this day the gift of the law is kept in view in the Jewish observance of Pentecost. 1. Conviction of sin is the prominent idea of the apostolic Pentecost. Peter's sermon resulted in the cry, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Conviction of sin is the prelude to a reformed life. In our Christian families and amongst our young people, trained from infancy in Christian virtue, we need not always look for the intense conviction of sin which is apparent on this first day of the Christian Pentecost. No! God's ways are often gentle. 2. The first gift of the Paraclete on the day of Pentecost — the day which, in Jewish thought, was specially consecrated to the giving of the law from Sinai — was specially fitted to the mission of Him "who will convict the world in respect of sin." III. THE FIRST-FRUITS ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST ARE TYPICAL OF THE INGATHERING OF ALL NATIONS TO CHRIST. More foreign Jews attended the Pentecost than any other Jewish feast. And in the light of Pentecost we look forward hopefully to the time when the "great multitude, whom no man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and peoples, and tongues" shall stand before the throne and before the Lamb, and shall cry with a great voice, saying, "Salvation unto our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9, 10). IV. PENTECOST TEACHES THE UNION OF VAST SPIRITUAL POWER WITH FEEBLE HUMAN AGENCY. (George Deane, D. Sc.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.WEB: Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. |
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