| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net What do you think of when you hear the word Pentecost? Does it conjure up pictures of folks speaking in some strange or even scary language? Do you see someone tempting nature by handling a poisonous snake? There is a lot of division w/regard to Pentecost (what it is/was and what it isn't/wasn't), or the Pentecostal movement. Things can get skewed or even perverted when you have people involved, so I just want to look this morning at the Biblical account of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter two. I am not going to stir the pot by trying to sort out all the controversy - I have some strong standings on the subject, and would be happy to share them in another venue, but for now, let's just see what God's Word says about The Event. The apostles, along with many of Jesus' followers (120 in all) were literally hiding in one place. They had seen their Master crucified, and He had left them there. They were afraid unto death from the persecution around them. They had been threatened after all, one had barely escaped Jesus' arrest by running out of his clothes. Suddenly, the house shook with the sound as of a rushing wind, and they were all filled with the promised Holy Spirit. To what end? They began to speak to a huge crowd. The same crowd they were afraid of only moments before. The message was powerful, and uncompromising (we could use more of that today). Some points to ponder. By my count, there were 17 distinctive dialects represented in Jerusalem that day, and they were "confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language" - vs 6. The crowd also marveled at the content of their preaching and noted - "are not all these which speak Galileans?" Today, it would have been - "Say, aren't these loggers from Elk City?" Anyway, the also accused them of being drunk - vs 13. Let's turn the Spiritual Switch. In those days as it is in much of Europe today, lots of people were multi lingual, at least to the degree that they could function in the market place. So just imagine you could speak a little of say - three languages. Suddenly, you hear someone speaking in all of them at the same time? Or, you hear a one language being spoken, and the fellow next to you who shouldn't be able to understand, does? No matter how it shakes out, this was a big deal. How big? Three thousand souls were saved and baptized that day. What was the criteria then? The same as it is now. "If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you Shall be saved". Romans 10:9 Twenty years later, at what we call The Jerusalem Council, some legalistic religious leaders were trying to make the new converts be circumcised and obey the law in order to be saved. Nugget: The vast majority of the ordinances and traditions we celebrate today were intended to Point to Christ. Now, they have evolved to the object. Example? Baptism is to point to Christ - Romans 6, but many today believe it saves you. The Lord's supper is to point to Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and His inevitable return - 1st Cor. 11, but many believe it saves you. These Religious leaders in Acts 15, were guilty of the same thing. The Truth? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8-9. Peter ultimately asks the question, and we really can't get around it even today - "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" Acts 15:10 "What's the big deal?" you may ask. It is that we run a common danger of placing our faith in the wrong thing. We will elaborate on this next week. For now, know that it is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone. God Bless. |
 |