“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."
Acts 2:33
Pentecost is more than just a feast day in the Old Testament, a chapter of Acts in the New Testament, or even confined to a denomination. Pentecost is the Believer’s experience and the Church’s identity.
On the first Day of Pentecost in Exodus Chapter 32, the day the Law was given, 3,000 men died. On the Day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 3,000 men were saved. The Law brought in death and destruction while the arrival of the Holy Spirit welcomed in Salvation and Restoration.
As Peter stood up and preached the inaugural Message of the Church, he did not point the people to good works, good morals, or good ideals. Peter pointed them to the Way of Salvation - The Way of Jesus Christ through the means of the sin-expiating Cross. With the Blood of Christ applied, the Holy Spirit becomes electrified in the Believer to save, reconcile, regenerate, and transform. Real Christianity is not religion, but the only divinely provided and authenticated way of Redemption.
At the Day of Pentecost, the Age of Grace began and the Church vessel was launched. The Apostles and Disciples evangelized to all those within hearing distance. As the Word of God was preached, signs and wonders followed as the Holy Spirit made His Presence known wherever they went. The pattern of the Church then, was left as the example for us today. The Church was not put into place to be another institution of worship or a glorified social gathering. The Church, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is a force to be reckoned with in proclaiming the Way of Salvation, bringing lost souls to Jesus Christ, and allowing the Gifts of the Spirit to bless and edify one another.
Pentecost is the Presence of Jesus Christ living within the Believer and the Power of the Holy Spirit working through the Christian. As the Fullness of the Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, let us allow the Fullness of the Spirit to become our experience in the Spirit.