_|_ | C O P | N E T PENTECOST Sunday School Lesson Grades 9-10 Pentecost always takes place 50 days after Easter. Pentecost is also a time when many churches celebrate confirmation and baptism. And so, it is a glorious thing today for us to remember and to celebrate Pentecost. It is also important that we know a bit about the history and the background of the first Pentecost, as recorded in the Bible; but, it is most important to hear the promise that God gave at the first Pentecost and the same promise that God continues to offer unto all people today as He says, "I will pour forth My Spirit on all mankind." Listen now as I read from the Bible the historic account of the first Pentecost. The Bible records that when the day of Pentecost came "the followers of Christ were all assembled together. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent wind. This sound filled the whole building where they were seated. And then miraculously there appeared tongues of fire...above the head of each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in different languages as the Holy Spirit gave them power to proclaim His message." Then the Bible continues to explain that on the first Pentecost there were staying in Jerusalem Jews of deep faith from every nation of the world. And these visiting foreigners were amazed as they heard local people begin to speak in a foreign tongue. "How can this happen," these foreigners said, "that each of us can hear local people speaking our own language?" These foreign visitors were from many, many different countries, including "Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygai, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Africa near Cyrene, as well as visitors from Rome! There were Jews, the Bible says, and proselytes, men from Crete and men from Arabia." These foreign visitors, they were shocked. They marveled at the great miracle of Pentecost. They said, "We can all hear these (local) men speaking of the magnificence of God in our native language. "Everyone was utterly amazed," the Bible says. "They did not know what to make of it. Indeed, they kept saying to each other, 'What on earth can this mean?' But there were others also, the Bible said, who laughed and they said mockingly, 'These fellows have had too much wine!'" They are drunk! "Then, however," the Bible explains, "the apostle Peter, raised his voice and addressed the whole group and said: Fellow, Jews, and all who are living now in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I say while I explain to you what has happened! These men are not drunk as you suppose. It is, after all, only nine o'clock in the morning of this great feast day." "No," Peter said, "this (miracle that you see--this miracle of men suddenly speaking in many languages) is something which was predicted by the prophet Joel who said: 'And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams....'" Then the apostle Peter went even one step further. He explained how the miraculous and heavenly Pentecost experience was directly connected with the greatest miracle that God ever gave the world. God's greatest miracle took place when He sent His only Son the Lord Jesus into the world to die on the cross and to make salvation possible for all mankind. This event, Peter said, was directly connected to Pentecost. In fact, Christ's death and resurrection is the foundation of Pentecost. Listen now as the apostle Peter explains how this all fits together. "Men of Israel," the apostle Peter said, "I beg of you to listen to my words. Jesus of Nazareth was a man proved to you by God Himself through works of power and miracles and signs which God showed through him while He, Jesus, was among you--as you very well know. This man," Peter continued saying, "this Jesus, was put into your power by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. You nailed this man up. You murdered this man....But God would not allow the bitter pains of death to touch him. God raised Jesus to life again--and indeed there was nothing by which death could hold such a man." The apostle Peter then continued by saying yes, even the Old Testament prophet David spoke about Jesus--that when Jesus would be put to death on the cross His body would not experience corruption. Peter explained that King David "foresaw the Resurrection of Christ, and that he spoke about it." Peter also said, "Christ was not deserted in death and his body was never destroyed. Christ is the man Jesus, whom God raised up--a fact of which all of us are eyewitnesses! He has been raised to the right hand of God..." "Now therefore," Peter proclaimed, "the whole nation of Israel must know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has declared to be both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:1-36). Oh, indeed my friends! The first Pentecost was exciting; it was dramatic; it was moving. Great miracles did indeed take place. And these miraculous events of the first Pentecost continue to amaze people, even today. The most important part of Pentecost 1995, however, is to understand that the wonderful promise which God gave at the first Pentecost, nearly 2,000 years ago--this gracious promise--is still being offered by God to us today. Our Lord of love and our God of grace is now saying to you and to me: "I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind." Yes, God gives His promise of grace without discrimination. One Biblical scholar notes that the Pentecost promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the infant church of Christ was one of the most momentous facts in human history. Pentecost signals a major change in the way that God relates to life. You see, throughout Old Testament history, and prior to the Pentecost, God had chosen Israel as a special people. To these people, God made the special promises of grace and salvation. And it was through and from Israel that the promised Savior would be born. Other people, of course, could also receive the special Old Testament promise but only if they were converts or proselytes, of the faith of Israel. With the miracle of the first Pentecost, however, this was all changed! Through His spokesman, the apostle Peter, God announced at Pentecost a new plan: a comprehensive plan involving world-wide salvation which would be offered unto all men of every nation and of every race. God said, "And it shall be in the last days...that I will pour forth My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...and it shall be, that everyone (yes, anyone and everyone] who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:17, 21). And so, as a result of the first Pentecost, God's gospel promise of forgiveness is no longer limited to one ethnic group, or one nation. God's gospel of forgiveness is now to be offered, and to be preached, unto all people of every nation. This is a most significant Biblical teaching regarding the holy will of God. God makes no distinction. His Gospel is for all people. God made this crystal clear at the first Pentecost when He said, "I will pour out My Spirit unto all men." Oh, my friend, let the miracle of the first Pentecost become for you the greatest news of your life. You see, it makes no difference what your racial or ethnic background might be. In God's eyes, it makes no difference whether your parents were believers or unbelievers; when it comes to the great promise of God's Gospel it makes no difference what your past life might have been. And it makes no difference how deep in sin you have gone. God is now offering you His grace, His love, and His forgiveness with no strings attached. Believe God's Gospel, my friend. Look at the bloody cross of Christ and open your eyes of faith and see your Savior Jesus. Jesus died for you, and His blood atoned for you; Jesus' blood paid for the penalty of all of your sins. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from the eternal curse of your many failures in your life. And so this is the connection, 50 days before Pentecost Jesus suffered and died on the cross. When Jesus died, He offered Himself up as the perfect and complete sacrifice to pay not only for your sins but for the sins of the whole world. And this good news is the centerpiece of God's Gospel message of Pentecost. As described in the Bible, the first Pentecost is a powerful picture of the grace of God for on that historic day, the Apostle Peter preached a powerful sermon. The word of God deeply touched the hearts of all those who heard that message. The Bible tells us that about 3,000 people were saved on that one day. These miraculous Pentecost conversions, however, were no automatic action. Neither were they the will of man. The living Word of God was at work. The Spirit of God was moving. The apostle Peter preached the Law and the Gospel clearly to those who were assembled. Peter told the people that their sins had caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. These people who heard this were deeply moved, as they by faith understood that it was indeed their sins that had caused the suffering and death of Christ. They then said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" The apostle Peter then answered: "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself" (Acts 2:38-39). And so today, as we celebrate the joy of Pentecost, God in His Word is reminding us also of our sin and of His Gospel of forgiveness. God wants you and me to see Pentecost as more than a mere historical event. Because, you see, in His Word of the Gospel promise spoken at the first Pentecost, through the apostle Peter, God fervently desires that this same Word of forgiveness and hope be spoken to your heart and mine today. By our many sins and failures, you and I deserve the wrath and the punishment of God. And unless you and I, enabled by the Spirit of God, do something about our desperate situation, we will surely face an angry God. In the Bible, in the Book of Hebrews, we read: "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). Therefore, my friend, no matter how bad or how secret a sin you might have been involved in, God in His grace is now offering you forgiveness and hope. And when it comes to God's Pentecost Gospel, it makes no difference who you are or what your background might be. Simply listen closely to the offer of forgiveness and hope that God is now making to you. Then in response to God's offer of forgiveness, "Repent, yes, sincerely repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise, is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself" (Acts 2:38-39). Let this Pentecost of 1995 be the start of a new life for you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved from the punishment that you deserve for your sin. Oh, may our God of love and our God of grace have mercy upon all of us on this Pentecost. Amen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ This article is one of many more articles about the Coptic Orthodox | Church, the Christian Apostolic Church of Egypt. These articles can be | retrieved from Copt-Net archives at http://pharos.bu.edu/cn/Menu.html COP|NET For more information, contact Copt-Net server at CN-request@cs.bu.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------