Call to Commitment

  

38. Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

39. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 

40. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 

41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 

42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 

43. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 

44. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 

45. and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 

46. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 

47. praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. 

 I believe that it is necessary to repeat and reemphasize, the fact that Peter declared that the promise of God was universal, concerning the Holy Spirit. What had happened on the day of Pentecost was not only for Peter’s audience of Jews and proselytes from many different areas of the known world. When he said that it was for their children, he must have been referring to the following generation, many of whom stayed behind and did not make the long journey from their homes in different lands to Jerusalem. 

The astounding part, that the reader of Acts must consider, is that the latter part of the statement, is God’s promise to “all who are afar off.” His promise crosses every border and stretches across the globe, restricting no area nor any people. It is a universal call. The first apostles were commissioned to go into all the world, preach and open the door of the gospel to the world’s population. This was the call to all people, “as many as the Lord our God will call." The apostle John continues with the call at the end of the New Testament canon: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rv.22:17). 

14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of
Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

 

 

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit

1.      When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 

2.     And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 

3.     Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 

4.      And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

5.     And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 

6.     And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 

7.     Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 

8.     And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 

9.     Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 

10.  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 

11.  Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 

12.  So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” 

13.  Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”  

The expression, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come,” described the counting of 50 days from the Feast of Firstfruits, marking the fact that the required 50^th day had arrived since Firstfruits. I will attempt to show the entire law, concerning this Old Testament feast day, as a background to our present study of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost (Gr. Fiftieth) was the Greek term, for which the Hebrews called the Feast of Weeks. The purpose of the feast was a joyful celebration for the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

 You may study the sequence of events leading up to Pentecost in Leviticus 23:5-16. Passover took place on the 14^th of the first Jewish month, The day after Passover, the 15, was the Feast of Unleavened Bread and on the following day, the 16^th of the month began the counting of seven weeks, or 49 days, and the following day after the seventh week, the 50^th day, was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

 Several times, the Old Testament mentions that every Jewish male must be present in Jerusalem three times a year… “All your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles” (Dt. 16:16). According to our calendar, these feasts occurred in March, May and September.