What It Means to be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 10

"And When the Day of Pentecost Was Fully Come" (continued)

Now the next thing we need to see is that "the Day of Pentecost" is not just a "Day" unto itself, an appointed time unto itself; for "the Day of Pentecost" is the fulfillment and the consummation of that which began with the Feast of the Passover." "The Day of Pentecost" is the consummate result of  The Passover - the Day of Pentecost is the Consummate result of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The very name "Pentecost" verifies this, for the word "Pentecost" means the fiftieth [day]; and the Day of Pentecost was so called because it was celebrated on the fiftieth day. The Day of Pentecost was calculated from the second day of unleavened bread, from the day of the offering of the sheaf, the wave offering, which prefigured the Resurrection of Christ. "The Day of Pentecost" gives the number fifty its fullest and greatest meaning in the Bible, for in its connection with "the Day of Pentecost" the fiftieth day means: the result of the perfect consummation of time.

We know that God's approval is upon calling this Feast, "the Day of Pentecost," because in Acts 2:1, the Holy Spirit calls this Feast of the Lord, "the Day of Pentecost," instead of its original name, "The Feast of Harvest" (Ex. 23:16). And by doing so, the Holy Spirit is placing special emphasis upon the fiftieth day and its meaning: therefore, this tells us that "the Day of Pentecost" was the result of the perfect consummation of the time that began with the Feast of the Passover. Leviticus 23 makes it clear that the feast of the Passover, the unleavened bread, and the firstfruits (the wave offering) were observed in the same period of time: the passover the 14th day of Abib, the unleavened bread the 15th day, the firstfruits the 16th day. Thus, "the Day of Pentecost" was the result of the offering of The True Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ our Lord: "For even Christ our Passover is [was] sacrificed for us ..." (1 Corinthians 5:7). The "Day of Pentecost" was the result of the True, Incorruptible Unleavened Bread, Jesus Christ our Lord, laying down His Life that we might have Life Eternal, for Jesus said: "I AM the Bread of Life ... and the Bread, moreover, which I will give is My Flesh - for the world's life" (John 6:48, 51). The "Day of Pentecost" was he result of Jesus Christ our Lord being Resurrected from the dead - It was the result of The One Who Is The True Wave Offering, The One Who Is The Firstfruits of God's Resurrection Harvest being Raised from the dead: "And Jesus said ... "I AM the Resurrection, and The Life" (John 11:25). Oh, beloved, "the Day of Pentecost" is the consummation of God's perfect timing, for "the Day of Pentecost" IS THE DIVINE RESULT OF THE CROSS, THE RESURRECTION, AND THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

If we look closely at the above Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 5:7, John 6:35, and John 11:25, we shall find that something different has taken place. The "Feasts of the Lord" no longer point to Christ or prefigure Christ; for no longer will the blood of lambs and goats, and other offerings suffice. No! These Feasts of the Lord have become what God always intended them to be, they have become a PERSON, they have become a true and genuine reality in the Person of Jesus Christ.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 11)