Pentecost Part 12

 Pentecost Part 12

Israel had a marriage covenant with God from Mount Sinai. Their marriage covenant bound Israel to keep the Law of Moses. 

God revealed by the prophet Jeremiah that He was bringing Israel a new covenant. 

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 

"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; 

"After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: 

"For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." - Jeremiah 31:31-34 

But how could Israel be released from her covenant of marriage with God?

"Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 

"For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 

"So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." - Romans 7:1-3 

To release Israel from her marriage covenant, God manifested Himself in flesh in the name of Jesus and died. 

Israel was now free to marry another. 

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." - Romans 7:4 

God freed Israel to enter His new covenant.

Pentecost Part 9

Pentecost Part 9

God’s timing is always perfect.

The day that Jesus chose to pour out His Spirit in Jerusalem was one of the three holy days that God commanded every Jewish male to present himself in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice in the temple. 

"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:" - Deuteronomy 16:16 KJV  

The feast of weeks (also called Pentecost and Shavuot) is celebrated 7 weeks after Passover, thus "feast of weeks."

"And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." - Acts 2:5 KJV

These devout Jews would have spoken Hebrew as well as the language of the nation they were from.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ... 

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

"Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 

"And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? ... we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God." - Acts 2:1, 4, 6-8, 11 KJV

God's perfect timing placed men of every nation (and language) in Jerusalem to witness  the outpouring of His Spirit, hearing them speak in their languages the wonderful works of God. 

Otherwise, witnesses to the Spirit outpouring would have thought the 120 were all drunk. (Acts 2:13).

Notice they were not hearing the gospel when the 120 disciples were speaking in tongues. 

They heard the Gospel from Peter, (whom Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom), when they asked, What meaneth this? (Matthew 16:19, Acts 2:14-40).

When the men asked, What meaneth this? Then Peter began preaching, most likely in the Hebrew tongue, which they all understood as devout Jews.

Pentecost Part 8

Pentecost Part 8

When Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, Jesus told him he must be born again to  see the kingdom of God.

Jesus then told him, 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." - John 3:5

Jesus then revealed there would be a sound when a person is born of the Spirit!

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8 

Jesus compared the Spirit with the wind. We cannot see the wind because it is invisible. But, we can hear the sound of the wind as it blows through the trees. We cannot see the Spirit of God. But, we can hear the sound of His Spirit as it fills a person. 

We see this on the Day of Pentecost.

"And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." - Acts 1:4-5 

It appears there were 120 disciples gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem, praying and waiting for the promise of the Spirit. (Acts 1:15).

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." - Acts 2:1 

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

The Bible does not say there was a wind that filled the house. It says there was a SOUND FROM HEAVEN AS of a rushing might wind.

There was not the sound of one or two people being filled with the Spirit. There were 120 people! That's why the sound was as of a rushing MIGHTY wind!

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:4 

Just as Jesus said,

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof...so is every one that is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8

Pentecost Part 7

Pentecost Part 7

Jesus foretold of the outpouring of His Spirit on numerous occasions. 

When Jesus was speaking to His disciples He told them His Spirit would be in them.

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." - John 14:16-17 

Jesus was telling His disciples He is the Comforter, and the Spirit of Truth (and the Holy Ghost - John 14:26) -  "but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:17).

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." - John 14:26 

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" - John 15:26 

(See also: John 16:7-16)

After His death, burial, and resurrection, shortly  before He ascended into heaven, Jesus said to His disciples -

"...Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." - Luke 24:46-49 

We see the promise of the Father is the Holy Ghost. 

God said,

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:" - Joel 2:28 

The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Father which is the Spirit of Jesus. (See above).

Jesus is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:13-15). "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself..." - 2 Corinthians 5:19. The Son of God is the Father manifest in flesh - the Father's body. (John 14:7-10).  "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." - Colossians 2:9

Pentecost Part 6

Part 6

Bringing Forth Fruit and Multiplying

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." - Romans 7:4 

[Strong’s Definitions - “fruit: to be fertile (literally or figuratively):—be (bear, bring forth) fruit(-ful).”].

The children of God’s New Covenant Marriage are born again believers.

Jesus describes the New Covenant Marriage birth of children as a spiritual birth, not a natural birth.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." - John 3:6 

The children of the New Covenant Marriage are sons of God. They are born of water and of the Spirit. (John 3:5).

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12-13 

The Mother is the church. The church is the water part of birth, baptizing new souls in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38).

The Father is Jesus. Jesus is the Spirit part of birth, baptizing new souls with His Spirit. (Acts 2:38-39).

The mother and the father are both necessary for the birth of a child. Only the mother is able to water baptize, and only the Father is able to baptize with His Spirit.

"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" - Hebrews 12:7-9 

"Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles." - Romans 1:13 

The church as the Mother also travails (in prayer) to give birth to souls.

"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you," - Galatians 4:19

Pentecost Part 5

Pentecost Part 5

Apostle Paul compares God’s New Marriage Covenant with the church to the marriage between a man and a woman. (Ephesians 5:22-32).

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." - Ephesians 5:22-24 KJV

We submit ourselves to the Lord. He is head of the church. He is our Savior. 

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" - Ephesians 5:25 KJV

God loved the church and gave His life for her.

(Ephesians 5:2, Luke 22:19-20, Galatians 1:4, Revelation 1:5, Galatians 2:20).

"That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word," - Ephesians 5:26 KJV

To make her holy and clean (to consecrate and sanctify her), to make her free from the guilt of sin, to purify, by “the washing of water” (baptism) “by the word” (the promise of the pardon of sins- others take ῤήματι “word” here as equivalent to 'the gospel,' c). [From: Thayer’s Greek Lexicon].

"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." - Ephesians 5:27 KJV

"So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

 (Hebrews 13:5).

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." - Ephesians 5:28-30 KJV

(1Corinthians 12:12-13, 27)

"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." - Ephesians 5:31-32 KJV

To be continued…

Pentecost Part 4

 Pentecost Part 4

One of the reasons John the Baptist was sent by God, was to be a witness that Jesus is Christ, God manifest in flesh.

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." - John 1:6 

"John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me." - John 1:15 (John 1:10).

John was born before Jesus. As God, Jesus was before John.

Jesus came to bring the New Marriage Covenant of Grace to replace the Old Marriage Covenant of the Law.

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." - John 1:17

 "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water...he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." - John 1:31, 33-34 

The “Son of God” is God manifest in flesh (the body of God).

"Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." - John 1:35-37 

"After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized." - John 3:22 

"And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." - John 3:26 

"Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him." - John 3:28 

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled." - John 3:29 

Jesus was bringing His New Covenant, baptizing. When we are baptized in the name of Jesus, we forsake the world and covenant our faithfulness to Jesus. Our baptism is our blood covenant of marriage. We become the bride of Christ. (1John 2:15-17).