04.05. The True Meaning of Pentecost

What is the meaning of Pentecost? I will show you very clearly. It is not the conversion of souls. These people were already Christians. It is not the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for He already has taken up His abode in them. The meaning of Pentecost is not the origin of the church. Even if the church began then, the Bible says nothing about it, and the apostles say nothing about it. That was not what Jesus promised. That was not what they were thinking about. What was it? Go back to Luk 24:1-53. There the Lord Jesus said, ’You are to preach the gospel to all nations. You are the witnesses to do it. But wait in Jerusalem, tarry in Jerusalem. I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.’

Now what does Pentecost mean? "Power from on high," an enduement of power to do the work God tells you to do. That is what the disciples had. They were given the power to win souls. They were filled with the Holy Ghost to win souls. They had three thousand souls saved then, and they went on wonderfully winning souls day after day. Now do you see the meaning of Pentecost? The meaning of Pentecost is power for soul-winning testimony!

Now let us come to the first chapter of Acts. Here again we have a little resume’. As you know, the book of Luke and the book of Acts were written by the same man, Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, recorded by Luke, "But ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." He did not say that the Holy Spirit will put you into the body of Christ, which is another matter, but that you will be overwhelmed, covered, surrounded, filled, overflowed with the Spirit of God for power. That is what He meant. And they said, ’What do you mean, Jesus? Jesus answered, ’I mean this: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."’

Again, what is the meaning of Pentecost? "Ye shall receive power." Power! I am not talking about the cyclonic wind. That happened, but it was not what was promised. It is not the proof that the Lord is talking about. It is not the thing they are to get on their minds. And we ought not get our minds on it. It was not the tongues of fire sitting on their heads. That happened, but it was an incidental, outward miracle. I say, those outward signs may differ as they did then, but that is not the point. The point is that they are to receive power, to have witnessing power and to get people converted. That is the meaning of Pentecost. It isn’t that they were talking in other languages. It happens that some of them did talk in known languages that people understood, and these people heard the gospel in their own tongues in which they were born. That is all right, but that is an incident. It was not promised that it would be specially in these certain particular languages. That is not the point. The point is that they got power to witness for Jesus and to get people saved. They had power. The meaning of Pentecost is power on your witnessing, power on your testimony, power on your soul-winning effort, power for the pulpit and the pew to take the gospel to sinners; in other words, revival power. That is it.

D. L. Moody said, "Pentecost was simply a specimen day." Yes, Pentecost was simply a specimen revival. If we want a revival, let us go back and have it as they did then. How is that? Let us get the power of God on us. Let us get the power of the Holy Ghost. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit, or have the gift of the Holy Spirit, or be endued with power from on high. As Joel prophesied, and as Peter sajd, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2:16-17). Do you see the point of that? I do not care what term you may use. I prefer the term more often used in the Bible which is "filled with the Spirit," but I do not mind the term "baptized with the Holy Spirit," which was used by R. A. Torrey, D. L. Moody, Charles G. Finney, and some of the greatest evangelists who ever lived. The term "baptized with the Holy Ghost" is in some disrepute, however, because it has sometimes been misused. Nevertheless, I do not mind your using that just so you mean what the Bible means, that Christians can have an enduement from Heaven, can have the breath of God upon us, can have a miracle-working power upon us and in us, and we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and can do what God said to do. The meaning of Pentecost is simply the power of the Holy Ghost on Christians, the power of God in and through us to do what He said to do, that is, to carry the gospel to every creature. Remember Acts 1:8 , "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Oh God, give us that grace!