Peter Brandon emphasizes the significance of the Holy Spirit's advent during Pentecost, illustrating how this event marked the beginning of the Church Age and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers. He explains the historical context of the Pentecost feast and its prophetic fulfillment, highlighting the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers through the Spirit. Brandon also discusses the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, which brings awe, peace, joy, and love to the lives of believers, and encourages the church to seek a renewed experience of the Spirit's presence and power.

So many have asked us about this subject of the Holy Spirit, and because of the word that our brother gave us on Friday afternoon, I feel led of the Spirit to take up a series now. This afternoon I want to speak about the glorious advent of the Holy Spirit. On Tuesday, what do we mean by the fullness of the Spirit? Wednesday, the conflict of the Spirit, and understanding that conflict. And then on Thursday, the last meeting, as far as we know, the activity of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. Now shall we turn to Acts 2, and read just the first few verses. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it set upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit did. And there was dwelling of Jerusalem's youth without men, as of every nation as the broad, the multitude came together and were compacted. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilean? And how here we every man, his own country here, can ever think the day of Pentecost, we have been living in the age of the Holy Spirit. If you were alive in the Old Testament, and someone had received the Holy Spirit, he would be exceedingly special. In fact you would say something like that, that man or that woman has the anointing. But when we come to the New Testament, which is really the initial stages of this great day of the Holy Spirit, we find that the Holy Spirit indwells all believers. And therefore each believer becomes a functional priest in the presence of God. Now what I want to do just for a few moments, is to give you an outline on the glorious Advent. First of all I want you to look at the time. Then I want you to look at the taste of the Advent, which is very instructive. And then I want you to look at the conditions that were relevant at the time. And then in this time, and I do trust we may be able to measure on this, the glorious symbolism of the Advent of the Holy Spirit, when the day of Pentecost was fully come. Quite frankly dear friends, we cannot understand, until we understand the feasts of And in those seven great feasts in Leviticus 23, we have an outline of God's religious progress. The first feast that's mentioned is the Sabbath, and that will be fulfilled completely in the millennium, when man on creation has its glorious rest. So God begins where we would finish. He always sees the thing complete, before he gives us his progress. The second feast was the Feast of Passover, and according to the Apostle Paul when he writes to the Corinthians, that was fulfilled at the cross, Christ our Father. Following the Feast of Passover there was the Feast of Passover, and that was fulfilled at the Resurrection, when in Corinthians he tells us Christ our Father. Then after the Feast of Passover, there were seven Sabbaths that began on the day after their Sabbath, so that was Sunday. And that approximately means fifty days. And after the seven Sabbaths, thus began the Feast of Pentecost. And the Feast of Pentecost undoubtedly speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and thus the beginning of this great age, which we call the Church Age, or the Age of Grace. Now in the Feast of Pentecost, there were certain matters of importance. The most important thing were the two giant wavelets. I wish you could see them, it would give you some idea of what the feast really meant. But there was something mystical and strange about those wavelets. All the cereal offerings that they offered were to be without lemon. But those wavelets had incorporated in them lemon, that which puffed up like. Now why should the most significant thing be these two wavelets? The first company of people to receive the Holy Spirit would be the Jewish Christians. Then the second great company to receive the Holy Spirit would be the Gentile Christians, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them when Peter was teaching in Acts 10. And so those two wavelets represent the Jesus and the Gentiles, and they're all brought together to the Holy Spirit in one. Now with those two wavelets they offered seven lambs. And then they offered one bullet. Then the priest would offer two rams. And all these would be offered as burnt offerings with these two legs. Then a goat would be offered for a sin offering. And then last of all there would be two lambs offered for a peace offering. Now what is the Spirit of God saying to us through this? The Holy Spirit could not possibly be poured out until Jesus Christ suffered on the cross. And therefore when he died upon the cross he furnished all the motives of the Father's love and brought glory to the throne of God. That's the burger. Then we dealt with our sins to the satisfaction of God so that God could be righteous and still forgive the sinner. Then he brought together through the cross both Jew and Gentile by first of all breaking down the middle wall of perdition and then through the glorious baptism of the Spirit joined the two companies together. So you can see we must never never divorce the work of Calvary from the work of the Spirit. That's why when Paul speaks about the work of the Spirit in Roman case he says the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. You see you cannot separate this work from the work of the Lord Jesus. And so we have the day of Pentecost. Again if we look at the day of Pentecost very clearly we shall find according to the Gospels that it was prophesied, it was fulfilled and then it became a historical event. For instance John the Baptist looks at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 2 we have it in our steps and then in 1 Corinthians 12 we have it in retrospect. Therefore John made it quite clear I baptize with or in water but I do in the Holy Spirit and with fire. In Acts chapter 2 the fulfillment of that prophecy was seen when the Holy Spirit came as of a rushing mighty wind and then the Apostle Paul looked back to this great day of baptism and he says by one Spirit were you all baptized into one body. The baptism by John the Baptist was a picture of the coming of the Holy Spirit in retrospect. Acts 2 the aspect the fulfillment and then in 1 Corinthians 12 the retrospect looking back to the event. Now I believe that. Now please note the phrase and I think this is very important. The rushing mighty wind filled the house where you would never never find that statement in the Old Testament. If someone said that the glory of the Lord filled a little house in the Old Testament you would say something like this. You must be kidding. You see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was always associated to a place and therefore when the tabernacle was erected the glory of the Lord filled it and the symbol of his presence in the holiest of all was the sign of glory and that was the abiding place of the Spirit of God. Again you will remember when Solomon built that ornate temple. The glory of the Lord filled it in the form of that crown and the priest. You see it was confined to an ornate place. Now you find the blessed Holy Spirit nipping all the confines of various temples. In fact this is surprising and it's true the Lord Jesus never went into the holiest of all. Never even recognized. But now you find in a house probably an upper room the presence of God. Why? No longer does God dwell in temples made with hands but he dwells among his people and he dwells among his people who are gathered together in this house. And therefore in a simple building like this we can claim the very presence of cause of all the world. Then I wanted to note these conditions that were relevant at the time of this coming. They were all with one accord in one place. Now here is something that I believe is quite surprising. We mustn't imagine that these first century Christians were supermen. They had all failed. They had failed theologically. The Lord Jesus told them on five occasions just ten days before he died that he was going to be killed, he was going to be buried and he was going to rise again but they never cottoned on to it. And when it happened they were badly saved. Secondly we find that they not only failed theologically but they failed devotionally. On two occasions perhaps three occasions they were caught arguing who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven just a fortnight before the Lord Jesus died. On one occasion he stepped out of the midst to allow a little child to take his place. And then on another occasion he laid aside and washed their face in the presence of the spirit of Christ. And then they not only failed socially but they also failed devotionally. When it came to the crumbs he let down his Lord. I don't think many of us would ever do that. And when the Lord turned round and looked at Peter. So can you see by that little black background that these men were not supermen but they had all been broken. They had all given themselves a threat to the Lord. And they were all in the upper room. Now here's another surprising thing. According to one Corinthians 15 there was an occasion when five but according to Acts chapter one when they were gathered together there were just a hundred. Where were the three eighties? Where were they? But this is the glorious fact although there were some absentees the Holy Spirit came and the 120 were there to welcome and receive the glorious fact. But you will notice now they were all in one place and they were of one accord. Now if we wait for our 500 or to get right with the Lord we shall never see revival. But isn't it wonderful that sometimes God can work with the hundred and twenty and if he can find a remnant of us that will go the whole way God will bless us. Now I must hurry on let's look at the glorious advent. First of all there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing. Now my dear friends this is totally unique. The wind is always a picture of the external evidence of the presence the presidency and the power of God. Immediately that wind filled the room not in an ornate temple but in a central room. You see all the signs and symbols had been fulfilled. All the old testament sacrifices found their own men in the and therefore the days of symbolism were all over. Now the church was going to come right out of oblivion and it would come to a come so they knew. Now with the experimental presence of God of all all when God's presence is manifest the glory of the hope our hearts will beat higher. Every person in the old testament and the new testament that came into contact with the living God was struck with awe. When our hearts are taken up with that rushing mighty wind under the building because that's idolatry we shall reverence the Lord. We need that risk. Secondly with the presence of God there's peace. I'm not thinking so much the legal peace, peace with God that comes through the blood that I'm not speaking of that experimental peace that comes to us when we cast all our cares upon him then he protects our minds from any enmity. Now the word peace in the Hebrew is brilliant. It means binding together. Have you noticed that sin disintegrates? It breaks up society. It breaks up lives and personalities. It destroys nations. It leaves thousands in bits and pieces but God's peace binds together. He brings your spirit soul and body together and you begin to function as a human being with business when you're dead. Then he brings families together. He brings God's people together for the God of peace binds it. Out there in that dark world there's no peace. That's why thousands are living on tranquillity. Unsaved people should be able to come among God's gathered people and pray. Here's the very peace of God. His presence. With God's presence there's joy, joy. You see in the old testament we read in thy presence is the fullness of joy at thy right hand. You remember when David was bringing back the ark Levitical way? What did he do? He danced with all. Now of course I have to be but I am advocating dancing in the house. Mind you there's two kinds of Christians. There's the charismatic and the romantic and we have to discover. But you know dear friends I must say this with God's presence there's joy. When the Lord Jesus was born there was great joy in heaven. When the prodigal son came back to the father there was music dancing and joy. When Jesus Christ came among his gathered disciples in that resurrection room on that resurrection evening when they saw the Lord they were glad. In fact when we read through the book of the Acts one of the hallmarks is this. They were praising God having favor with the people. When you read through the Philippians and the man who wrote it was in prison 18 times he uses the word joy only twice a day. And when you come to the book of the revelation you will see this alternately. Every scene in heaven is full of joy. Every scene on earth is full of joy. And therefore you can see there's joy. May I say this dear friends we must recapture the reason why so many of our brothers and sisters have gone among our charismatic friends is this. Because they find that we are miserable workers. The hallelujah has gone and all we have are ignorant grumps. It would be lovely if we could see the joy of the Lord restored to the people. And then with the presence of God there is love. Why? God is love. Love is not an attribute. All God's nature is characterized by love. And therefore when the glory of God is manifested in a building there's awe, peace, joy. May God restore that to us. Then you will notice another interesting thing. The rushing mighty wind filled the house. Now it's the same word that we have in verse four filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore it means that the rushing mighty wind was totally preeminent in the room. And this shows to us that when God's presence is really restored experimentally there is a wonderful sense you know we must get there. And the reason why monotony and what we need is not monotony we need variety. And when the Lord is totally preeminent and Lord among his people he will give the gifts. And then he will control those who are gifted on all the activity of the local church. And we shall see in a few moments he will empower those who are gifted so that the one who is in control is the Sovereign Lord. Now we need to get back to that. Then I want you to note it's a rushing mighty wind. Now this afternoon I was going through my Bible as carefully as I could. There's such a thing in the Old Testament as a rushing wind. But you will never find in the Old Testament a rushing mighty. What does it speak of? It speaks of the exclusive power of God. Therefore when God comes among his people we have not only his presence we have not only his presidency but we have his power. You see this is not a separate breeze. This is a rushing mighty wind. And if you read through the book of the Acts you will find in the first ten chapters this wind blowing with great force in those chapters. For instance Peter stands up to preach and when he has finished preaching they were pricked in their hearts. They cried out men and brethren what shall we do? And three thousand men were convicted. Then in the next chapter we find Peter and John going up to the temple at the hour of prayer. Seeing the night the horse in his we would call him a spastic. And he cried out for arms. And one saucy theologian said he got more than that. And Peter fastened his eyes upon him with John said silver and gold have I none but in the name of Jesus Christ. And then he took his right hand and he just gives that right hand of a grip and then the shock came. He left us. Now I want you to see the miracle and the wonder of it. When you go home tonight some of you young men and women get on the carpet in a sitting position like this man would be and cross your legs and you try and leap up. If you can you're exceedingly thick. This man had never walked in his life. And he left us stood up and walked preaching and praising God. Then when you come to the fourth chapter you read the churches together in prayer after Peter and John had been released. And when they had what a way wouldn't you love to have been in that prayer meeting. Then you when you turn over to the fifth chapter Ananias and Sapphira were basically singing. You see in the previous chapter there was a man called Barnabas and he sold his land and gave everything to the Lord. But they had sold their land and they were keeping half that. And they come into the presence of God and then I say it again what a way. Then you move into the seventh chapter and Stephen stands up to preach and his face lights up as an angel. Why? Because God always visited Israel with angelic manifestations. So the face became like an angel. And he preached the greatest sermon in the book of the Acts and they were spilled out. But they were not only pricked they were cut to the heart. And as the stones were falling on Stephen who gave them he left the world with this letter. Lord lay not this sin to their child. What a win. And then Philip went down to Samaria and he preached the gospel to them and the whole city believed. The whole city. And there was great joy. What a win. If someone said to you if you were alive in the first century who's the last person you would ever imagine to become a Christian you would say without thinking it's all a farce. On the Damascus road he saw a light heard a voice and he was gloriously saved. What a win. Then reluctantly Peter goes to the house of old of Cornelius and he preaches the gospel. The Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard not those that believed those heard. And therefore he connected that movement of the spirit with the same movement that took place in Acts and the whole family was converted. Now you might say ah but brother Peter we're not living in the first. Has he lost his power? Is he not the spirit of God? My dear friends because that glorious Holy Spirit is still with us we can still see manifestations of his power. But you say what's the secret? The cloven tongues of God. Now my dear friends I must rush through this but first of all I want you to know they were purifying tongues. You see the wind was the public manifestation of the spirit of God. The cloven tongues of fire set upon each of them therefore this was the individual manifestation of the spirit of God. But they were tongues of fire. What does that mean? When the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Jesus he did not come upon him as a cloven tongue of fire. He came upon him as a God. You see there was nothing inconsistent with his life. He was all fair within and perfectly guided. Jesus Christ the Lord. But when he came upon the disciples they had the leaven in them. That's why the loaf was taken with leaven. They had the flesh. And therefore when he came into them he came into them to cause the conflict. And that was to expose within them the presence of the flesh and to give them power to crucify. And that's the secret of a spirit filled life. It's not improving the flesh it's mortifying it. Now we've got to learn that next week. So thank God for the tongues of fire they purify. But then they were practical tongues. As far as I can tell there are thirteen nations and probably nine or more. Now these were not psychic manifestations. You see within the realm of your soul you have psychic propensities and that can do sometimes miraculous things but that's not of the spirit. For instance hypnotism is a psychic manifestation but that's not of the spirit. You see there is a book called Purity Hypnosis. I know it was written by an unbeliever but there's a lot of proof in that book that sometimes our mind and psychic power causes something. But you will notice here they spoke with tongues that people could understand. Now you will note they said these are Galileans. Now why? Eberstein when he gives us a brilliant background of the Galilean race said one thing that upset me a little. He called them the Cockneys of East. That isn't like that. But you know the Cockneys are not good speakers. We find it hard to say the C-80. We prefer to say a freeze instead of freeze. And therefore he calls them the Cockneys of East and you know what was said of Peter his speech berefted. In other words you could tell a Galilean a milo and Peter was a guttural. You mustn't imagine that Peter had a dark brown cultured voice. When he stood up and spoke he was a typical Galilean but he was filled with the spirit. And therefore these people who were not linguists were standing up speaking fluent languages. Now why? Isaiah 28 verse 11 says very clearly that he was going to speak to his people in other tongues and therefore it was a sign to Israel. Now how were they speaking? They were speaking in the language that the people could understand. You see there at Babel's Tower God confused them by the multiplicity of languages. But now he's going to unite them together through redemption. But they were practical languages. Now please do bear that in mind for in the word of God to speak a language that people down on earth can understand. But then I want you to note that they were praising tongues. In these other languages they were speaking out the wonderful works of God. But if you were there you would see a Galilean filled with the spirit and he would be speaking perhaps in fluent Latin. And I want to talk to you about the creatorial glories of God. And that person would be given a wonderful manifestation of the creatorial glory. Another Galilean would be speaking about the glory of the Lord in the giving of the Lord. The wonderful doings of God through the miracles that were seen. Another Galilean would be speaking out the wonderful works of God in the incarnation. The work of the cross and the glory of the resurrection. And they were all spellbound. They were speaking out the wonderful works of God. You see it wasn't superficial. It wasn't gibberish. They were speaking out the wonderful works of God. And beloved when we are filled with the spirit we shall come together around the Lord's table and you will hear young and old speaking out the wonderful works of God. And then lastly they were preaching tongues. You see immediately they were filled with the spirit. Peter stood up and preached after the praising and three thousand were pricked in their hearts. I love that. That's the strongest word for pain in the New Testament outside of hell's fire. And it's the idea of a red hot needle going through the sensitive part of a person's flesh so that when he feels the prick he says ouch, ouch. You've all seen naughty boys doing something that they shouldn't. And if you've got that picture you've got the meaning. And when Peter preached they were pricked in the heart. They cried out ouch but they put it like this. Men and brethren watch how we do it. Wouldn't you like to see a repeat of that. And then he says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins for the promises unto you and to your children and to all that are far off. And three thousand were saved. Three thousand were baptized and added to the church. Beloved every revival in history has been the means of inducing people back to the upper room. Not my dear friends to have another Pentecost. There never will be another Pentecost. But re-capturing and the glory of Pentecost. A little group of men and women in lacquer got together and God cleansed them and purged them. They were filled with the spirit of God and thus began the great Welsh Revival. Wouldn't it be lovely if God gathered companies together and we got back to the upper room and we re-discovered the presence and the power of God. The Lord granted for this nation.