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Dwight Pentecost
J. Dwight Pentecost (April 24, 1915 – April 28, 2014) was an American Christian preacher, theologian, and educator renowned for his extensive work in biblical exposition and eschatology, particularly through his influential book Things to Come. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, to a staunch Presbyterian family, he felt called to ministry by age ten, a conviction rooted in his upbringing. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College in 1937 and enrolled that year as the 100th student at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), earning his Th.M. in 1941 and Th.D. in 1956. Ordained in 1941, he pastored Presbyterian churches in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania (1941–1946), and Devon, Pennsylvania (1946–1951), while also teaching part-time at Philadelphia College of Bible from 1948 to 1955. Pentecost’s preaching and teaching career flourished at DTS, where he joined the faculty in 1955 and taught Bible exposition for over 58 years, influencing more than 10,000 students who affectionately called him “Dr. P.” From 1958 to 1973, he also served as senior pastor of Grace Bible Church in North Dallas. A prolific author, he wrote nearly 20 books, with Things to Come (1958) standing out as a definitive dispensationalist study of biblical prophecy. Known for his premillennial and pretribulational views, he preached and lectured worldwide, emphasizing practical Christian living and eschatological hope. Married to Dorothy Harrison in 1938, who died in 2000 after 62 years together, they had two daughters, Jane Fenby and Gwen Arnold (died 2011). Pentecost died at age 99 in Dallas, Texas, leaving a legacy as Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bible Exposition at DTS, one of only two so honored.
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Sermon Summary
Dwight Pentecost emphasizes that God created humanity in His image with the capacity to know, love, and obey Him. However, due to Adam's disobedience, humanity fell into darkness, losing fellowship with God. Through Christ, believers are made new creations, receiving renewed minds, hearts, and wills to restore that fellowship. Pentecost stresses the importance of growing in knowledge, love, and obedience to truly glorify God and fulfill the purpose for which we were created. The essence of this growth is to align our entire being with God, ensuring we enjoy the fellowship intended for us.
Image of God Recreated
God gave him a mind that he might know God, and a heart that he might love God, and a will that he might obey God. Adam disobeyed, and Adam's race was cursed and cut off from fellowship with God. Adam's sons still possessed personality, but the intellect was darkened, their emotions degraded, and their will deadened. As a result, there was no fellowship between the sinner and God. But God has made believers in Christ members of a new creation. He has given us a new mind, that we might know Him, and a new heart that we might love Him, and a new will that we might obey Him. When you, child of God, exercise your mind Godward to know Him, and you exercise your heart Godward to love Him, and you exercise your will Godward to obey Him, then you are in fellowship with God. But if any area of your personality is not in harmony with the Person of God, then you are not enjoying the fellowship which is the purpose for which you were created and for which you were re-created in His image. You cannot glorify God apart form that fellowship. In this fellowship with God there must be growth. Believers must grow in the area of knowledge. That is why Peter said in 2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. . . . " They must grow, or increase, in love. That is why Paul's prayer for the believers at Philippi included this request: "that your love may abound yet more and more." Believers must choose the way of complete obedience to God's will. In John 14:21, 23, the Lord emphasized the necessity of obedience when He said, "He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he is it that loves me. . . If a man love me he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Believers glorify God by their growth and fruitfulness as they abide in Christ, as their mind and the heart and the will of the Redeemer. This is God's purpose in creation and in your recreation in Christ (Designed to Be Like Him, p. 32).
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J. Dwight Pentecost (April 24, 1915 – April 28, 2014) was an American Christian preacher, theologian, and educator renowned for his extensive work in biblical exposition and eschatology, particularly through his influential book Things to Come. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, to a staunch Presbyterian family, he felt called to ministry by age ten, a conviction rooted in his upbringing. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College in 1937 and enrolled that year as the 100th student at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), earning his Th.M. in 1941 and Th.D. in 1956. Ordained in 1941, he pastored Presbyterian churches in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania (1941–1946), and Devon, Pennsylvania (1946–1951), while also teaching part-time at Philadelphia College of Bible from 1948 to 1955. Pentecost’s preaching and teaching career flourished at DTS, where he joined the faculty in 1955 and taught Bible exposition for over 58 years, influencing more than 10,000 students who affectionately called him “Dr. P.” From 1958 to 1973, he also served as senior pastor of Grace Bible Church in North Dallas. A prolific author, he wrote nearly 20 books, with Things to Come (1958) standing out as a definitive dispensationalist study of biblical prophecy. Known for his premillennial and pretribulational views, he preached and lectured worldwide, emphasizing practical Christian living and eschatological hope. Married to Dorothy Harrison in 1938, who died in 2000 after 62 years together, they had two daughters, Jane Fenby and Gwen Arnold (died 2011). Pentecost died at age 99 in Dallas, Texas, leaving a legacy as Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bible Exposition at DTS, one of only two so honored.