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Gordon Brownville’s tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen’s wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. She exclaimed, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”

When Jesus ascended the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). What joy they had, when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples would have with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit assured them that Jesus keeps his promises. He had kept a promise and he would keep all the other promises too.

In Acts 2:1-5 we read “when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”.  Pentecost, if not the greatest, was one of the greatest days in all of human history.

Acts 2 is the most important chapter in the Book of Acts. What happened there simply cannot be overestimated in terms of its importance for the Church. Pentecost was the day Christ started to “continue all that he began to do” (Acts 1:1) in his death and resurrection.  In the plan of God, this was the birthday of the Church.  Why was Pentecost selected as the day on which the Spirit should be poured out?

First, because of its prophetic significance; what happened on the Day of Pentecost is a fulfilment of what the Old Testament harvest celebration was all about. Pentecost was a grand harvest celebration. Pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem carrying with them the first sheaves of the wheat harvest for an offering to God. That celebration in connection with the wheat harvest was the foreshadowing of the events of Acts 2.

It had pointed to the day when the early Church should begin to reap a great harvest. In the Old Testament, God sent rain from heaven to bring in the wheat harvest. In the New Testament God sends the Holy Spirit from heaven to bring in the human harvest of men into his kingdom. And, someday in future “those who go out  weeping , carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them" (Ps.126:6).

Second, during Pentecost the streets of Jerusalem were clogged with thousands of pilgrims who had come from every point of the compass. There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). This would make the coming of the Holy Spirit more public and the fame of it to be spread sooner and further into all nations.

The Church was born in a worldwide harvest of men. Three thousand were saved in one day (Acts 2:41). Those new believers went back to their home countries and they spread the good news of Jesus Christ. The seed was sown in cities and villages as men and women moved from place to place. Within one generation, the Church exploded throughout the Roman Empire.

Leviticus 23:15-22 gives the original instructions for the celebration of Pentecost. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to the Lord. These two loaves were symbols of two groups from which the Church was to be formed - the Jews and Gentiles” (John 10:16).

The loaves were to be baked with leaven.  Leaven is yeast and usually is a symbol of sin.  The wave loaves were the only sacrifice in the Old Testament with leaven included.  Why?  This is to remind us that the Church is not made up of perfect people.  Christians are not perfect but are in the process of becoming what God wants them to be.  They are not yet perfect and never will be until the coming of Christ.

Pentecost was the beginning of what the Prophet Joel prophesied, that God will ultimately pour out His Spirit on "all flesh" (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the secret of the power of the early Church. The Holy Spirit gives boldness; he took fearful disciples and made them flaming evangelists for Jesus Christ who were ready to lay down their lives for him.

Today a true church reflects the marks of the Church which was born the Day of Pentecost. The signs on that day announced the descent of the Holy Spirit to the earth. One extreme is to look for the spectacular phenomena that happened on that day. However the power of the Holy Spirit is not always spectacular; most of the time it is very quiet and unassuming. But, through His power people are made Christians and lives are changed.

The other extreme is to ignore the work of the Holy Spirit altogether. That is a true danger in a Church. The church came into existence because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Tongues was a definite means God used in the early church to rapidly disseminate the gospel. The ultimate purpose of the filling of the Spirit is always to help the Christian speak with boldness, clarity and sincerity the mighty works of God.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on the church was to prepare the disciples to carry out Christ's witnessing program. The disciples received this mighty power to enable them to be His witnesses "to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). If we want to be used by God in world evangelism, we need to live in His presence and experience His Power! Whenever Christians operate on this power, they accomplish great things for God. 

Jesus said “the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the spirit” (John. 3:8).  The symbol wind is intended to show the power of the Holy Spirit.  This power is sovereign, mighty, invincible and irresistible.  We do not see the Holy Spirit but we see the results of His power. When we combine wind and fire, we have a blaze!"

It is interesting to note that the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry was marked by the coming of the Spirit upon Him (Luke 3:21-22). Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan (Luke 4:1). Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him (Luke 4:14).

On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind , to set the oppressed free.

The beginning of the ministry of His spiritual Body, the Church, was marked by baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). The disciples needed the power of the Spirit of Jesus to minister in his name. On the Day of Pentecost they took in great draughts of heavenly life; they felt animated, aroused and stirred. A sacred enthusiasm came upon them because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Girded with that strength, they rose into a nobler form of life than they had known before.

They were immersed by the Holy Spirit; he took up residence in every believer.  They gained new individual identities as temples of the indwelling Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). They were all baptized into one body and were all made to drink of one Spirit” (Gal 3:2-5). In so doing he identified each believer with Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, forming the spiritual Body of Christ on earth (1 Cor.12:12-14).

They gained new corporate identity as the Body of Christ, the Church. They became members of the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven (Heb.12:23). Now when people from every walk of life, claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they join that body of Christ.

Pentecost reminds us of the Church’s primary purpose: to share the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Throughout the remaining chapters of the book of Acts, we see Jesus’ followers continue his mission to proclaim God’s love. Significantly, Acts’ open-ended conclusion clearly indicates the Church’s mission to proclaim the gospel is to continue until Jesus comes again.

The harvest of souls in Acts 2 was only the beginning of the story; Revelation 7 tells us how it will end. In an end-time vision, Apostle John saw “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9-10).

Jesus said, “the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matt 9:37-38). Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life” (John 4:35-36).There is a harvest at the beginning  and a harvest at the end. In between the Church of Jesus is God's harvest channel. God taught his church in the very beginning that the harvest depends on the power of the Spirit.