Pentecost
The Misunderstanding
By
Dr. Ken Matto
Acts
2:1 (KJV) And when the day of
Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Acts
7:38 (KJV) This is he, that
was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the
mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto
us:
Now
when we hear the word “church” sometimes we automatically think about a special
building with a steeple. The word
“church” as defined in the Greek is the word “ekklesia” which means “a called
out assembly.” It is referring to
the eternal, blood-bought church of Christ, not a building or denomination.
We do not go to church on Sunday rather the church goes to a special
religiously designed building to worship.
Stephen had it totally correct when he spoke of Israel in the wilderness
as a church because they were called out through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob to bring forth the Messiah through the tribe of Judah.
When
the day of Pentecost had come, the church was already in existence but in a
subdued mode. In fact it was part
of the great mystery of Christ.
Ephesians 3:3-6 (KJV) How
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few
words, {4} Whereby, when ye read,
ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
{5} Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
{6} That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
As we
read in Ephesians 3:3-6 that the great mystery concerning Christ and the church
was not made known in past ages yet it was in existence among many of the Old
Testament Saints. In the Old
Testament, it was strictly all about Israel but in the New Testament the
Gentiles will be fellowheirs with the Jews who became saved.
This is evidenced today by the Gospel being preached all over the world.
Now let us look at just a few of the Old Testament Saints which shows the
Holy Spirit indwelled these believers and I will tell you how that is very
obvious.
Romans 4:3 (KJV) For what
saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.
How could Abraham believe God if he was spiritually dead?
Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a person remains spiritually
dead.
Exodus 3:4 (KJV) And when the
LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
If Moses was spiritually dead as an unbeliever, how could God have called
him? God never calls any unbeliever
to lead his people. Moses stood in
the presence of God and was not consumed because he was qualified to speak with
God.
These
are just two of the Old Testament Saints as there are many others such as David,
Solomon, Naboth, Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, et al
Matthew 17:4 (KJV) Then
answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou
wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and
one for Elias.
On
the Mount of Transfiguration the Lord Jesus Christ appeared with two of the most
prominent Saints from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah.
Both of them were physically dead for hundreds of years and yet here they
were alive and well. So salvation
was present in the Old Testament but it was much sparser than it was after
Pentecost.
Since
the church was interspersed throughout the timeline of Israel, and we really
need to say it went back further in time than just the nation of Israel, going
way back to possibly Adam and Eve if they became saved.
In other words, what I am trying to say is that the church did not
suddenly appear on Pentecost but was already a living entity for thousands of
years at that point.
Let
me just give an illustration. The law of
gravity was not known in an academic manner thousands of years before the New
Testament. Isaac Newton laid out
the law of Gravity in a book in 1687.
However, we can be certain that the law of gravity was present throughout
all of man’s time on earth. For
example, in 2000 B.C. if a person fell off a high cliff, he would no doubt die
from the fall. Even after 1687 when
Newton explained the law of gravity, if a person fell off a high cliff, that
person would also die from the fall.
What I am saying is that just because something is not known academically
does not mean that it does not exist.
Gravity was around a long time before 1687 but was not known by that
term.
So
then, what did the Day of Pentecost bring forth if it was not the birth of the
church? It brought forth the birth
of two things: First, it brought
forth the beginning of the last days as we read in Hebrews 1:2:
Hebrews 1:2 (KJV)
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Secondly, it was the birth of world evangelism.
Acts 2:8-11 (KJV)
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
{9} Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia,
and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, {10} Phrygia, and Pamphylia,
in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews
and proselytes, {11} Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God.
And
resulting in the fact that all the visitors heard the gospel in their own tongue
or language was a great harvest of souls on the first day:
Acts
2:41 (KJV) Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls.
Since
the day of Pentecost, the Gospel has been circling the globe with the message of
eternal salvation and everyday people somewhere are becoming saved.
So just to recap the day of Pentecost was the beginning of the last days of this earth and the beginning of world evangelism in fulfillment of Colossians 1:27. Colossians 1:27 (KJV) To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: