House of Hope Online

June 8, 2025

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Today, June 8, we commemorate the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit appeared to the early Christian Church, just as Jesus promised before He ascended to Heaven to be with the Father and to intercede for us every day and forever.  The Greek word for Pentecost means “50” and Pentecost is generally observed in the Christian Church 50 days after Easter weekend.

In Acts 2, Luke records what happened on the Day of Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension.

Acts 2:

 1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

 5 ¶ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak in his own language.

 7 And they were amazed and marveled, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

 8 “And how is it that we each hear [them] in our own language to which we were born?

 9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

 11 Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our [own] tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

 13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

 14 ¶ But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give heed to my words.

 15 “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is [only] the third hour of the day;

 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

 17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;

 18 EVEN UPON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.

 19 ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE, AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BENEATH, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.

 20 ‘THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.

 21 ‘AND IT SHALL BE, THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.’

 22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—

 23 this [Man], delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put [Him] to death.

 24 “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

Jesus had instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to give them instructions for moving forward.  The Holy Spirit manifested in the upper room in a powerful way:

• The sound of a violent, rushing wind filled the house.
• Tongues of fire distributed themselves upon the people and no one was burned.
• They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance.
• The people, some of whom came from every nation, were able to understand the tongues in their own languages.

The miracle in Acts 2, of course, is the men speaking were Galileans, but the people heard in their own language.  This represented the spiritual gifts of tongues and their interpretation.   1^st Corinthians 12:11 says “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

So, this single event represented the birth of the Christian Church and taught us how God will lead us going forward, now that Jesus is sitting at His right hand.

Happy Birthday Christian Church!

After listening to Peter’s words about Jesus and the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit, the people were moved and wanted to become Christians, and many did.

Acts 2:

 37 ¶ Now when they heard [this], they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

 38 And Peter [said] to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 39 “For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.”

 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

 42 ¶ And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

They added 3,000 souls that day to the Book of Life and thus began the Church.  Notice Peter’s formula:

• Repent,
• Be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins,
• Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
• Be saved from this perverse generation.

I am amazed that Peter, on day one of the Christian Church, is quoting end times prophecy from Joel and emphasizing the need to be saved from this perverse generation.  What would he say today?  How much more urgent would his message be?

If you have not yet received accepted Jesus in your heart, I encourage you to repeat this simple prayer: “Jesus, I repent of my sins.  I believe that you died to forgive my sins, and I believe in my heart that God raised you from the dead so that I would have eternal salvation.  Come into my heart and change me, and send me the Holy Spirit to guide me and save me from this perverse generation.  In your name, I pray.  Amen.”

Significance of the Fire

Beyond the birth of the Church, there is great significance to the move of the Holy Spirit by fire in Acts 2, and His willingness and ability to speak to His people in a way they could understand.  It is fascinating to me that God also used fire in the Old Testament to speak words of guidance to His people.

One of the many amazing things in Acts 2 is that the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire upon the heads of the people, yet no one was burned.  It is more than irony that the Holy Spirit manifested in this way and distributed Himself and His words of direction to Jesus’ followers on the Day of Pentecost.

There is great precedent in the Old Testament for God to move as a fire that does not consume nor destroy.  For example, in Exodus 3, He called Moses to lead the people of Israel, and He got Moses’ attention and spoke to him as a burning bush.

Exodus 3:

 1 ¶ Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

 3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”

 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

 7 ¶ And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

 8 “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

 9 “And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

 10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Do you see the amazing parallel here?  God used fire to speak to Moses, but notice that, because of the fire, Moses turned his attention to God.  That is a lesson for us.  We must turn our attention to God to hear His voice.  We cannot multitask Him.  We must turn to Him in worship.  We must enter His inner courts with praise.

In Acts 2, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in the form of fire to guide His people once He ascended into Heaven.  The Holy Spirit bears witness to Christ and directs our lives as the Great Counselor to free us from the oppression of the devil.  The Holy Spirit and the word of God are said to burn within our spirits when He manifests.

In Exodus 3, God used fire to recruit Moses because He wanted to lead the people out from the oppression of Egypt, just as He did in Acts 2. 

In the same way, in Exodus 13, after Pharaoh had released the people of Israel from slavery, God used fire to lead them through the wilderness.

Exodus 13:

 21 And the LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Get this point – God wants to lead His people out from under oppression.  He wants to save us from this perverse generation.  Look for and receive the fire of His Holy Spirit!

The Jewish Pentecost (Shavuot)

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit appeared on the Day of Pentecost.  The Jewish Day of Pentecost was observed 7 weeks, or 50 days, after the first day of Passover.  This year it was observed June 2, a week earlier than the Christian observance because Easter occurs at the end of Jewish Passover.  The Jewish holiday is called Shavuot (pronounced “Shav-vot”), and it commemorates the day that God appeared at Mount Sinai and gave Moses and the people the Ten Commandments and the first five books of the Bible (known as the Torah).  The holiday is also known as the Festival of Weeks, since it is celebrated seven weeks after Passover.

Exodus 19 describes God’s visitation at Mount Sinai and shows us how closely Shavuot relates to the Christian Day of Pentecost.

Exodus 19:

 1 ¶ In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

 2 When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain.

 3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:

 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and [how] I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.

 8 And all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

 9 ¶ And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

 10 The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments;

 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Verse 8 is an anthem for our lives: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!”  Jesus instructed His followers to remain in Jerusalem and to wait for instructions from the Holy Spirit.  Do you see the similarity here?  God wants to guide His people, and the people want to do all that He has spoken.  In Acts 2, Jesus wants to guide us, and He wants us to hear the Holy Spirit.  We should purpose in our hearts to do all that the Holy Spirit says we should do.  Also, verse 11 references the third day, which of course parallels Jesus being raised on the third day and appearing to His people.

Later in Exodus 19, we see the fire of God once again.

Exodus 19:

 16 ¶ So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who [were] in the camp trembled.

 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

 18 Now Mount Sinai [was] all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.

 20 And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

From that mountain, God then proceeded to give Moses the Ten Commandments and all of the Law which comprises the Torah.

We see in verse 18 that the Lord descended upon Mt. Sinai in fire, just as He appeared to Moses as fire in the burning bush, and just as the Holy Spirit appeared as fire to the followers of Jesus in the upper room.

Also notice the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder in verse 19.  Remember that Jesus will come down from Heaven for us at the Rapture with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first, then we will be together with them and the Lord forever.

Closing

What a miracle and a loving message from Father God to reveal Himself to His people at Mount Sinai 50 days after Passover, and then He did it again 50 days after the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus!  And God wants to reveal Himself to us today.  He wants to lead us out from under the oppression we now face.  He wants to save us from this perverse generation.  May our response be: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” 

Let us celebrate the fire of God this Pentecost Sunday.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the fire of God and Your desire to lead us by speaking through the Holy Spirit.  May we hear in our own language, and may we do all that the Lord has spoken.  Thank You for visiting Moses in the burning bush.  Thank You for leading by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.  Thank You for appearing as fire at Mount Sinai and for delivering the guidance of the Torah.  Today we celebrate the Day of Pentecost and the birth of our Church.  We look forward to the sound of Your trumpet at the Rapture.  In Jesus’ holy name, we pray.  Amen.